Where to now for the talks?

2010-01-10

THE INTENSIVE talks between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities kick off tomorrow but will Demetris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat be able to accomplish in just six sessions what they have not done in the 60 or so meetings over the past 16 months?
Admittedly, some convergences have been achieved between the two sides, but as Christofias himself has repeatedly said, we are not anywhere close to a solution.
“There has been some movement from both sides in getting closer, but a lot more could have been done,” a diplomatic source told the Sunday Mail.
The new round of talks is being held in the run up to April’s elections in the north, where the Turkish Cypriot community will be asked to choose its leader and negotiator.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.