UN envoy: Cyprus leaders ready to restart peace talks


A United Nations envoy said both Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders will decide on the exact date when stalled talks, aimed at reunifying the divided island nation, will resume after they hold their first meeting next week.Espen Barth Eide said on Tuesday that Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and new Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı have told him they are ready to restart peace talks "without delay" and that there's "no time to waste."The date will be announced after the leaders meet Monday at a dinner hosted by Eide.Mustafa Akıncı was sworn in on Thursday as the fourth president of Turkish Cyprus. "A self-sufficient Turkish Cyprus with the ability to govern itself will be able to find its place as a federal structure in international law and EU institutions," Akıncı said. He added that such a development would benefit both Turkish Cypriots and Turkey.The Cyprus issue has remained on the agenda between the Greek and the Turkish parts of the island since a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by a Turkish peace mission to aid Turkish Cypriots in the north in 1974.