Indirect talks between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders on the future of the divided Mediterranean island resumed in Geneva Monday under UN mediation.
Deputy UN Secretary General, Alvaro de Soto, met separately with Greek Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, whose authority is only recognized by Turkey.
The talks were expected to focus on security, and the division of power, property and territory on the island.
However, there were no great expectations of progress during the talks, due to continue behind closed doors until August 4th. A further round of similar discussions is due to take place at the United Nations in New York on September 12th.
At the close of the last round of talks on July 12th, de Soto called on both parties to show moderation in the run-up to the 26th anniversary of the Turkish military intervention in Cyprus on July 20th, 1974.
Denktash used the occasion to call for lasting peace on the island as thousands of Turkish Cypriots waved the flags of their self-proclaimed state and lined the streets of northern Nicosia to watch Turkish Cypriot and Turkish forces stage a military parade and fly-past.
But the recent move by the Turkish army to set up a new checkpoint in the UN buffer zone has ruffled Greek feathers and prompted a complaint from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
The Turkish army made a 200-meter (yard) advance into the village of Strovalia earlier this month in retaliation for a last-minute UN resolution renewing UN peacekeepers' mandate that made no mention of the self-declared Turkish Cypriot government.
The Turkish military intervened in Cyprus after Greek nationalists seeking the island's unification with Greece staged a coup in Nicosia - GENEVA (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
