Babacan's remarks came following a bilateral meeting with his Greek counterpart, Dora Bakoyannis, which was held on Saturday in New York on the sidelines of the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly. "There are two leaders on the island who are ambitious for resolving problems, and they say that they want to reach a result. I believe that this is an important opportunity. We are also fully supporting this process. We are encouraging the two leaders to give the meetings their final shape as soon as possible and to reach a comprehensive solution," Babacan was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency.
Bakoyannis also touched upon the Cyprus issue, saying, as quoted by Anatolia, "The Greek side and Turkish side have been strongly encouraging of efforts toward a resolution concerning Cyprus on which there is agreement [by the two sides]."

The full-fledged negotiations between Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, which began earlier this month, are slated to resume on Oct. 10, with an initial focus on issues of governance and power sharing. In May, Christofias and Talat committed to a partnership that will comprise a federal government with a single international identity, along with a Turkish Cypriot constituent state and a Greek Cypriot constituent state, which will be of equal status. Ankara Today's Zaman with wires

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