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Nicosia: The division of Cyprus could be resolved by the end of the year, the Turkish Cypriot leader said, while the island's newly elected president came under international pressure to honour his pledge to quickly restart talks.
President-elect Dimitris Christofias had campaigned on a pledge to act fast to restart long-stalled talks to reunify the island.
"I believe that it won't be a surprise if we solve the problem by the end of 2008," Mehmet Ali Talat told reporters at a news conference on Monday.
Decades of diplomatic efforts to heal the rift on the strategic island have failed. Reunification would remove one of the obstacles to Turkey's efforts to join the EU and could ease strong objections to Kosovo's new independence among Greek Cypriots, who fear it would act as a precedent for north Cyprus.
The island's division is also a major source of tension between Nato allies Turkey and Greece.
Christofias faced mounting pressure almost immediately. "I would strongly encourage you to grasp this chance and without delay start negotiations under United Nations auspices with the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community on a comprehensive settlement," EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told the new president.
He said Christofias's election "offers the opportunity to overcome the long-standing stalemate".
The UN Secretary General's Cyprus representative, Michael Moller, welcomed Christofias' "intention to move quickly to start talks", while the US Embassy in Nicosia said "2008 offers a window of opportunity for significant progress".
Cyprus has been divided into a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north and a Greek Cypriot south since 1974.
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