UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, announced, on Tuesday, his decision to appoint a new personal envoy on Cyprus to prepare the next steps, while also announcing a new informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format at the end of July.
He also announced that the two leaders, President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, have agreed a group of initiatives to build trust and specifically, the opening four crossing points, demining, the creation of a Technical Committee on Youth, initiatives on the environment and climate change including the impact on mining areas, solar energy in the buffer zone and restoration of cemeteries.
In his statements after the plenary of the informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format, Guterres said that from the very start of his mandate, he has been committed “to the security and wellbeing of the Cypriots, the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots”.
Today, he said, “was another attempt to find a way forward”, noting that discussions were held “at a constructive atmosphere, with both sides showing clear commitment to making progress and continuing dialogue”.
According to the UN Secretary-General, the two leaders have agreed to a group of initiatives to build trust, and specifically, the opening four crossing point, demining, the creation of a Technical Committee on Youth, initiatives on the environment and climate change including the impact on mining areas, solar energy in the buffer zone and restoration of cemeteries.
“We agreed to have in this format the next meeting end of July and I will appoint a personal envoy to prepare the next steps”, he added.
Asked by the Cyprus News Agency, whether based on today’s developments and what he has announced, he is confident that the two sides would be able to move forward to having substantive talks as regards a solution to the Cyprus problem, Guterres said “it is important to note that even before Crans-Montana, and we are talking about 2017 until now, there was no real progress on any aspect and today there was meaningful progress”.
“I hope that the confidence building measures or the initiatives to build trust together with the decision to have very soon a next meeting and the acceptance by all of the appointment of a personal envoy on Cyprus to prepare the next steps, demonstrate a sense of commitment and a sense of urgency that I believe were extremely important”, he said, noting that “it’s a new atmosphere”.
Asked by another journalist whether his previous personal envoy on Cyprus María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar would continue in that position, he said he would appoint a new envoy, but that he has not yet chosen anyone. “Before the meeting, I didn’t even know if I would be able to appoint an envoy,” he noted.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
Also read: US Ambassador welcomes progress on trust-building in Cyprus
Source: CNA
