AlHijjah 14, 1435, Oct 8, 2014, SPA -- A UN envoy has urged rival Cypriot leaders on Wednesday to avoid escalating an oil and gas dispute that led the Greek Cypriots to temporarily pull out of peace talks a day earlier, according to dpa. "I think is is very important now that everybody acts responsibly and avoid further escalation and that we, as soon as possible, create an understanding that the oil and gas resources as President Anastasiades has repeatedly stated, is for all Cypriots," UN Special Envoy to Cyprus Espen Barth Eide told reporters after meeting with the Greek Cypriot president. "It is a serious issue that we also see in all parts of the world when you have maritime disputes ... oil and gas can be either a blessing or a curse. If it is well managed it will be a source of wealth for all Cypriots ... if it becomes a source of tension it will be a problem for everyone and then it will be more of a curse than a solution," Eide added. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades temporarily pulled out of peace talks with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu on Tuesday in response to Turkey's announcement that it plans to carry out the exploration of oil and gas off the island's southern coast. The exploration is in an area where the Greek Cypriot government has already awarded the Italian-Korean consortium ENI-KOGAS a licence to conduct exploratory drilling for natural gas. The announcement comes less than a month after both Anastasiades and Eroglu agreed to speed up the pace of peace talks. Both leaders had promised to meet twice a month with the aim of finding a lasting solution and were scheduled to meet on Thursday. After a two-year stand-off, peace talks resumed earlier this year after both sides agreed on a document to reunify the island as a bizonal federation consisting of two communities. Both have failed to agree on issues ranging from power sharing to the claims of thousands of displaced persons. According to a report in the Cyprus Mail, Anastasiades has sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon asking him to convince Turkey to stop violating Cyprus's sovereignty. He warned that such actions "would deal a heavy blow to the negotiations for the settlement of the Cyprus problem." The island has been divided into a Greek Cypriot south and Turkish Cypriot north since 1974, after Turkey invaded the north in response to a Greek-led coup.
