U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on rival leaders in Cyprus to reach a solution soon to reunify the divided island, her spokesman said on Thursday. Clinton met Wednesday with Mehmet Ali Talat, leader of breakaway Turkish Cyprus. She met earlier this month in Prague with Markos Kyprianou, foreign minister of the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus, who will come next week to Washington for further talks. “She expressed her support for the efforts of both sides to build on the momentum and achieve a solution as soon as possible, which will require courage on all sides,” State Department spokesman Robert Wood said. Clinton voiced “her confidence they can meet this challenge,” he said. Talat headed to Washington for the talks just days before Turkish Cyprus holds elections. His left-wing Turkish Republican Party has been down in opinion polls. The State Department said Clinton had a “positive, constructive meeting” with Talat. “She reaffirmed the support of the United States for a just and lasting settlement that reunifies Cyprus into a bizonal, bicommunal federation,” Wood said.
