The start of the second round of talks between President of Cyprus Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat were postponed last week after Greek Cypriots on a pilgrimage were harrassed by Turkish Cypriot authorities.
The postponement was in reaction to the cancellation of a much awaited pilgrimage by hundreds of Tylliria and Polis area residents to the occupied Morphou church of Ayios Mamas.
The leaders of the two rival communities were scheduled to start the new round of negotiations on Thursday after a one-month summer break.
George Iacovou, a senior aide to President Demetris Christofias, the Greek Cypriot leader, said the dispute had overshadowed the upcoming talks and therefore it had been decided to postpone the meeting.
Iacovou said he had informed Alexander Downer, the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus about the postponement of the meeting.
About 650 pilgrims were subjected to severe harassment by occupation regime authorities, which insisted on carrying out a thorough check of bus passengers.
This came after they had previously agreed to minimal checks, before allowing passage through the occupied northwestern part of Cyprus.
During a visit to France, Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias said that negotiations are continuing, but he warned of difficulties ahead.
“As things stand at present, I believe we will face serious — not to say very serious — difficulties which I hope we will overcome,” he said after a lunch with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy.
Mr Christofias plans to meet UN envoy for Cyprus Alexander Downer to assess the latest developments.