Rival Cypriot leaders hold rare meeting in buffer zone

New UN envoy Colin Stewart hosts 'informal' gathering in absence of peace talks

UN envoy Colin Stewart, centre, with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, left, and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar during a reception in Nicosia. Photo: EPA

The leaders of Cyprus’s rival administrations held a rare meeting in the divided island’s buffer zone at an informal reception hosted by the new UN envoy Colin Stewart.

The two sides hold fundamentally differing views over the future of Cyprus, which has been split since 1974 when a brief, Greek-backed coup triggered a Turkish invasion.

The reception at the Ledra Palace Hotel, in the buffer zone of the island's divided capital Nicosia, was attended by Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar.

Mr Tatar’s breakaway government is recognised only by Turkey, which has about 35,000 troops stationed in the north of Cyprus.

While the internationally recognised government in the south supports a federal future, Mr Tatar supports a two-state solution – something opposed by most of the international community, including the EU.

“We have energy to continue to push your people to solve these little problems that really affect the lives, the everyday lives of Cypriots,” Mr Stewart said at the event, billed primarily as a social gathering geared to breaking the ice between the two leaders in the absence of formal talks.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry rebuffed any two-state future when he visited Cyprus on Tuesday.

Turkey and Turkish Cypriots say that a two-state solution is the only realistic way to break the decades-long impasse. But the Greek-Cypriot government in the south fears any resolution that would allow Turkey to further entrench its position.