CYPRUS: About 350 Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot party leaders and peace activists met at the old Ledra Palace Hotel to usher in what they hoped would be a year of reconciliation and re-unification. They braved harsh wind and freezing rain at the weekend to walk through their respective checkpoints and cross the buffer zone to the crumbling hotel, once Nicosia's finest, now a UN peacekeepers' barracks.
The site of the get-together was significant because it was the main meeting place of reconciliation groups until 1997 when the Turkish side put an end to most bi-communal encounters on the island. Such activities are expected to resume.
This was the first gathering of party leaders since President Glafkos Clerides of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr Rauf Denktash, met on December 5th and decided to begin negotiations on January 16th and carry on three times a week until they achieve a political settlement.
Since then they have dined together twice and agreed to resolve the highly emotive issue of persons who went missing during the 1963-1964 and 1974 conflicts. A senior source said they would meet again on the missing ahead of the talks.
Mr Mustafa Akinci, the leader of the Turkish Cypriot opposition Communal Liberation Party, told The Irish Times: "I am optimistic about the possibility of a settlement this year. It can be achieved if there is good will and the right atmosphere, if there is a commitment by interested external powers, particularly the EU."
"It would be very dangerous to fail," he warned. "Cyprus would be divided. EU accession would give the Greek Cypriots a short-term victory but this would mean all the Turkish Cypriots would leave and would be replaced by Anatolians. Relations between Turkey and Greece would deteriorate and Turkey would have bad relations with Europe. Turkey would no longer wish to become European and would be isolated."
"Europe has a major role to play," he said. "It must give Turkey a clear channel for accession. This can be done in parallel with the accession of the whole of Cyprus in 2003 or 2004, though Turkey would begin the accession process and join much later. Turkey is a very large country and has a lot to do before it can join . . . Turkey can be an asset for Europe. As the only secular democracy in the Islamic world it can act as a bridge between Europe and the Muslim countries."
The EU commissioner responsible for opening up the 15-member body to other countries, Mr Günther Verheugen,believes only the Greek part of Cyprus should be welcomed into membership if the island remains divided, he has told DeutschlandRadio.