Turkey hopes for Cyprus referendum in early 2012

Turkey hopes terms for the reunification of Cyprus can be agreed by the end of the year so that a referendum can take place in early 2012, Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutogolu said on a visit to the Turkish Cypriot enclave in the north of the island Saturday.

"We hope to find a solution to the Cyprus problem by the end of the year, and hold a referendum in the early months of next year so that Cyprus can take on the presidency of the EU as a new state that represents the whole island," Davutoglu told a joint news conferences with the president of northern Cyprus, Dervish Eroglu. (Reuters)