The Cyprus Question

2011 - 26 January President Christofias and the Turkish Cypriot leader Dervish Eroglu meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Geneva, where they agree to intensify talks. 2011 – 1 November The two days talks end with no convergence at the meeting between President Christofias, Dervish Eroglu and UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon at the Greentree Estate in New York. 2012 - June Cyprus takes over the six-month Presidency of the Council of the European Union. 2013 – 27 September President Anastasiades meets with the United States Vice President Joe Biden on at the White House. The two leaders agreed that a new impetus is needed to the talks on the Cyprus problem. Moreover, the US Vice President expresses “appreciation for Cyprus as a strong partner in support of international efforts to promote security and stability in the region” and affirms the “longstanding US commitment to the re-unification of Cyprus as a bi-zonal, bi-comunnal federation”adding that he looks“forward to the opening of a new round of intensive negotiations under UN auspices.” 2014 – 11 February President Anastasiades and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu, adopt a Joint Declaration that set the framework and the basic principles for a settlement of the Cyprus problem and clarified the methodology to be followed. The Joint Declaration reaffirms that the solution will be based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality, as set out in the relevant Security Council resolutions and the High Level Agreements, and that a united Cyprus shall have a single international legal personality, a single sovereignty, and a single citizenship. The Joint Declaration also underlines that the status quo is unacceptable and its prolongation will have negative consequences for the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. Furthermore, the two leaders agreed that the negotiations are based on the principle that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. The Cyprus Question| A brief Introduction 55

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