Hopes that 2009 will see the reunification of Cyprus are alive after Mehmet Ali Talat, Turkish Cypriot leader, and Greek Cypriot President Demetris Christofias reached an agreement on several issues in their last meeting. According to Hurriyet, consensus has been achieved on co-operation between central State and the two federated states, and the hierarchy of norms.

After the meeting, monitored by a UN envoy, both leaders openly acknowledged that the pace of negotiations had been too slow and insufficient progress had been made. Thus, both leaders agreed to speed up the process. Next meeting between the two leaders is to be held on January 12.

However, it is likely that forthcoming talks remain as intricate as they have been up to now or even more.