ANKARA — Cyprus is back on the international agenda, with leaders of the island's rival Greek and Turkish communities engaged in intense negotiations to resolve the divided country's status. But, although new talks are under way, the international community is, not surprisingly, tired of dealing with the issue.

After all, the Cyprus conflict has dragged on since 1974, wearing out U.N. secretary generals and special representatives of all sorts, as well as bringing down governments in both Greece and Cyprus.

In 2004, the European Union, the United States and a good part of the international community invested considerable energy in trying to resolve the conflict once and for all. Then U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and his team drafted a plan, which Turkey's government took big political risks in supporting. The government convinced the Turkish Cypriots to make a leap of faith and vote in favor of the Annan plan to reunite the island.