Rival leaders on the divided island of Cyprus ended three days of peace talks today without any indication of a breakthrough to end the decades-old division of the eastern Mediterranean island, according to dpa. "These talks have been held in a positive spirit and very good atmosphere," UN envoy Alexander Downer told journalists at the end of the three-day marathon talks. "I think that you will find out how this has all gone at the end of the process," he added after facing questions about the progress of the talks which were re-launched in September 2008. The next three-day session of talks will take place on January 25-27. The intensive meetings between Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat are designed to jump-start talks with the hope that 2010 will be the year that the Cyprus problem is finally solved. Asked if any progress was made on the issue of power-sharing, Christofias said "that although there have not been specific results both sides are not talking without any purpose as well." Cyprus has been been split since 1974, ever since Turkey invaded the northern third of Cyprus in response to a Greek-inspired coup. Greek Cypriots currently live in the south of Cyprus and Turkish Cypriots in the north, divided by a United Nations-supervised buffer zone, or No Man"s Land - which runs through the heart of Nicosia. Experts have expressed fears that the two leaders have little time left, with elections in the occupied northern part of the island expected to bring to power a hardliner. EU officials have said that progress at the Cyprus reunification talks will be essential to move Turkey"s slow-moving EU accession process forward. Although the peace talks and Turkey"s EU membership negotiations are separate processes, a breakthrough on one is likely to have a positive impact on the other. Talks are focusing on power-sharing under a future federal structure, the economy, property and EU issues. Leaders have suggested that much of their differences lie on how to deal with the thousands of property claims from people uprooted in past conflicts.
