UN mediator for Cyprus and former Ecuadoran foreign minister Diego Cordovez gestures during a news conference November 21, wrapping up a three day visit to the divided eastern Mediterranean island. Cordovez, appointed earlier this year, warned that international inrterest in solving the Cyprus problem could wane if peace efforts next year fail. The island has been divided since a Turkish invasion of its north in 1974 in response to a brief coup engineered by the military then ruling Greece.