News
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met on Monday with Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, the United Nations secretary-general’s personal envoy on Cyprus, to discuss recent developments related to the long-running Cyprus issue, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry said the meeting also covered Holguin’s recent contacts with the leaders of the island’s two sides following her latest visit to Cyprus.
According to the ministry, Fidan reaffirmed Turkey’s support for the efforts of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres aimed at advancing dialogue on the issue.
Fidan said Turkey, as a guarantor power, believes that a settlement based on the coexistence of two states on the island represents the most viable path to resolving the Cyprus issue, according to the ministry.
He also said proposals that do not recognize what Turkey describes as the Turkish Cypriot people’s sovereign equality and equal international status are unlikely to produce results.
Cyprus has remained divided for decades despite repeated rounds of United Nations-backed negotiations aimed at reaching a comprehensive settlement between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
The island was divided in 1974 following a coup by Greek Cypriots seeking union with Greece and a subsequent Turkish military intervention. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was declared in 1983 and is recognized only by Turkey.
Several diplomatic initiatives have sought to reunify the island, including talks held in Switzerland in 2017 under the auspices of the guarantor powers — Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom — which ended without an agreement.
In 2004, a United Nations-backed reunification plan was approved by a majority of Turkish Cypriot voters but rejected by a majority of Greek Cypriot voters in separate referendums, preventing its implementation. Later that year, the Republic of Cyprus joined the European Union.
The United Nations has continued efforts to facilitate a negotiated settlement, while significant differences remain between the positions of the two sides regarding the framework for a future agreement.
Written by N.J.