"Yalcin Vehit: no compromise on political equality
Yalcin Vehit, head of the Turkish Cypriot representation to the EU, speaks to cafebabel.com about the problems in Cyprus, and its position in the EU.
The UN buffer zone in Cyprus (Stuart Hughes)
Since the coup d’état in 1974, which intended to unite Cyprus and Greece, the small Mediterranean island is the only European country which is still divided. In the south, the Republic of Cyprus and the Cypriot Greek community, which has sovereignty over the whole island and is recognised by the international community, and in the north, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a self proclaimed state since 1983. Between the two, the UN buffer zone, which stretches for 180 kilometres and is manned by 1,200 UN peace-keepers under the United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). A difficult situation for the UN and the EU, as the last attempt at negotiations between the two parties ended in failure in 2004, with the Annan peace plan."
More:café babel, European current affairs magazine : comment and analysis from Europe
