LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akinci and Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades met Friday to resume peace negotiations over the Cyprus issue.
Akinci and Anastasiades met with UN's Special Adviser Espen Barth Eide at UN's office in Cyprus.
Eide said Monday that both sides were expected to "go through a general exchange of views and to agree on the modalities for the structuring and frequency of the meetings".
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed Friday the resumption of talks between the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot sides, UN said in a statement.
"[Ban Ki-moon] calls on the leaders to seize this opportunity to achieve tangible progress towards a comprehensive settlement that would clearly benefit both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots," the statement said.
U.K.'s Minister for Europe David Lidington said: "I warmly welcome the resumption today of the Cyprus settlement talks, facilitated by the UN. It is important to build on the current momentum towards a comprehensive and lasting settlement.
"The U.K. will continue to give its full support to the communities in their efforts towards that aim. We also reiterate our support for Espen Barth Eide, the special adviser to the United Nations secretary-general."
Peace talks were unilaterally suspended by the Greek Cypriot administration last October after Turkey issued an advisory on behalf of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus for seismic research off the coast of Cyprus.
The island was divided into a Turkish Cypriot government in the northern third and a Greek Cypriot administration in the southern two-thirds after a 1974 military coup by Greece was followed by the intervention of Turkey as a guarantor state in Cyprus.
