The Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and the leader of the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Mustafa Akinci arrived to Geneva for negotiations on unification of Cyprus, reports DW.

It is expected, that the negotiations will continue for three days. In case the negotiations register a progress, on January 12 the guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey, and the UK will join the parties. The recent negotiations on the unification of Cyprus was held in late November 2016, but they did not give any results. The parties were unable to overcome the differences on the territorial issue.

Cyprus was divided in 1974, after Turkey's armed invasion. Turkey occupied 37 percent of the island in 1983, proclaiming that area as Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. It is recognized by Ankara only. In 2004, the Republic of Cyprus became an EU member. The Cypriot authorities have been blocking negotiation about Turkey's accession to EU since 2005.