UN Secretary General`s Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide briefed the diplomatic community in Cyprus on developments in the Cyprus talks.

“This afternoon, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Cyprus, Mr. Espen Barth Eide, briefed members of the diplomatic community in Cyprus on developments in the Cyprus talks,” UN Cyprus Talks wrote on Facebook.

It is added that “the briefing was held in the United Nations Protected Area.”

The Republic of Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion. UN – led talks between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities resumed in May 2015 with a view to reunite the island under a federal roof.

The talks were interrupted in mid February by the Turkish Cypriot side, which demands that a decision passed by the Cypriot Parliament relating to a 1950 referendum on union with Greece is revoked, claiming this indicates a shift in Greek Cypriot goal for a federal solution. The amendment notes that there will be a very brief reference to the referendum at schools.

President Anastasiades has described the House decision as wrong and called on the leader of the Turkish Cypriot side, Mustafa Akinci, who walked out of the talks, to return to the negotiating table to discuss pending issues with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable agreement to reunite the country.