Just hours before Cyprus reunification talks were scheduled to begin on Thursday, a small bomb exploded in front of the home of the prime minister of the self-declared Turkish Cypriot state. There were no injuries.
Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat, a leading advocate of reunification, quickly vowed that the talks would go on. The blast in front of his home shattered windows and tore apart tree branches and street signs. Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos will meet with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash and Talat at an abandoned airport on the sides' border later on Thursday for an intense round of UN-sponsored peace talks. Aimed at ending the island's division, the round of talks is being met with unprecedented optimism on both sides. "There is no return from this road," Talat told reporters in front of his home after the early morning blast. "In this process, there may be some people who are disturbed by the two communities coming closer, but such acts will not make us return from this path." There have been fears in Cyprus that extremists could use violence to try and disrupt the talks.
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