Will we moving towards a resumption of peace talks frozen last year because of a dispute over offshore oil reserves? The Special Adviser to the UN in Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, recently said that he saw no obstacle to rapid recovery after completion of the electoral process in the north of the island.
Cyprus has been divided since the annexation of its northern part by Turkey in 1974 in response to a coup d'nationalist state to connect Cyprus to Greece. According to figures from the UN, 165,000 Greek Cypriots fled or were expelled from the north, south and 45,000 Turkish Cypriots.
Last November, the Turkish Cypriots were commemorating the 31st anniversary of the creation in 1983 of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus which is recognized only by Ankara.
Several decades of peace talks under the auspices of the United Nations have failed to resolve the conflict. In 2004, a plan developed by the Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan was subject to referendum. Adopted by the Turkish Cypriots, it was overwhelmingly rejected by the Greek Cypriots, leaving the divided island at the time of entry into the EU.
In March 2008, the highly symbolic destruction of a wall erected for decades at the border between the Republic of Cyprus and the buffer zone of the United Nations, in the heart of Nicosia is a new sign of hope ..
After several years of warming between north and south, and in 2014, the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, Nicos Anastasiades and Derviş Eroğlu finally issued a joint statement expressing their willingness to reunify the island.
But the presence of a Turkish seismic vessel in mid-October in the oil-rich waters off Cyprus just stop all the Greek Cypriots accuse Turkey of conducting exploration in its exclusive economic zone and withdraw the discussions.
Since the withdrawal of Turkish vessels in the area has allowed a new rapprochement. Now, both sides seem so ready to resume negotiations.
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