Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders will return to Switzerland in a week to resume negotiations on reunifying the island, following five days of intense talks in a remote mountaintop resort.
At the request of Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, talks with his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Mustafa Akıncı will resume in Geneva on November 20. The negotiations aim to determine the border between the two states that would make up a reunited country, the United Nations mission to Cyprus announced late Friday night.
The two leaders made “significant progress” on the territorial line and other issues on the table over the five days in Mont Pèlerin, the U.N. said.
But the question of where to draw the territorial line is particularly contentious for the smaller Turkish Cypriot side, which will likely have to give up some of its northern area to reflect the size of the Greek Cypriot population and economy, and return sites that are especially significant to Greeks.
The talks in Geneva are expected to last three days, the Greek Cypriot government’s spokesman Nikos Christodoulides said, according to the Cyprus News Agency.
“We consider that it is within reach,” he said. “It will depend on the results of the dialogue. No one can determine what the final outcome will be.”
In the mean time, Anastasiades plans to update political party leaders in southern Cyprus, Christodoulides said. Turkish Cypriot media reported that Anastasiades also wants to update Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
An agreement on the territorial line would be considered a significant breakthrough in the year-and-a-half-long negotiations. After that, however, Anastasiades and Akıncı will still have to tackle the toughest of all the issues — the role of the three countries that are legally allowed to intervene to protect Cyprus if it’s under threat, Turkey, Greece and the U.K.
Turkey’s presence is the biggest issue, and the biggest wild card. It has kept more than 30,000 troops in northern Cyprus since the Turkish and Greek sides were divided by a U.N. buffer zone in 1974. It’s also the only government in the world that recognizes and funds the Turkish Cypriot state.
In the last round of negotiations, Anastasiades and Akıncı will meet with Turkey, Greece and the U.K., along with the U.N. which facilitates the talks.
Greek Cypriots are particularly concerned about whether Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will sign off on a deal that requires him to withdraw the troops and give up his country’s status as a security guarantor, even if it’s a gradual phase-out over several years.
Erdoğan’s relationship with the EU has soured as he clamped down on the Turkish military and others accused of organizing the failed coup against him in June, making his position on Cyprus’ reunification even less predictable, Greek Cypriots say.
As time begins to run short, many had hoped the leaders would emerge from the Mont Pèlerin talks with a date for the final meeting between Turkey, Greece and the U.K., or at least a hint that it would happen soon.
The summit would have to take place by about mid-December if the leaders want to meet their goal of reaching a reunification deal by the end of this year and put it to a vote in Cyprus in early 2017.