Thorny issues
Peace negotiations stalled last October, when the Greek Cypriots walked out in protest at the presence of a Turkish ship prospecting for natural gas off the island‘s south coast.
UN envoy Espen Barth Eide, a former Norwegian defence minister, has called the new initiative „a unique opportunity, an opportunity that will be grasped“.
UN peacekeeping forces estimate that 165,000 Greek Cypriots fled or were expelled from the north, and 45,000 Turkish Cypriots from the south, although the parties to the conflict say the figures are higher.