NICOSIA: UN chief Ban Ki-moon will launch crunch Cyprus talks in Switzerland next month that could determine whether a peace deal is achievable to end decades of division on the island.
United Nations envoy Espen Barth Eide said Friday that Ban will open the November 7-11 talks at which rival Cypriot leaders will discuss territorial adjustments for the first time.
Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Mustafa Akinci decided this week to move their negotiations launched 17 months ago to Mont Pelerin, near Geneva.
EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini, on a visit Friday to Nicosia, said a Cyprus settlement would amount to a “game changer” for the region at large.
“This would be a game changer not only for all Cypriots, not only the island also the European Union but also obviously for the entire southeast Mediterranean and for the Middle East,” she told reporters.
“It’s a regional but also global responsibility to try and do this last mile in the most positive way,” Mogherini after talks with Anastasiades and Cyprus Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides, whose country has been an EU member since 2004.
Eide said the UN-brokered peace summit will “concentrate on the chapter of territory, as well as all other outstanding issues interdependently”.
“The two leaders have jointly expressed their hope that the meeting in Switzerland will pave the way for the last phase of the talks, in line with their shared commitment to do their utmost in order to reach a settlement within 2016,” said Eide.
“It is the first time that the two leaders are negotiating the issue of territory directly, marking a critical juncture in the current process,” he added.
