Turkey\u00a0and the US have agreed that a political settlement may be possible this year in Cyprus, the Mediterranean island divided for four decades.<\/p>\n
Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met the US secretary of state, John Kerry, in Washington, and both diplomats were upbeat about chances for a deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have also some good news from the eastern part of the Mediterranean, I mean\u00a0Cyprus,\u201d Cavusoglu said ahead of their meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are hoping to reach a settlement in Cyprus in 2016. Turkey\u2019s side is ready,\u201d he said, confirming for the first time that a deal is possible this year.<\/p>\n
Cavusoglu said talks on the issue had slowed during preparations for May\u2019s legislative elections in the south of the island.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut after the elections we are hoping to reach a settlement and the United States is giving its full support to this process as well as Turkey,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Kerry said he \u201ccouldn\u2019t agree more\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very deeply committed to and involved in the talks on Cyprus,\u201d he said, adding that both he and vice president Joe Biden has recently visited.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have met with the folks on both sides as well as individual countries and we are going keep pushing very, very hard towards a resolution of the Cyprus crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
In January, Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders \u00a0said a deal was possible\u00a0in 2016.<\/p>\n
Long-delayed UN-brokered peace talks were relaunched in May 2015.<\/p>\n
The goal is a unified, federal Cyprus but any deal would involve both sides making compromises on territorial and property rights.<\/p>\n
And both peoples would need to ratify the treaty in referendums.<\/p>\n
A referendum in 2004 saw a majority of Turkish Cypriots back reunification while more than three quarters of Greek Cypriots voted against it.<\/p>\n
(Source: The Guardian)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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