US vice president offers support for new Cyprus talks

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Vice President Mike Pence voiced support for the resumption of Cyprus peace talks during a telephone call Wednesday with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.

Pence emphasized Washington's support for the UN-facilitated negotiations in Switzerland and expressed hope "the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders will agree to a settlement that would reunify Cyprus", according to the White House.

A new round of talks is set to resume June 28 in Crans-Montana.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced June 9 a new Cyprus conference, following a meeting with Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders in New York.

Turkey, Greece and the U.K. will participate as guarantor powers, and the EU in an observer capacity, Guterres said.

The Mediterranean island has been partitioned since 1974.

Akinci and Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades have been involved in reunification talks to create a federal state since May 2015.

The pair met several times in Geneva last year, but their last meeting in February was fraught with controversy over a Greek Cypriot decision to introduce a commemoration of the 1950 Enosis referendum on unification with Greece.

Both sides had agreed on most of the issues in the reunification deal but the sticking points, including a security and guarantees system, remain unresolved.