UN envoy to visit Cyprus in October as efforts to restart talks continue

New York, United States. The UN will continue efforts to create the conditions for a new round of Cyprus talks, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s personal envoy, Maria Angela Holguin, set to return to the island in October.

Meetings at the UN

Holguin said she met President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, both separately and alongside Guterres.

Holguin and UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo also met Greek Cypriot chief negotiator Menelaos Menelaou and Erhurman’s special representative Mehmet Dana to review progress on confidence-building measures agreed by the two sides. The measures are intended to build trust between the communities and pave the way for further initiatives.

Next steps

Guterres, whose term ends in three months, reiterated his commitment to supporting efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem until the end of his mandate. In separate meetings with the two leaders, he discussed ways to overcome obstacles to renewed negotiations and urged them to implement the agreed measures. He said cooperation on those measures could demonstrate their willingness to move towards a sustainable settlement.

No trilateral meeting had initially been planned. Christodoulides proposed holding one this week, but Erhurman did not consider it appropriate at this stage, Holguin said.

The UN has completed a record of past convergences between the two sides, which will be made available once negotiations resume. Both sides will also be invited to propose a methodology for a future negotiating process. Holguin said facilitation efforts would continue until the end of December.