Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots stood side by side in a rally to reunify the divided island.<br /><br /> Marching through the UN buffer zone, they were calling on leaders of the two sides to do their utmost to make a deal.<br /><br /> Holding placards that read ‘Yes to a solution’, they chanted ‘Cyprus belongs to the people’.<br /><br /> “We are here believing that a new era, a new epoch for Cyprus can start with the co-operation between Greek and Turkish Cypriots for a common country,” Takis Chatzidimtriou, a protest organiser told a reporter.<br /><br /> “In this island as modern people of the south and the north, as Cypriots, we can find a way, we can find a middle way and I think it is very close,” said Turkish Cypriot protester Salih Oztopzak.<br /><br /> The island has been divided since the Turkish troops invaded in 1974 in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking a union with Greece. Generations of diplomats have failed find a settlement.<br /><br /> Efforts will resume next month in Geneva, to resolve the issue of how much land would remain in Greek and Turkish Cypriot control.<br /><br /> Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Mustafa Akıncı agreed to return to the negotiating table after UN-sponsored talks in November collapsed. They are due to meet on January 9th, and will present maps of their respective proposals two days later.<br />
