Geneva (dpa) - The Greek and Turkish leaders of Cyprus launched new UN-brokered talks in Geneva on Monday, seeking to turn their divided island into a federation of two equals.A breakthrough could end the 40-year conflict over the island and remove a key dispute that has marred relations between the European Union and Turkey.The UN Cyprus mediator, Espen Barth Eide, said the recent peace accord to end four decades of conflict in Colombia gave hope that Cypriot Greek leader Nicos Anastasiades and his Cypriot Turkish counterpart, Mustafa Akinci, could achieve a similar feat."They have demonstrated a degree of will and leadership that we have not seen for a very, very long time," Eide told British broadcaster BBC.However, expectations among diplomats are muted. Not all are sure that this will be the final round of talks on Cyprus.The island has been divided into a northern Turkish part and a southern Greek part since 1974, when a Greek coup was followed by a military invasion from Turkey.The previous round ended without a breakthrough in November.The sides have not been able to agree on the partial return of territory on the Turkish half to its original Greek Cypriot owners.The security of a new, federal Cyprus is another sensitive topic. Turkish Cypriots want Turkey to remain as their protective power, but their Greek counterparts are opposed to the idea.If there is substantial progress, a formal conference will be convened on Thursday in Geneva. It will include Greece and Turkey as the so-called guarantor powers of the two halves of Cyprus, as well as Britain, the former colonial power on the island."This is the first time that Turkey will have to own up to its own responsibility. It will have to prove whether its public promises to solve the Cyprus conflict will be followed by concrete actions," Anastasiades told the German newspaper Die Welt.Any final agreement would still need to be approved by the two peoples of Cyprus in separate referenda."There are strong voices on both sides actively arguing against reunification on nationalist grounds," said Eide, a former Norwegian foreign minister. Eide stressed, however, that Anastasiades and Akinci had a real potential to convince their peoples of an agreement, "because there is also a lot of tiredness and fatigue on the island over the eternal division."
