Cyprus leaders to appeal for peace support to Davos political elite

PanARMENIAN.Net - The leaders of the divided island of Cyprus will make an unprecedented joint appeal to the world's political and business elite in Davos on Thursday, January 19 to support their efforts to reach a settlement to their decades-old dispute, Reuters reports.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, who have been negotiating on a possible deal since last year, will share the platform at a special session at the World Economic Forum annual meeting entitled "Reuniting Cyprus".

UN and European officials say the prospects of finally reaching a peace deal to resolve one of the oldest frozen conflicts on the planet are better than at any time since Greek Cypriots rejected a UN peace plan in 2004.

"While the world is generally not in good shape, for Cyprus the stars are aligned," said Espen Barth Eide, the Norwegian UN special envoy for Cyprus and head of the WEF's global security program.

"There's an interest among the leaders involved. Both Turkey and Greece see advantages to moving on," Eide told Reuters.

The east Mediterranean island has been divided since Turkey invaded the north in 1974 in response to a short-lived coup in Nicosia inspired by Greece's then military rulers.

Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004 despite the Greek Cypriot vote against reunification. However, its relations with Turkey have remained frozen, efforts to reduce the economic isolation of Turkish Cypriot northern Cyprus have stalled and Nicosia has blocked much of Ankara's EU accession negotiations over the continued dispute.