Turkey, US agree Cyprus deal possible this year

Turkey and the United States agreed March 28 that a political settlement may be possible this year in Cyprus, the Mediterranean island that has been divided for four decades.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington, and both diplomats were upbeat about chances for a deal.

"We have also some good news from the eastern part of the Mediterranean, I mean Cyprus," Çavu?o?lu was quoted as saying by AFP to a group of reporters ahead of their meeting.

"We are hoping to reach a settlement in Cyprus in 2016. Turkey's side is ready," he said, confirming for the first time that a deal is possible this year.  

Çavu?o?lu said talks on the issue had slowed during preparations for May's legislative elections in Greek Cyprus.

"But after the elections we are hoping to reach a settlement and the United States is giving its full support to this process as well as Turkey," he said.

Kerry said he "couldn't agree more." 

"We are very deeply committed to and involved in the talks on Cyprus," he said, adding that both he and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden had recently visited the island. 

"We have met with the folks on both sides as well as individual countries and we are going keep pushing very, very hard towards a resolution of the Cyprus crisis." 

In January, Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Ak?nc? said a deal was possible in 2016.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops intervened on the island's northern side in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking union with Greece.

Long-stalled U.N.-brokered peace talks were re-launched last May after Ak?nc? was elected as president...