Cheese, water and crossings aim to build trust for split Cyprus' rival leaders

NICOSIA, Cyprus — The rival leaders of divided Cyprus on Thursday agreed on multiple projects to boost mutual trust in hopes of getting back on track long-stalled formal talks to resolve the island's 51-year-old ethnic cleave.

Nikos Christodoulides, the island's Greek Cypriot president, and Tufan Erhurman, the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, agreed to work out a deal that would allow Turkish Cypriot manufacturers of Halloumi cheese, or Hellim in Turkish — a rubbery, squeaky cheese that's the island's top export — to access European markets.

They also agreed to help expedite traffic at the busiest of some nine crossing points across a United Nations buffer zone that separates Greek Cypriots in the south — where the internationally recognized government is seated — and Turkish Cypriots in the breakaway north.

They will also concentrate on completing construction of pipelines from a water treatment plant in the north to supply water to Greek Cypriot farmers in the south, in line with an agreement that remained unfulfilled for a decade.

The announcement that the leaders would work on getting these trust-building measures off the ground offered some positive news for reviving the dormant talks. The last major push for peace at a Swiss resort eight years ago collapsed amid a wave of recriminations over who was to blame.

Christodoulides said after Thursday's meeting that he was particularly pleased that much of the discussion also touched on core issues of the long-running dispute ''after a long time.''

Also speaking after the meeting, Erhurman said these are ''the first steps'' toward full-fledged talks and underscored that the ground must be adequately prepared so that talks will lead to a comprehensive peace deal. He said a Greek Cypriot acceptance of Turkish Cypriot ''political equality'' is a prerequisite to a talks resumption.

Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded in the wake of an Athens junta-backed coup seeking to unite Cyprus with Greece. Turkish Cypriots declared independence in 1983 that's recognized only by Turkey. More than 35,000 Turkish troops are stationed in the breakaway north.

Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, but only the south enjoys full membership benefits.

A peace deal in Cyprus would help unlock the east Mediterranean's full energy potential, including expanding the search for sizable natural gas reserves off Cyprus.

A turning point to rejuvenating peace efforts came in October when Turkish Cypriots elected the moderate Erhurman are their leader in a landslide win over the hard line incumbent Ersin Tatar. Tatar's insistence on effectively partitioning the island into two states — a position championed by Turkey — was seen as a non-starter by Greek Cypriots.

Erhurman supports the U.N.-endorsed peace framework for a peace deal that envisions a federated Cyprus made up of Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot zones. But challenges remain, including demands by the minority Turkish Cypriots for a permanent Turkish troop presence, military intervention rights for Turkey and veto powers on all government decisions — demands that Greek Cypriots reject.