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NICOSIA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary Dominic
Raab called for flexibility and compromise ahead of a fresh bid
by the United Nations to heal the decades-old division of
Cyprus, a dispute harming ties between Turkey and Greece and
energy projects in the eastern Mediterranean.
Raab represents one of three guarantor countries under a
convoluted treaty which granted Cyprus independence in 1960. He
and the foreign ministers of Greece and Turkey are expected to
attend a three-day summit the United Nations will call in early
March on the future of Cypriot reunification talks.
Peace talks collapsed in 2017.
"Failure to reach a settlement after so many efforts will
benefit no-one, so I urge all sides to come to the talks with a
willingness to demonstrate flexibility and compromise," Raab
said after meeting Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides in
Nicosia, Cyprus's divided capital.
Earlier, Raab met Cypriot President and Greek Cypriot leader
Nicos Anastasiades and was scheduled to meet Turkish Cypriot
leader Ersin Tatar on the other side of the divided city.
Boundaries between the two sides, open between 2003 and 2020,
are now sealed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was scheduled to
visit Cyprus on Feb. 8, and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu travelled to the island earlier this week for talks
with the Turkish Cypriot leadership.
Cyprus, with a combined population of just over 1 million,
was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief
Greek-inspired coup.
The conflict is thrown into sharper focus by Ankara's
attempts to join the EU and Cyprus's attempts to tap energy
resources around the island. By extension, the dispute spills
over to separate issues between Greece and Turkey over their own
maritime borders.
Greek and Turkish officials are likely to meet again at the
end of February or in early March to revive efforts to resolve
the maritime boundary dispute, Mitsotakis told Reuters.
Cyprus talks have repeatedly stumbled over complex issues
such as future co-governance or the demarcation of boundaries
between the two sides, now split by a 180 km ceasefire line
patrolled by United Nations peacekeepers.
Britain, which retains sovereignty over 3% of Cyprus
territory, has in the past offered to return up to half as part
of any peace deal.
(Reporting by Michele Kambas; Editing by Giles Elgood)