Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders agree to hold another informal meeting after meeting with Guterres

MADRID 16 Oct. () –

The president of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, and the president of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Ersin Tatar, agreed this Tuesday to hold another informal meeting “in the near future” and of a “broader format” after holding a informal dinner with the UN Secretary General, António Guterres.

“The leaders have agreed to hold an informal meeting in a broader format in the near future, under the auspices of the Secretary-General, to discuss the way forward. They have also agreed to meet in Cyprus to explore the possibility of opening new border crossings,” The UN General Secretariat reported in a statement.

During the meeting, Guterres regretted that “common ground” had not been found between both parties to achieve the reunification of the island despite the efforts of his envoy to the country, María Angela Holguín Cuéllar, whose commitment he highlighted. both with the Greek and Turkish Cypriot authorities and with the political actors and civil society of the island and even with the international community.

In this sense, he has urged them to study “how to overcome the gap between their positions and restore trust to allow progress that would lead to a solution” of the issue peacefully and “for the benefit of all Cypriots and the future generations.”

This informal meeting was scheduled after Christodoulides expressed willingness to open talks on reunification, after which Tatar accepted an invitation from Guterres as long as there was “no formality in the context of talks on the Cyprus problem.”

Cyprus has been divided in two since the Turkish Army occupied the northern part – 36.2 percent of its territory – in 1974 after a coup d’état instigated by the military junta in power in Greece and due to fears that the island joined the latter country. In 1983, the Turkish Cypriots proclaimed the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Ankara, which maintains some 35,000 soldiers there.

Numerous UN-led efforts over the decades to reunify the eastern Mediterranean nation on the basis of a bizonal federation have failed. The most recent effort came in 2021, when officials from Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom – guarantor powers under an agreement that ended British colonial rule in Cyprus – joined top Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot politicians in Geneva for three days. of conversations.