1.   Periodic peace talks have not made any substantial headway toward reunifying the island.

2.   A U.N. proposal for reunifying the island in a federation envisages a single sovereignty for the Greek and Turkish Cypriot zones.

3.   All efforts to reunify the island have foundered and Turkish forces still occupy the north.

4.   Ankara says this should not happen before the island is reunified.

5.   Beijing, which hopes to one day reunify the island with China, rarely misses an opportunity to deny Taiwan any legitimacy as a separate entity.

6.   Cyprus views the move toward membership as a catalyst for reunifying the island.

7.   Denktash wants the island reunified as a confederation of two independent states, with the two communities living separately.

8.   Denktash, however, has threatened to boycott those talks unless the European Union holds off on entry negotiations with Cyprus until after the island is reunified.

9.   Greek Cypriots want the island reunified as a single state while Denktash seeks a looser arrangement linking two independent states.

10.   Greek Cypriots want the island reunified as a single state, in line with U.N. resolutions, while Denktash seeks a looser arrangement linking two independent states.