President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci have sent their wishes for a happy and prosperous new year to everyone, following their last meeting for 2015 held on December 20th.

The leaders said they were satisfied with the progress achieved so far in the reunification talks, and that they are determined to maintain their positive momentum at the next meetings planned for the 7th, 14th and 29th of January 2016.

“The leaders held constructive deliberations on all of the outstanding issues and provided further guidance to the negotiators,” said a UN spokesman.

In the latest development in November, the leaders agreed on forming an educational committee to fix the problem of institutionalised ethical biases in education, following several violent episodes by Greek Cypriot students against Turkish Cypriots who were marking the anniversary of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) - an entity unrecognised by any country with the exception of Turkey.

In December, the leaders also made a visit to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) and met with the three CMP Members and many of the Committee’s Greek and Turkish Cypriot scientists to be briefed on the progress made, and the challenges faced.

During their visit, the leaders recorded an appeal calling on all Cypriots to provide information to the CMP on possible burial sites. This appeal will be shown island-wide as a TV-spot.

Not just the Cyprus problem

Regional problems could interfere with the progress made so far between Anastasiades and Akinci, as Turkey grows more belligerent amid Syria’s civil war. Russia is staking its claim in Syria and has boosted its military presence in and around Syria, coming in direct conflict with Turkey’s military along the border. This resulted in the shooting down of a Russian warplane and a serious rift between the two world powers. Turkey flexed its muscles by moving troops into Iraq and there’s no guarantee that it won’t get aggressive towards Russia over Cyprus. Russia has requested the use of military facilities on the island, and given that the two governments are traditional allies, this could be granted in the near future.

Turkey is in complete control of Akinci and the Turkish-Cypriot community, meaning that the division in Cyprus is not just about the inter-communal relations, but about larger regional power struggles.