Ankara, Turkey. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he would do everything in his power to resolve the Cyprus problem until his term ends at the end of this year. Speaking to Turkish news website NTV, he said progress had been made but that a solution was not close.
Comments on Cyprus negotiations
Guterres said the United Nations was working hard to resolve the Cyprus problem, adding that communications had restarted and that the aim was for the people of the island to benefit from modern opportunities. He said he was neither optimistic nor pessimistic about the prospects for a solution but remained determined.
He said he would do everything in his power to resolve the Cyprus problem until the last day of his term.
Visit to Turkey and meetings with officials
Guterres made the statements while in Turkey, where he visited to mark the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. During the visit, he met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Ataturk International Peace Prize
Erdogan awarded Guterres the Ataturk International Peace Prize, named after Turkey’s founding president Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Guterres is the twelfth recipient of the prize and the first since 2000. Other recipients include Nelson Mandela and the late Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.
At the award ceremony, Erdogan said Guterres is “the voice of the silent majority in establishing international peace and security”.
Erdogan’s remarks on foreign policy and the United Nations
Erdogan said Turkey continues to keep the principle of “peace at home, peace in the world”, inherited from Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, at the heart of its foreign policy, blending it with a proactive, assertive, and entrepreneurial approach.
He added that for 80 years Turkey has been among the strongest supporters of the founding values of the United Nations, which he described as representing the common conscience of humanity, the will for global solidarity, and hope for the future.
What do you think the renewed communications could mean for efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem?