'Turkey may share water with Cyprus'

Turkey is ready to share water with all of Cyprus in the event of a solution to the island's division, Turkey's deputy prime minister said yesterday.A link providing Turkish water to Turkish Cyprus will be ready by 2014, Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said, adding that that water would suffice the entire island." We are ready to share the water with the entire island if a settlement is found in ongoing Cyprus negotiations," Atalay said in Nicosia, where he went to attend the ceremonies marking the 28th anniversary of Turkish Cyprus' foundation.Turkey supports an equal, bi-communal federal structure in Cyprus, Atalay said, adding that Turkey and Turkish Cyprus had exerted necessary efforts for a settlement.The deputy leader also said turkey saw January's scheduled trilateral summit among the Turkish Cypriot and greek cypriot leaders, as well as the United Nations Secretary-general, as a test." Turkey will continue to stand by Turkish Cyprus in its efforts to get economically and democratically strong whether there is a settlement or not," Atalay said.