ANKARA
Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaders made progress in their discussions over the contentious issues of property and the criteria over territorial rights as talks over a shared vision of a united Cyprus continued Monday, the UN said.
The progress was made when Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akinci, and the Greek Cypriot leader, Nicos Anastasiades, met for another round of talks on Monday in the UN-controlled bufferzone in Lefkosa.
“Regarding property, the leaders agreed that the individual right to property will be respected,” the UN secretary-general’s envoy on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, said in a statement after the meeting.
“Dispossessed owners and current users shall have various choices regarding their claims over affected properties,” he said, adding: “These different choices shall include compensation, exchange and reinstatement”.
Eide said that the exercise of any such choice shall be subjected to an agreed criterion.
“There shall be a list of categories of affected properties. There shall be an independent property commission mandated to resolve property claims based on mutually agreed criteria,” he said. “The property commission shall comprise of equal number of Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot members,” he added.
Tens of thousands of Cypriots were displaced during disputes between the communities.
Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaders have not only been discussing security, territory, property and energy resources but even agreeing on somewhat less-critical disputes, like the origin of the local hellim (or halloumi) cheese.
The UN envoy said that two leaders also underlined their commitment to maintain the momentum of the process and decided that their next meetings will be held on September 1 and September 14.
He said that over the coming days the “negotiators will have joint sessions with the Working Groups on European Union Matters, Property and the Economy to more effectively guide their work”.
Cyprus island has been divided into Turkish Cypriot government in the northern third and Greek Cypriot administration in the southern two-thirds after a 1974 military coup by Greece was followed by the peace operation of Turkey as a guarantor power in Cyprus.
