Turkish Cypriot leader reiterates desire to see a solution in 2009

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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Talat said a just and permanent peace in Cyprus would be reached by negotiations, but added an agreement would have to be approved by the Turkish Parliament, the state-run Anatolian Agency reported.

He was speaking to reporters while receiving Turkish Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan in Nicosia.

Talat said last month the chance of reaching a peace deal on the divided island by the end of 2009 or early 2010, is "quite high," adding it could be impossible to find another opportunity if this one is missed.

Re-launched in September 2008 after a four-year hiatus, Talat and his Greek Cypriot counterpart, Demetris Christofias, have been involved in U.N.-sponsored unification talks aimed at reaching an agreement to end the island's decades-long division. But little progress has been made so far.

The talks mark the first major push for peace since the failure of a U.N. reunification plan in 2004, which was approved by Turkish Cypriots but overwhelmingly rejected by Greek Cypriots.

Turkey expects the negotiations in Cyprus to produce a positive result without making concessions from basic principles, and asks that the European Union, or EU, to fulfill its duties and for an end to the isolations imposed on Turkish Cypriots, Toptan said.

"Everyone should be careful in solving the Cyprus problem and there are important points everyone must accept. We share the same notions with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, TRNC, on this matter," Anatolian Agency quoted Toptan as saying.

"We have never regarded a deadlock as a solution. The hastiness with which the EU accepted the Greek Cypriot administration as a member caused difficulties in solving the Cyprus problem," he added.