Settlement talks are continuing, but they're struggling

During the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama promised to "show U.S. leadership in seeking to negotiate a political settlement on Cyprus. He believes strongly that Cyprus should remain a single, sovereign country in which each of the two communities on the island is able to exercise substantial political authority within a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation."

Since 1974, Cyprus has been divided. Two-thirds of the island is under the control of an internationally recognized government that is predominantly Greek-Cypriot. It is a member of the European Union. The remaining one-third under the control of a Turkish Cypriot government that is recognized only by Turkey.

According to the U.S. State Department's country background page on Cyprus, "The United States regards the status quo on Cyprus as unacceptable. Successive U.S. administrations have viewed U.N.-led intercommunal negotiations as the best means to achieve a fair and permanent settlement."

On-again, off-again negotiations under United Nations auspices have been under way for decades. The most recent round of talks began in May 2010.

Before a U.N.-called meeting of Cypriot leaders in late January 2012, the Guardian reported that "the prospects for a settlement ... remain as distant as ever."

After those talks concluded, Voice of America reported on Jan. 26, 2012, that "United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has acknowledged U.N. talks on Cyprus have ended with little tangible progress, but added he may call an international conference in late April or early May on a settlement to resolve the division of the island."

VOA reported that "negotiations between President Demetris Christofias, who heads the internationally recognized Greek-Cypriot government, and Turkish-Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu have effectively stalled and are in jeopardy of collapse. Commentators originally believed that the U.N. chief might succeed in Cyprus where others had faltered, but he acknowledges major issues, such as property abandoned by displaced Greek Cypriots then occupied by settlers from mainland Turkey, remain unresolved."

If the talks turn in a more positive direction, we'll adjust our rating. But for now, the downbeat assessments of the current round of talks suggest that the likelihood of progress seems distant. So we rate this a Promise Broken.