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Turkey’s top civilian and military leaders called Friday for new negotiations to reunite the divided island of Cyprus loosely based on a plan proposed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
The United States welcomed the move, which comes amid increasing pressure on Turkey and Turkish Cypriots to find a solution to the island’s division.
Cyprus is scheduled to join the European Union in May, and EU leaders have said that failure to reunify the island before then could jeopardize Turkey’s chances of EU membership.
Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to meet Annan in Switzerland on Saturday.
