Cyprus leader says he is ready to resume peace talks ‘today’

Cyprus' president said on Wednesday he was ready to immediately resume reunification talks over the ethnically divided island, urging regional rival Turkey to also engage in the effort.

"We cannot change geography. It is an opportunity, not a curse. Turkey and Cyprus will always remain neighbors," Nikos Christodoulides said in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. "I adamantly believe we can carve a new path, one of peace, cooperation and collaboration," he said.

Cyprus was split decades ago in a Turkish invasion after a brief Greek-inspired coup, and preceded by years of sporadic violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Reunification talks collapsed in mid-2017 and have been at a stalemate since.

A Turkish Cypriot breakaway entity in northern Cyprus, backed only by Turkey, wants a two-state deal where its sovereignty is recognized....