Cypriot leaders trade proposals in round 2 of talks

Starting a second round of Cyprus peace talks, Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders yesterday met and traded proposals on the topic of federalism. Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat made their proposals in a bid to soothe differences on the issue, UN Special Envoy to Cyprus Alexander Downer said. He said Cypriot leaders would discuss the proposals at their next meeting set for next month and that he was quite pleased with the progress made so far, but gave no details on the proposals, saying he didn't want to interfere. The UN backs a bi-communal federal solution based on political equality under UN Security Council resolutions. The first phase of reunification talks began in September 2008 and ended last month. In more than 40 meetings in the talks, the two sides have discussed issues under six main categories: governance and power-sharing; the European Union; security and guarantees; territory; and property and economic matters.