Cyprus Leaders Make Date for Reunification Talks

Greek and Turkish leaders in Cyprus today announced reunification talks will be held on September 3 - the latest attempt to find a solution that has eluded the best diplomatic minds for decades.

The announcement followed a meeting of Mehmet Ali Talat, the Turkish Cypriot leader, and Dimitris Christofias, a Greek Cypriot, at the abandoned Nicosia airport in the buffer zone that has divided the country for 34 years.

It marks a break in a four-year deadlock since Greek Cypriots rejected a UN reunification plan that resulted from years of negotiation and had been accepted by Turkish Cypriots.

Groups of experts from both sides have been working together for five months in advance of today's meeting, trying to narrow the gap between the two communities on contentious issues including property and security arrangements.

Cyprus was divided into a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north and an internationally recognised Greek Cypriot south in 1974, when Turkey invaded after a short-lived coup by Greek Cypriots who wanted to unite the island with Greece.

There have been many false dawns, but the two leaders appear determined to make a breakthrough. Christofias was elected in February, replacing the hardline Tassos Papadopoulos, and immediately sought talks with Talat.

The two leaders agreed in March to revive attempts to reunite the island. As a gesture of their commitment, they opened a north-south crossing point in the heart of the divided capital.