12 seconds ago 2009-11-28T08:17:29-08:00
LONDON (AFP) – Britain has renewed an offer to make available half of its territory on Cyprus if the island can be reunited, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said after talks with the Cypriot president in London.
Brown said it was a "critical time" in talks between Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders and renewed Britain's 2003 offer to the United Nations to make available part of its sovereign base areas on the island as a sign of support.
"It is important that the solution to the Cyprus problem is a Cypriot one -- a solution by Cypriots for Cypriots," Brown said after talks with President Demetris Christofias.
"Nevertheless, as a sign of support for the negotiations, I can confirm today that an offer has been made to the United Nations to make available just under 50 percent of the territory of the UK's Sovereign Base Areas to a unified Cyprus in the event of a solution.
"It will be up to the two leaders to negotiate what happens with this land."
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey occupied the north in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
