Rival Cypriot sides to work on removing landmines, other peace initiatives

(Reuters) - Greek and Turkish Cypriots will cooperate on removing landmines between their estranged communities and undertake initiatives on the environment and climate change, their leaders agreed on Wednesday, weeks after the U.N. hailed the first meaningful progress in years in talks on the future of the divided island.

The announcement was made in a statement on behalf of Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar released by the United Nations mission in Cyprus following a meeting between the two.

The two communities, who live on separate sides of Cyprus, also plan to establish a technical committee to address youth issues as part of a package of confidence-building measures between the two sides, the statement said.

Cyprus was split by a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek-inspired coup, following years of sporadic violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots almost immediately after independence from Britain in 1960. The island is a key source of disagreement between NATO allies Greece and Turkey.

The two sides had a "constructive exchange" on increasing the number of civilian crossing points between the two sides, as well as plans to create a solar farm in the U.N.-controlled buffer zone between them, the statement said.

Reunification talks collapsed in 2017 and efforts to start a renewed peace process had been stalled since.

But Christodoulides and Tatar met for informal talks two weeks ago in Geneva, after which U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said progress had been made for the first time in years.

Despite agreeing to confidence-building measures, the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides are still at odds over how any settlement would work.

Greek Cypriots want a federation, a model prescribed by U.N. resolutions, while Turkish Cypriots advocate for a two-state solution, arguing that decades of failed negotiations have proven a federal model unworkable.

(Reporting by Michele Kambas; Editing by Alex Richardson)