Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 09-09-10

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From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>

CONTENTS

[01] LEADERS MEETING SECOND ROUND

[01] LEADERS MEETING SECOND ROUND

The chapter of governance and power sharing and particularly the executive are the first issues President Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat will discuss at todays meeting.

The second round of direct negotiations, scheduled to begin September 3, was postponed due to the obstacles set by the Turkish Cypriot illegal authorities, which resulted to the cancellation of a pilgrimage of Greek Cypriots to the occupied church of Saint Mamas.

On September 2, Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou had announced that the Turkish regimes behavior towards Greek Cypriot pilgrims who were trying to cross to the Turkish occupied northern areas to celebrate Saint Mamas name day on September 2, casts a shadow over the start of the second round of talks and therefore it would be better to postpone the meeting.

Special Adviser of the UNSG for Cyprus Alexander Downer had said at the end of the first round of the Cyprus talks, on August 6, that the chapter of governance and power sharing and particularly the executive would be the first issue Christofias and Talat were scheduled to discuss at the first meeting of the second round of the ongoing UN-led direct negotiations.

He also expressed the view that from the perspective of the UN, the completion of the first reading shows that there has been significant progress in these negotiations.

President Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat began direct talks on September 3rd 2008 with an aim to reach a negotiated settlement that would reunite the country under a federal roof.

During the 40 meetings of the first round of talks, the leaders have discussed six chapters: governance and power sharing, EU matters, security and guarantees, territory, property and economic matters, writing down the agreed and disagreed issues.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory.

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