Nobel peace laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former US President Jimmy Carter were on Cyprus this week as part of a delegation of elders supporting reunification talks between leaders of the island's Greek and Turkish communities.
Talks moved forward on Friday in a fourth meeting between Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat. According to the Associated Press, the two leaders agreed a weekly meeting to continue discussions on reunifying the Greek Cypriot south and the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north, divided since 1974.
Carter, Tutu and former Algerian foreign minister Lakhdar Brahimi spent two days on Cyprus as part of a group of 12 Nobel laureates set up by former South African President Nelson Mandela last year to help in conflict mediation.
They held separate talks on Thursday with the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders, who Tutu said had taken "very courageous steps" since launching negotiations last month.
"We think it's a very exciting time, a propitious time, and we want to be able to tell the people that nowhere in the world do you really have what are intractable problems," he said on his arrival to the island.
Carter stressed that the Elders were there to support the leaders in their talks.
"The overwhelming sense that all of us have is that this is a decision that must be made by the Cypriot people and no one from outside," he said.
With two relatively young and moderate leaders in charge for the first time, international leaders say that the talks are the best chance for peace on the island in decades. Cypriot leaders held similar peace talks four years ago that failed.
