Leaders of Cyprus's divided Greek and Turkish communities said on Monday they were willing to meet again after their first face-to-face talks in more than two years.
Diplomats hoped the meeting between Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat would ease a dispute threatening Turkey's European Union entry talks. The EU reiterated on Monday that Ankara's failure to comply with its conditions over Cyprus would have repercussions.
The leaders' discussion focused on the fate of people missing from past conflicts between the two ethnic groups. Talat said they also had "a sincere discussion" on the Cyprus problem.
After the meeting at a UN compound overlooking the divided capital of Nicosia, Talat told reporters they could meet again. "I hope so. We did not decide on it. I hope it will happen," he said. Papadopoulos also indicated readiness to meet again.
"There is no dogmatic reason for not seeing Mr Talat," he said, adding Greek Cypriots were willing to discuss "substantive core issues" under a UN-brokered proposal last February. Diplomats said they were trying to arrange a second meeting this week with the leaders and Ibrahim Gambari, the UN under-secretary general for political affairs.
Gambari is visiting Cyprus on July 6 to sound out the prospect of new talks. "I am counting on the efforts of all parties to make this visit successful," he told reporters in Ankara on Monday. In Helsinki, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said accession talks with Turkey were generally on track but failure by Ankara to open its ports to Cyprus "would have of course serious repercussions".
Ankara has refused to open its ports and airports to Cyprus unless the EU honours a pledge to ease the economic isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. Cyprus's Greek and Turkish communities have been separated since a Turkish invasion in 1974 in response to a short-lived Greek Cypriot coup.
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