By Yiannis Kourtoglou
NICOSIA, Nov 9 (Reuters) – Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders agreed on Monday to open two new border crossings, coordinate on emergency responses and share archival materials as part of a UN-backed effort to resume peace talks after nearly a decade of deadlock.
That brought the number of open crossings on the divided Mediterranean island to 11, according to media in Cyprus.
Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman jointly met with UN special envoy Maria Angela Holguin for about four hours in a UN-controlled buffer zone.
The sides have disagreed over ground rules for talks since they met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the island in the summer.
But the UN said in a statement that Monday’s meeting was “positive” and that the two leaders would talk again in coming weeks in the presence of Guterres.
Cyprus was split after a Turkish invasion in 1974 in response to a brief coup engineered by Greece’s then military rulers.
A power-sharing administration of Greek and Turkish Cypriots crumbled in 1963, and a UN force, now one of the oldest peacekeeping operations in the world, monitors a 180-km (112-mile) ceasefire line splitting the two sides.
One of the reasons past talks collapsed is disagreement on the role Turkey would play in the future. Greek Cypriots are against Ankara having any hands-on involvement, while Turkish Cypriots say it is essential.
The two leaders also discussed the potential opening of other crossing points, the UN statement added.
“We are continuing this effort with absolute seriousness and one single goal: resuming the talks before the end of the Secretary-General’s term,” at the end of the year, Christodoulides told reporters after the meeting.
(Reporting by Yiannis Kourtoglou and Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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