NICOSIA, Cyprus - The decades-long division of Cyprus could be resolved by the end of the year, the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots said Monday.
The remarks came a day after Greek Cypriots elected Dimitris Christofias as president after he campaigned on a pledge to quickly restart long-stalled talks to reunify the island.
"It is very possible to find a solution by the end of the year," Mehmet Ali Talat told The Associated Press.
Cyprus has been divided into a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north and a Greek Cypriot south since 1974, when Turkey invaded in the wake of a coup attempting to unite the island with Greece.
The division is a major source of tension between NATO allies Turkey and Greece and decades of diplomatic efforts to heal the rift on the strategic island have failed. Reunification would remove one of the obstacles to Turkey's efforts to join the European Union and could ease strong objections to Kosovo's new independence among Greek Cypriots, who fear it would act as a precedent for north Cyprus.
Talks have been stalled since Greek Cypriots rejected a UN reunification plan in 2004. Turkish Cypriots approved the blueprint.
Christofias' election Sunday, after the ouster of hardline Tassos Papadopoulos in a surprise first-round election, has sparked hope for eventual healing of the division.
"The Greek Cypriot people decided on change. They chose a person who can make that change," Talat said. "We believe this decision will be the start of a new era."
The U.S. believes "2008 offers a window of opportunity for significant progress," the Embassy in Nicosia said.
Christofias has pledged to meet with Talat, with whom he shares the same left-wing political ideology and has had friendly relations in the past. No date has been set for a meeting.
"At least he is somebody who is not denying the role of the Turkish Cypriot leader in a solution and he doesn't deny to meet the Turkish Cypriot leader," Talat told the AP in a reference to Papadopoulos. Talat said Papadopoulos declined to meet "even to have a coffee."
Talat said it was enough that there was momentum in the peace process at last, though he acknowledged that difficult negotiations lie ahead.
"We are ready to find a solution to this problem. We will be flexible, we will work in good faith and we will be always active," he said. "We believe that a solution is possible ... for the benefit of both the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots."
Christofias said he hoped to set up an initial, "exploratory" meeting with Talat soon.
"Naturally, the UN will be involved as usual, and I believe that soon we will arrange a first exploratory meeting," he said.
Christofias said he would first go to Athens next week, and then to Brussels before returning home.
Christofias, a Soviet-educated 61-year-old history professor, heads the communist-rooted AKEL party and has long had friendly ties with the Turkish Cypriot left wing.
Christofias won comfortably on Sunday night with just over 53 percent of the vote, ahead of conservative former Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides with 46.6 percent.
Both had pledged to restart peace talks.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the vote "generated a renewed sense of hope -- among both communities on the island -- that progress toward a comprehensive settlement can be achieved during 2008."
