United Nations special envoy for Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, will arrive in Cyprus on Sunday to meet with the two leaders of long-divided Cyprus ahead of a fifth round of peace talks, Turkish Cypriot officials told AFP Wednesday.
During his one-week stay on the island, De Soto will meet twice with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash and Greek Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides, said a presidential source, who declined to be identified.
The envoy is also expected to have talks with leaders of political parties from both sides, as well as the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
De Soto's visit comes on the eve of UN-sponsored indirect talks between Denktash and Clerides, scheduled to begin on November 1 in Geneva.
The parties, which do not meet face-to-face and exchange views through UN mediators, have failed to record any substantial progress towards the reunification of Cyprus in the previous rounds.
De Soto, scheduled to leave Cyprus on October 28, will travel on to Athens and Ankara for talks with Greek and Turkish officials.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey occupied the northern third of the island in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia seeking to unite the country with Greece.
The breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, declared in 1983, and Turkey maintain that the island should be reunified within a confederation of two separate states. Greek Cyprus and the international community favor a so-called bizonal, bicommunal federation – CYPRUS (AFP)
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