More talks on Cyprus set for Feb., U.N. says

NICOSIA, Cyprus, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Meetings are scheduled between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot negotiators next week, a U.N. mission for Cyprus said Friday.

The United Nations Good Offices Mission in Cyprus said Greek negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis and his Turkey counterpart, Kudret Ozersay, met in Nicosia, seat of government of the Cypriot Republic.

Both sides agreed to sit down at the negotiating table again on Feb. 19 and details about plans for visits to Ankara and Athens "will be announced soon," the office said in a statement posted on its official Twitter account.

Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and his Turkish counterpart Dervis Eroglu said this week it was time to resolve lingering issues dividing the island since the 1970s.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said Tuesday their decision "lays a solid foundation for resumption of negotiations for a fair and viable comprehensive settlement of the long-standing Cyprus problem."

Turkey aspires to a closer relationship with the European Union, though its relationship with Cyprus, its political adversary, has presented a roadblock.

Cyprus has been divided into a Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish-occupied north since 1974. Turkey doesn't recognize the Republic of Cyprus, a member of the European Union.