NICOSIA, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon once again urged the leaders of the Greek and Turkish communities of Cyprus to try to secure a solution to the long-standing Cyprus problem by the end of the year, officials from both sides said on Sunday.
They said Ban had telephone conversations overnight on Saturday with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, since he met them in person at the UN headquarters on September 25.
Officials said Ban told the two leaders that they can count on his personal assistance in their bid for a solution within the framework of the good services mission entrusted to him by the U.N. Security Council.
Ban has appointed a special emissary on Cyprus, former Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, who is currently working on convening a series of negotiating sessions abroad early in November to tackle the sensitive issue of territorial adjustments.
Cypriot government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said President Anastasiades told Ban that all parties involved in the effort must work through concrete actions so as to create the conditions necessary for a final agreement.
On the Turkish Cypriot side, officials said that Ban and Akinci repeated during their conversation that the target is still to reach a solution agreement by the end of 2016.
They also said that Ban said UN support towards a solution will be available from the highest level possible.
Anastasiades and Akinci have been negotiating a solution to reunify the eastern Mediterranean island since May 2015.
They have made progress on most of the issues involved but decisions are still pending by Turkey for the withdrawal of its troops that occupied more than one third of Cyprus's territory in 1974, reacting to a coup by the military rulers of Greece at the time.
Christodoulides has said that the two leaders will have a series of meetings abroad in November to tackle the issue of territorial adjustments.
