The President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades will convene a meeting with political party leaders at the presidential residence, in the Troodos mountains, next Monday, ahead of his informal meeting with the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci on August 9.

The Presidency of the Republic announced today that the meeting will take place at 10.30 am local time (7.30 GMT).

Speaking on Thursday after a meeting between President Anastasiades and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Elizabeth Spehar, Government Spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said that the President of Cyprus is attending the August 9 meeting with Akinci “in a positive spirit” and anticipates that they will be able to clarify all that needs to be clarified, in order to pave the way for the resumption of settlement talks.

He added that Spehar will be present at the August 9 meeting, but the two leaders will also have the opportunity for a tête-à-tête, as was the case in the past.

The Republic Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The last round of negotiations, in the summer of 2017, at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.