UK urges for progress in Cyprus unification talks in coming months

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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Any solution to the Cyprus problem must come from the Cypriots themselves, Miliband was quoted by AP as saying in Athens after talks with his Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyannis.    

He added that Britain will only play a supportive role in the ongoing U.N. sponsored peace talks. 

Re-launched in September 2008 after a four-year hiatus, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and his Greek Cypriot counterpart, Demetris Christofias, have been involved in reunification talks aimed at reaching an agreement to end the island's decades-long division. But little progress has been made so far.

The talks mark the first major push for peace since the failure of a U.N. reunification plan in 2004, which was approved by Turkish Cypriots but overwhelmingly rejected by Greek Cypriots.

According to the 1960 agreements on Cyprus; Turkey, Greece and Britain were given the guarantor power status on the island.

Miliband arrived in the Turkish capital of Ankara later in the day to hold talks focused on the country's European Union membership bid. He is due to meet with Turkey's Chief Negotiator for EU talks Egemen Bagis on Tuesday.

He will meet Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Wednesday.