Turkish, Greek Cypriot leaders likely to meet soon

Leaders of long-divided Cyprus are likely to meet soon after release of a U.N. report on the island, said the president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Tuesday.

A meeting with the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades is "possible" after the release of UN's Cyprus report in October, Mustafa Akıncı told reporters at the Presidential Palace in the capital city of Nicosia.

"We would like to have this [meeting] to happen at a time not too far," he added.

During the meeting with Anastasiades, Akıncı said, he expects to determine the opening date of the Derinya and Aplic border crossings and announce it to the public.

"We want a peaceful future on this island," Akıncı said. "We do not want the continuation of the status quo in Cyprus," he added.

In September, following a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York, Akıncı said the report by Jane Holl Lute, appointed by Guterres as the temporary adviser to conduct consultations on Cyprus, was not ready yet.

He said the report was going to be submitted to Guterres in one or two weeks and to the U.N. Security Council on Oct. 15. Akıncı added tha

t the report would be discussed on Oct. 30.

The island of Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when a Greek Cypriot coup took place after decades of violence against the island's Turkish community and Ankara's intervention as a guarantor power. It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including the latest initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece and the U.K. that collapsed in 2017.