UN Chief: Cyprus peace talks could fail

The UN chief warned today that talks to reunify Cyprus could fail if the two sides do not make real headway by early next year.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report that the UN-backed talks “could founder fatally” if “substantive agreement” is not achieved before elections in Cyprus and Turkey are held in mid-2011.

The Mediterranean island of Cyprus was split into a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north and an internationally recognised Greek Cypriot south in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece.

Ban expressed disappointment the two sides will not reach an accord by the end of the year, as expected.

He said despite more than two years of talks progress has been “frustratingly slow”.