Cypriot leaders meet with UN's Ban, eying progress in talks by march

Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders sat down with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday to discuss ways to end the conflict on their divided island, though no major breakthrough is expected until at least March. Sources close to the talks said Ban wants Turkish Cypriot President Dervis Eroglu and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias to resolve their major outstanding issues by March, ahead of parliamentary elections in Turkey and Greek Cyprus. Cyprus watchers said the Geneva encounter was the precursor to a meeting in March that will take stock of consultations on the long-frozen conflict, which has stalled Turkey's admission to the EU. "The underlying message is that by March Ban wants them to have resolved most of their outstanding issues, if not all of them," a diplomatic source familiar with consultations told Reuters. A Western diplomat added that "the two sides have not covered as much ground as hoped." In a report to the Security Council last November, Ban warned that due to Turkish and Greek Cypriot parliamentary elections, Cypriot talks run the risk of "foundering fatally" if a deal is not reached by this June. The Foreign Ministry said yesterday that it hoped the Geneva meeting would mark a "milestone," reiterating support for Ban's efforts. "We have always supported the process and we will continue doing so," spokesman Selcuk Unal told reporters. "We also support the secretary-general's efforts. We hope that these meetings pave the way for further initiatives. He added, "Our main plan is to continue negotiations and reach a successful result. We are hopeful about efforts by the UN secretary-general and support them."