UN Secretary-General determined not to give up after the talks ended without finding common ground.
Al Taghyeer, Agencies
UN Secretary-General has pledged to continue to represent the interests of all Cypriots in future talks.
The informal efforts to break the deadlock ended “without finding enough common grounds”
The meeting was held in Geneva over the past three days.
“The truth is that at the end of our efforts, we have not yet found enough common ground to allow for the resumption of formal negotiations in relation to the settlement of the Cyprus problem” UN Secretary-General António Guterres told reporters.
He added, “We have been able to agree that I will convene in the near future another meeting of the 5+1, the five plus the United Nations, again with the objective to move in the direction of reaching common ground to allow for formal negotiations to start”.
The efforts of the UN to find a solution to the Cyprus impasse following consultations held in recent months by UN special envoy to Cyprus, Jane Holl Lute, on behalf of Guterres.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when the Turkish army invaded its northern third, in response to an attempted military coup aiming at Cyprus’ annexation by Greece.
In 2004, the Republic of Cyprus joined the European Union, whose interests are confined to the southern part of the island, which inhabited by Greek Cypriots, and governed by an authority that is the only recognized by the UN.
Turkey is the only country which recognizes Northern Cyprus, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
The informal 5+1 meeting on Cyprus, was held in Geneva, Switzerland on 27-29 April 2021, under the UN auspices.
The group consists of the three guarantor countries of Greece, Turkey and the UK, the two parts of Cyprus (Turkish and Greek), and the UN.
Talks for the reunification of Cyprus held under the auspices of the UN in Switzerland collapsed in July 2017.
Since then, there have been no formal negotiations mediated by the UN to settle the dispute in Cyprus.
