United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Friday urged the two divided ethnic communities on Cyprus to use imagination and political courage to make substantive progress in settling their differences, according to dpa. Ban said the Greek Cypriots in the south and Turkish Cypriots in the north of the Mediterranean island are committed to a solution leading to a bi-zonal and bi-communal federation, but one year has passed since their last round of talks and agreements have not been reached. He urged the two sides "to build on the progress achieved to date, by showing the necessary imagination and political courage to move from talks about procedures to real engagement on substance." Ban said the UN stands ready to assist the two sides, but emphasized that the two Cypriot communities must seek a solution to their problems. UN mediation to work out a federal government shared by the two sides failed. Greek Cypriots in 2004 rejected the UN plan in a referendum, while Turk Cypriots accepted. Since then the Greek side has joined the European Union while the Turkish side has remained isolated in its economic and political struggle. A UN peacekeeping operation has been manning a ceasefire line separating the two communities.
