Cyprus: Six Steps toward a Settlement

With stalemate looming in the UN-sponsored Cyprus reunification negotiations in early 2011, parties to the dispute need to take dramatic, unilateral steps to break the decades-long distrust that is suffocating them.

Cyprus: Six Steps toward a Settlement, a briefing from the International Crisis Group, analyses the causes and implications of the diplomatic slowdown and concludes that an early breakthrough is unlikely. It urges Turkey and Greek and Turkish Cypriots to take confidence-building steps in 2011 unilaterally rather than as a complex negotiated package. This would build trust, satisfy key demands, open communication without prejudging the outcome of UN talks, and support a comprehensive settlement. The European Union (EU), especially the European Commission and EU Presidency, should continue as honest broker between the parties, and member states should avoid partisan statements.

ESO: Background information: Talks on Cyprus reunification take a turn for the better, says UN chief http://www.europeansources.info/record/talks-on-cyprus-reunification-take-a-turn-for-the-better-says-un-chief/

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