Cyprus talks 'on track' with foreign ministers set to arriveGeneva, 11 January 2017 (MIA) - Talks to reunify long-divided Cyprus are on track to overcome major obstacles that have stood in the way of a peace accord for decades, the United Nations envoy for Cyprus said Wednesday.
But a deal likely won't emerge immediately from a summit in Geneva this week since important technical details need to be sorted out before the island's rival Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities can vote on an overall agreement, U.N. envoy Espen Barth Eide said.
He said the framework of an accord could emerge, however, if Cyprus' so-called guarantors agree on post-unification security arrangements when the foreign ministers of Turkey, Greece and former colonial power Britain join the talks, AP reports.
"So don't expect that we will be walking home from Geneva - or rather flying - to Cyprus with a comprehensive settlement in our hands," Eides told reporters. "But we will go home with a sense that it is coming."
Eide said the Greek Cypriot president and the Turkish Cypriot leader would present competing maps later Wednesday that outline the boundaries of the Greek and Turkish zones that would make up the country in a hoped-for federation.
The proposals will be seen by only a handful of people before being placed in a U.N. vault in Geneva, a testament to the sensitivity of the diplomatic task, Eide said. Experts will then study the two maps to ensure they meet the terms of the deal before the leaders work out a compromise. It is unclear when that will happen.
Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci have been meeting in Geneva since Monday to discuss a number of outstanding issues that could restore unity to the island split by ethnic divisions for almost 43 years.
Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 in response to a coup aiming to unite the island with Greece. Many residents were stripped of homes and property when Cyprus divided into an official Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish north where Turkey has more than 35,000 troops stationed.
Top leaders from the European Union, which counts Cyprus as a member, are also expected to join the talks Thursday that will concentrate on how to ensure and who will oversee post-settlement security.
"I really think, without overdramatizing what is happening in Geneva, that this is the very last chance to see the island being recomposed in a normal way," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters in Malta's capital on Wednesday.
Eide downplayed Junker's remark, calling the Geneva talks the "best chance" for peace. He pointed to "historic" advances happening at the summit, which is the first time the rival boundary maps will be exchanged and the three guarantor powers will be around the table at such a high-level.
"We are on track," Eide said. "We have dealt with some of the most difficult issues. We have touched upon almost all of them, we have solved many of them, and we are close to solving some other issues." lk/19:18
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Train crash near Novi Sad injures 22 passengers
Belgrade, 12 January 2017 (MIA) - At least 22 passengers were wounded when a passenger and cargo trains collided near the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad. Four of those have sustained heavy injuries, but are not in a life threatening condition.
Transportation Ministry officials are examining the reasons for the crash. It was not a head-on collision, but in fact the passenger train was behind the cargo train and smashed in it from behind.cc/09:07
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Turkish deputies brawl during debate on constitutional reform
Ankara, 12 January 2017 (MIA) - Turkish lawmakers came to blows in a brawl in parliament overnight, as tempers boiled over in a debate on a constitutional reform package to expand the powers of President Tayyip Erdogan, Reuters reports.
MPs from the ruling AK Party and main opposition CHP threw punches and shoved one another as they crowded around the assembly's podium.
The AKP, backed by the nationalist MHP, is pushing through the legislation that Erdogan says will bring the strong leadership needed to prevent a return of the fragile coalition governments of the past.
The opposition CHP and pro-Kurdish HDP fear the reform will fuel authoritarianism.
During the row, CHP deputies objected to AKP members casting votes without entering the cabins set up to ease what was a secret ballot. AKP lawmakers then tried to grab the mobile telephone of a CHP deputy filming the scene.
Despite the clash, the third, fourth and fifth articles of the 18-article bill were approved in the parliamentary session, which continued until early on Thursday. Debate was scheduled to resume on Thursday afternoon.
The bill needs the support of at least 330 deputies in the550-seat assembly to go to a referendum, expected in the spring. The AKP has 316 deputies eligible to vote and the MHP 39.
The three articles were passed with between 341 and 343 votes in favor.
The reform will enable Erdogan to appoint and dismiss government ministers, take back the leadership of the ruling party, and govern until 2029.
The plans foresee presidential and general elections in 2019, with a maximum of two five-year terms. ik/11:03
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Ex-Kosovo premier freed pending French extradition decision
Paris, 12 January 2017 (MIA) - A French court has ordered the release of a jailed former prime minister of Kosovo pending a decision on whether to extradite him to Serbia, where he's wanted on war crimes charges, AP reports.
Overturning an earlier decision, the court in the eastern French city of Colmar said in a statement Thursday that Ramush Haradinaj can leave jail but must stay in France under judicial supervision while his case is studied.
Serbia's government formally requested his extradition after French police detained Haradinaj last week at Basel Mulhouse Frieburg airport.
The arrest has angered Kosovo, where lawmakers called on the European Union to intervene to secure his release.
Haradinaj, a former guerrilla fighter in Kosovo's 1998-1999 war for independence from Serbia, was cleared of war crimes charges by a U.N. tribunal.
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