Leaders of Cyprus' rival communities are preparing for reunification talks, seen as the best chance in years of ending the island's division. Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias will begin formal negotiations Wednesday with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat. Both men say they are determined to end Cyprus' division, which has kept the island partioned between Greek and Turkish Cypriots for 34 years. Their display of political will has raised hopes for a deal. “For the first time, there are two moderate leftist leaders who are believed to be serious in their attempt to solve the problem,” said Hubert Faustmann, professor of international relations at Nicosia University. “Before, you always had at least one Cypriot spoiler.” Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded in response to a short-lived coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece. Turkey keeps 35,000 troops in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north. Past peace efforts have repeatedly foundered on the same sticking points – power-sharing arrangements, property rights for displaced Greek Cypriots, the nature of a future federation and intervention rights for Turkey and Greece. The two countries remain guarantor powers for the island, which that gained independence from Britain in 1960. Fifteen United Nations envoys have tried and failed over the decades to broker a deal to unify the island which has fewer than a million inhabitants. The last attempt, in 2004, collapsed when Turkish Cypriots voted in favor a UN settlement plan but Greek Cypriot voters rejected it. As a result, Cyprus joined the European Union that year as a divided island with Turkish Cypriots denied the bloc's membership benefits. But prospects for a deal improved in February when the Communist-backed Christofias was elected president on a campaign pledge of reviving peace talks. He worked quickly with Talat to create problem-solving committees, and reopened a symbolic border crossing at Ledra Street in the medieval center of the divided capital, Nicosia. Talat says a deal is possible in the next nine months. Wednesday's meeting is expected to be largely ceremonial, but the talks have gained urgency because of concern that another failure could calcify the island's partition.
