Cyprus unity talks breakthrough

Cyprus President Clerides, right, and Turkish Cypriot leader Denktash are to hold regular talks

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- A major breakthrough has been made in the diplomatic efforts to reunify Cyprus.

Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader, and Greek Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides, have agreed to meet three times a week starting on Monday.

The start of intensive talks to reunify Cyprus will begin by addressing the issue of sharing power between Greek and Turkish Cypriots in a new republic.

The development has been welcomed by U.S. President George W. Bush.

"We're very encouraged that there is a dialogue now taking place ... you can't solve a problem unless the parties are willing to talk," Bush said after hosting Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit in Washington on Wednesday.

"The very fact, the very process of dialogue" could help bring a settlement, Ecevit said.

Denktash said he and Clerides would open Monday's meeting -- the first in an accelerated process aimed at ending the island's 27-year division -- by assessing where the leaders differ.

"Then, we'll discuss the sides in a new republic that will be founded, the functions of the two equal sides," Denktash told journalists.

Greek Cypriots want the island reunified as a single state, in line with U.N. resolutions, while Denktash -- backed by Turkey -- has called for a looser arrangement linking two independent states.

Cyprus has been divided since Turkey invaded the island in 1974, following a failed coup by supporters of union with Greece.

A breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in the north is only recognized by Turkey, which maintains some 35,000 troops there.

In a diplomatic breakthrough last month, Denktash and Clerides had met for the first time in four years, and pledged to continue talking until a comprehensive settlement is reached.

The division of powers between autonomous Greek and Turkish Cypriot entities, which will deal with domestic affairs, and a central joint administration representing the country internationally, could be one of the key issues in talks which de Soto said would be "lengthy."

Other thorny issues include restoration of property to Cypriot refugees from the 1974 fighting, and how to draw borders separating the Greek and Turkish Cypriot zones.

There is mounting international pressure for an end to the dispute before Cyprus' expected entry into the European Union by the end of next year.

Turkey has said it could annex the north if the EU admits Cyprus without a settlement.

That could end Turkey's own hopes of joining the union. Greece, the other main power broker in the Cyprus dispute, is already an EU member.