News Summary: Lawmaker backs push to unify Cyprus

MISSED CHANCE: European Parliament member Daniel Cohn-Bendit scolded Cyprus' bailout creditors for failing to insist on the ethnically split country's reunification. Last month, Cyprus clinched a bailout deal under which it will receive 10 billion euros ($13 billion).

LONG SPLIT: Cyprus was split into an internationally recognized Greek-speaking south and a breakaway Turkish-speaking north in 1974. Turkish Cypriots declared an independent northern state in 1983, recognized only by Turkey, which maintains 35,000 troops there. The last U.N.-brokered attempt to reunify the island began in 2008 but has stalled.

DIM OUTLOOK: Cohn-Bendit says a sustainable economic recovery for the eastern Mediterranean island could only be achieved through closer ties with the region's biggest and most dynamic economy, Turkey. Cyprus' economy is expected to contract 13 percent over the next two years.