NICOSIA, Sept 11: Rival Cypriot leaders began talks on Thursday on how to share power in a future unified state, their first substantive negotiations in a bid to end the Mediterranean island’s 34-year division.

Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat discussed power-sharing and governance during what UN envoy Alexander Downer described as “productive and fruitful talks”.

The four-hour meeting at Nicosia’s abandoned airport in the UN-patrolled buffer zone followed the launch last week of official negotiations that are seen as the best chance of peace for years despite entrenched differences.

“We began negotiations on the substance of governance and power-sharing.

The talks have been productive and... fruitful,” Downer said, adding that the leaders would meet again on September 18.

“There are no particular timelines agreed, but the two leaders are doing what they can to push the process ahead at the appropriate speed. There’s a long way to go.”

Afterwards Christofias was reluctant to comment on how the meeting went. “This is not the time to say whether I’m pleased or not.” He did not say whether the power-sharing and governance issues would be wrapped up at next week’s meeting.

Reunification of the island, which has been divided since Turkish forces invaded in 1974, is vital to Turkey’s bid to join the European Union.

Christofias, a Greek Cypriot who heads the internationally recognised government of Cyprus, and Talat are expected to meet at least once a week in a bid to find a settlement.

But a war of words between the rival Cypriot communities has highlighted sharp differences on the issues of security, territory and Turkish settlers.

Turkey has always insisted on retaining the right to intervene under the treaties signed with Britain and Greece that gave the island independence in 1960, and it retains at least 30,000 troops on the island.

Greek Cypriots want to scrap the intervention rights, saying Cyprus should be free of all foreign troops, although Christofias says he is willing to compromise on the settler question by allowing 50,000 Turks to remain.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan welcomed the talks as “an important opportunity” to reunify Cyprus, but stressed Turkey would not give up on its guarantor rights.

“Turkey’s guarantorship functions on the island are a necessity for security and stability in the east Mediterranean,” he said on Wednesday. “We are not opening this to discussion.”

The negotiations launched on September 3 mark the first major push for peace since the failure of a UN plan in 2004, and the United Nations has warned that the process cannot go on indefinitely without tangible progress.

Christofias said last week that reaching an agreement “would not be an easy job”, while Talat has expressed hope for a solution as soon as possible.

“My vision was to finish the negotiations by the end of this year and I believe it is possible,” he said in Brussels on Wednesday.

Preparatory talks at committee level since March have been accompanied by confidence-building measures, notably the opening of a crossing in Ledra Street linking south and north in the symbolic heart of old Nicosia.

The UN’s 2004 reunification blueprint was approved by Turkish Cypriots but overwhelmingly rejected by Greek Cypriots just a week before the island joined the European Union, leaving only Greek Cypriots enjoying the full benefits of EU membership.

Any deal will have to be sold again to the two communities in simultaneous referendums.

—AFP