Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades referred to the effort which is underway, aiming at the resumption of Cyprus reunification talks, during a meeting he had with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the old Larnaka airport, on Monday evening, highlighting the need to abolish the anachronistic system of guarantees and to terminate the presence of occupation troops in an EU member state, as well as to have a functional solution in Cyprus.

CNA has learned that Trudeau expressed his interest in developments on the Cyprus problem and President Anastasiades outlined the new effort which is underway, referring briefly to the outcome of the Crans-Montana Conference on Cyprus in the summer of 2017.

The two leaders agreed on the need to have a multilateral approach to current problems worldwide and to further enhance cooperation between Cyprus and Canada on an international level, as well as to stregthen bilateral relations, a source said.

Furthemore, it noted that the Canadian Prime Minister had a positive reaction to the invitation extended to him by President Anastasiades to pay an official visit to Cyprus .

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.