Talat hopes for Cyprus solution by end of year

25/07/2008

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat says he hopes a solution to Cyprus's decades-long division will be found by the end of the year. "I am not talking about a process that will take months or years. I believe we can make it by the end of 2008," he told the Anadolu news agency Thursday (July 24th). Talat said the comprehensive negotiating process would begin at his meeting with Cypriot President Demetris Christofias on Friday.

Meanwhile in New York, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said any solution for Cyprus must be based on the principles of bi-zonality, political equality and a preservation of Turkey's guarantorship. He reiterated his country's stance during a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday. (Zaman, Famagusta Gazette, Philelefteros, Politis, Naftemporiki - 25/07/08, CNA, Hurriyet, Turkish Press, Anadolu news agency - 24/07/08)