The time for the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots communities to agree to reunify their divided island is running out, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report Wednesday (September 30th). The organisation urged Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat to speed up talks on establishing a bi-zonal federation and hold a referendum on the final agreement within their communities early next year. "Failure will mean an indefinite partition of the island, leading to more strains in EU-Turkey relations, new frictions in the east Mediterranean, [and] less EU-NATO co-operation ..." the ICG said. The report urged the EU to support the process and organise a donor's conference for Cyprus.
The time for the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots communities to agree to reunify their divided island is running out, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report Wednesday (September 30th). The organisation urged Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat to speed up talks on establishing a bi-zonal federation and hold a referendum on the final agreement within their communities early next year. "Failure will mean an indefinite partition of the island, leading to more strains in EU-Turkey relations, new frictions in the east Mediterranean, [and] less EU-NATO co-operation ..." the ICG said. The report urged the EU to support the process and organise a donor's conference for Cyprus.
