EU’s Rehn sees Cyprus deal in 2009

2009 must be the year of a comprehensive settlement for the divided island of Cyprus, the European Union's enlargement chief said in an interview, urging all parties, and in particular Turkey, to step up efforts.
Greek and Turkish Cypriots have lived separately since a Turkish invasion in 1974 in response to a Greek-inspired coup. Leaders of the two communities resumed talks in September after a four-year hiatus.
Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said all parties should work to create a "win-win situation" for the two communities.
"We are not in the business of pressure. We are in the business of facilitation," he told Reuters.
"It's important for everybody, but Turkey is one of the key stakeholders … they have supported the process, yes, but it is important that we all intensify our political support for a Cyprus settlement."
EU officials have said privately that progress in Cyprus reunification talks next year will be essential to move Turkey's slow-moving EU accession talks forward.
"I hope that next year will be the year of Cyprus and its comprehensive settlement," Rehn said.
"We need…to reunify the island so that Cyprus could be like a normal EU member state, in peace, united," he said.
Greek Cypriots represent the island in the European Union, which they joined in 2004 and of which Turkey also wants to a member.
"Next year will be a crucial window of opportunity for that, that's why we will certainly invest all resources, all mental and personal resources that are needed to bring that support," he said.
BLUEPRINT
A settlement on Cyprus has eluded diplomats for decades. Peace efforts collapsed in 2004 when Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N. reunification blueprint accepted by Turkish Cypriots.
Rehn said that it was important that the talks continue to be driven by the leaders of the two parts of the island, but that the EU was ready to bring as much legal and technical support as required by the two parties or the United Nations.
The fact that Cyprus is a member of the EU has wide-ranging impact on the reunification talks, as they mean bringing the north of the island into the 27-nation bloc, with its massive legislation and specific deals with nations such as Turkey.
"It is a matter of paramount importance for the EU to see a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus," Rehn said.
Turkey has 30,000 troops stationed in North Cyprus and refuses to normalize ties with the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus. Ankara argues that that state ceased to exist when a powersharing arrangement between Greek and minority Turkish Cypriots collapsed amid communal bloodshed soon after independence from Britain in the early 1960s.
Turkey, for its part, has called for an easing of tough international sanctions against northern Cyprus.
EU-candidate Turkey and Turkish Cypriots have in the last couple of weeks called for the bloc to press Greek Cypriots to speed up reunification talks.
Turkey's EU accession talks are frozen in eight areas of talks out of 35 because of Ankara's refusal to open its ports to Cypriot vessels.
Leaders of the two communities of the island have recently accused each other of undermining a fragile peace process in a dispute over Greek Cypriot oil exploration. Rehn said it was important to avoid this kind of incidents in the future.
Both sides agree to a settlement based on a federation, but there are disagreements about how it would work and the degree of authority each side would have. Any deal will need to be approved by Cypriots in separate, simultaneous referendums.
Other outstanding issues include property rights, security guarantees, and the return of refugees.