Greek, Turkish Cypriot Leaders Meet for Reunification Talks
Published:
20 February 2004 y., Friday
Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders met for two hours Thursday at the opening of talks seen as the best chance in 30 years to reunify their divided island, with both sides staking out tough positions a signal the discussions will likely be long and difficult.
Hours before the negotiations began, a small bomb exploded in front of the home of the prime minister of the self-declared Turkish Cypriot state, slightly wounding a neighbor.
There are fears in Cyprus that extremists could try to disrupt the U.N.-sponsored talks, which aim to reunite the Mediterranean island before it enters the European Union on May 1.
The discussions are being held under a tight deadline, and both sides have agreed to allow U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to fill in the blanks of an agreement if they are not able to resolve certain issues.
That has raised hopes of a settlement, which would be put to a referendum on each side of the island on April 21.
U.N. envoy Alvaro de Soto said the two hours of talks between Turkish Cypriot Rauf Denktash and his Greek Cypriot counterpart, President Tassos Papadopoulos, were "very constructive."
But neither leader was willing to make such positive comments.
Šaltinis:
abcnews.go.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
On 28 July at the square in front of the Ministry of National Defence the solemn initiation ceremony of the assigning of the Chief of Defence of the Republic of Lithuania was held.
more »
On 28 July, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sven Alkalaj, who was paying an official visit to Lithuania.
more »
Lithuanian Minister of National Defence and Estonian Defence Minister by phone discussed readiness of Baltic Battalion to be on duty in NATO Response Force after the information that due to extremely difficult economic situation Latvia will decrease its input into the battalion.
more »
In the evening of 27 July in Brussels at the end of the EU foreign ministers’ meeting and before the EU-Belarus consultations, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs V. Ušackas met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus S. Martynov.
more »
On 27 July in Brussels, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas and EU Foreign Ministers discussed the situation in Georgia and its neighbourhood.
more »
Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas met with Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Össur Skarphedinsson, Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security Árni Páll Árnason and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs Árni Thór Sigurdsson.
more »
President Dalia Grybauskaitė received the Apostolic Nuncio to Lithuania, Archbishop Luigi Bonazzi.
more »
On 23 July in Stockholm, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Asta Skaisgirytė Liauškienė and Swedish Minister for European Affairs Cecilia Malmström discussed priorities of Sweden’s EU Presidency.
more »
Lithuania’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs V. Ušackas had a telephone conversation with Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Össur Skarphedinsson, during which the Ministers discussed Iceland’s decision to apply for the European Union membership.
more »
Acting in conformity the Constitution of Lithuania and based on the proposal submitted by Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, President D. Grybauskaitė has approved the Government of the Republic of Lithuania.
more »