The leaders of Cyprus’s rival administrations held a rare meeting in the divided island’s buffer zone at an informal reception hosted by the new UN envoy Colin Stewart.
The two sides hold fundamentally differing views over the future of Cyprus, which has been split since 1974 when a brief, Greek-backed coup triggered a Turkish invasion.
The reception at the Ledra Palace Hotel, in the buffer zone of the island's divided capital Nicosia, was attended by Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar.
Mr Tatar’s breakaway government is recognised only by Turkey, which has about 35,000 troops stationed in the north of Cyprus.
While the internationally recognised government in the south supports a federal future, Mr Tatar supports a two-state solution – something opposed by most of the international community, including the EU.
“We have energy to continue to push your people to solve these little problems that really affect the lives, the everyday lives of Cypriots,” Mr Stewart said at the event, billed primarily as a social gathering geared to breaking the ice between the two leaders in the absence of formal talks.
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The old town square of Varosha where many events used to take place. The seaside resort has been under Turkish occupation since the Mediterranean island Cyprus split in two in 1974. All photos: Silvio Rusmigo / The National -
The beachfront of Varosha. In its heyday, the glamorous area, in the city of Famagusta, was considered to be the crown jewel of Cyprus -
An abandoned hotel with its empty swimming pool. The once bustling and colourful place became a ghost town after Turkish troops sealed off the area to its 17,000 former Greek-speaking residents in 1974 -
Tourists walk through Varosha. The Turkish-Cypriot administration reopened a sliver of the town this year, with plans for a wider demilitarisation of the area -
Cyclists use a recently repaired road -
For Lenia Nikolou, who fled her home town as a 20-year-old newlywed in 1974, visiting the places of her youth today invokes a mixture of happiness, anger and pain -
Lenia Nikolou walks through the quiet streets of Varosha on a trip down memory lane -
Serdar Atai says his Turkish-Cypriot father volunteered to order the inhabitants, many of whom he knew, to leave Varosha -
A ruined shop lies vacant
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry rebuffed any two-state future when he visited Cyprus on Tuesday.
Turkey and Turkish Cypriots say that a two-state solution is the only realistic way to break the decades-long impasse. But the Greek-Cypriot government in the south fears any resolution that would allow Turkey to further entrench its position.
