The two leaders and their respective delegations met at the official residence of the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for Cyprus, Taye Brook Zerihoun, at the buffer zone in Lefkosa.

Talat and Christofias will discuss the issue of "Economy" on Tuesday.

The extensive talks aiming to find a lasting settlement to the Cyprus issue began on September 11, 2008.

TRNC and Turkey favor a bi-zonal and bi-communal, with two politically equal founding states, based on the UN parameters and earlier UN resolutions.

Leaders who are meeting for the 69th time on March 4 under the talks made certain progress over certain issues, but disagreement over issues like property, power sharing and treaty of guarantee still prevails.

Gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, Cyprus became a bi-communal Republic where Greek and Turkish Cypriot constituent communities would share power guaranteed by the UK, Turkey and Greece.

However, reluctant to share power and pursuing a policy of Enosis (Union) with Greece, Greek Cypriots soon expelled Turkish Cypriots from power and terrorised and ghettoised them.

Decades long armed attacks on the defenseless Turkish Cypriots culminated in 1974 when an Athens-backed Greek Cypriot military coup on the island led to Turkey's intervention based on its rights stemming from the Treaty of Guarantee.

Although the Republic of Cyprus as described in the 1959 agreements is no longer there, Greek Cypriots continue to enjoy this title and international recognition while the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a fully democratic government representing Turkish Cypriots, still suffers under an unfair political and economic blockade.

Cyprus joined the EU as a divided island when Greek Cypriots in the south rejected the UN reunification plan in twin referendums in 2004 even though the Turkish Cypriots in the north overwhelmingly supported it.

The promise made by EU foreign ministers before the referendums to end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots and establish direct trade with north Cyprus remains unfulfilled.

TRNC is an independent republic located in the north of Cyprus. TRNC declared its independence in 1983, nine years after a Greek Cypriot coup attempting to annex the island to Greece led to a peace operation by Turkey. The TRNC has received diplomatic recognition from the Republic of Turkey and the TRNC has representations in dozens of countries across the globe.

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) maintains a large force in the TRNC. TSK's presence is supported and approved by the TRNC government.