UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, is expected to visit Athens, Nicosia, and Ankara in mid-February.
According to UN sources, DiCarlo is planning to meet with high-ranking officials in the three capitals, with a view to pave the way for an informal expanded meeting on the Cyprus question scheduled to take place in March in Switzerland. The exact dates of her visits have not been finalized yet.
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.
On October 15, 2024, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hosted an informal dinner with Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar in New York, encouraging “the leaders to consider how to bridge the gap in their positions and rebuild trust to allow movement leading to a settlement.”
At the meeting, President Christodoulides and Tatar agreed to have an informal meeting in a broader format in the near future, under the auspices of the Secretary-General, to discuss the way forward. They also agreed to have a meeting in Cyprus to explore the possibility of opening new crossings. Earlier this month it was announced that this meeting will take place on January 20, at the Chief of Mission’s Residence, in Nicosia buffer zone.
Also read: Cyprus-Greece intergovernmental summit underway
Source: CNA
