NICOSIA, Cyprus — Hope has become the watchword here as negotiators make halting progress on reconciling the ethnic Greeks and Turks who have divided Cyprus since the 1970s — one of the world’s longest “frozen conflicts” playing out on this balmy Mediterranean island.After more than four decades of frustration, intensive talks between leaders of the two communities in recent days have created a sense of optimism not seen in years, raising hopes of a diplomatic and political breakthrough in a world badly in need of both.
