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Heads of Cyprus meet

Türkiye Materials 18 July 2009 12:23 (UTC +04:00)
President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Mehmet Ali Talat, and leader of the Greek Cypriot administration Demetris Christofias met for the 37th time on Friday as part of Cyprus negotiations at the buffer zone in Lefkosa, The Journal Of Turkish Weekly reported.
Heads of Cyprus meet

President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Mehmet Ali Talat, and leader of the Greek Cypriot administration Demetris Christofias met for the 37th time on Friday as part of Cyprus negotiations at the buffer zone in Lefkosa, The Journal Of Turkish Weekly reported.

The meeting is also being attended by Alexander Downer, special envoy of the United Nations Secretary General to Cyprus, and Taye Brook Zerihoun, UN Secretary General's special representative to Cyprus.

The Cypriot leaders began negotiations on the topic of "Security and Guarantees" last week and will continue discussing the same topic on Friday.

The two leaders are expected to decide on whether to continue talks on "Security and Guarantees" or move on to another topic on Friday. They are scheduled to meet again on July 23, 30 and August 6. Talks will temporarily stop until September 3.

Turkish Cypriots aim to complete negotiations by the end of this year and hold a referendum at the beginning of 2010.

Cyprus was divided in 1974 after the coup d'etat in the south of the island. Turkey as a member of NATO brought troops in Cyprus to support the Turkish people, after which the island has been divided into the Greek and Turkish parts.

A 30,000-member Turkish Army is still deployed in the north of the island.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has not been recognized by the international community, including the UN.

The UN Security Council calls for unification of Cyprus with the establishment of bi-zonal and bi-community - Greek and Turkish federations.

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