UN chief Guterres to visit Cyprus in bid to revive peace talks
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will visit Cyprus next week in what is seen as an effort to kickstart the stalled peace process. Why now? What
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will visit Cyprus next week in what is seen as an effort to kickstart the stalled peace process. Why now? What is known about the plan? And what might be different this time round? Monday marks the 52nd anniversary of Turkey's 1974 invasion of Cyprus, which led to the division of the island. Five decades later, the Cyprus issue remains one of the world's longest-running unresolved disputes. The United Nations announced last week that Antonio Guterres was due to visit Cyprus from July 27 to 29 — the first visit by a UN secretary-general in 16 years — in an effort to breathe new life into the stalled peace process. A new UN push for progress His visit marks the culmination of a renewed UN initiative that was launched after an informal enlarged meeting on Cyprus held in Geneva in March. Since then, the UN secretary-general's personal envoy, Maria Angela Holguin, has held a series of consultations in Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Brussels to assess whether the political conditions exist for meaningful negotiations to resume. Antonio Guterres will visit Cyprus next week. It is the first visit to the island by a UN secretary-general in 16 years Image: Jean Marc Ferré/MAXPPP/IMAGO During his stay in Cyprus, Guterres will hold separate meetings with President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman. On July 29, the two leaders are expected to meet jointly with the UN chief at the residence of the UN Special Representative in the UN-controlled buffer zone. UN initiatives in the past 25 years The last time a UN secretary-general visited Cyprus was in 2010, when Ban Ki-moon sought to inject political momentum into negotiations between then President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat. Both leaders came from left-wing political parties that supported a bizonal, bicommunal federation and were widely seen as having the political will to pursue a comprehensive settlement.
That momentum, however, faded only months later after Talat lost the Turkish Cypriot leadership election to Dervis Eroglu, while major disagreements over the core chapters of the negotiations remained unresolved. Ban's efforts were preceded by the intensive engagement of Kofi Annan between 2002 and 2004, when the UN undertook its most ambitious effort to broker a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (center) sought to inject some momentum into negotiations between the two sides in 2010. He is pictured here with President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias (left) and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu Image: Katia Christodoulou/dpa/picture alliance Annan became personally involved in the negotiations, presenting a series of revised versions of what became known as the Annan Plan. The initiative culminated in simultaneous referendums in April 2004. The proposal was approved by a majority of Turkish Cypriot voters but rejected by 75.8% of Greek Cypriot voters. Reports in the British media The announcement of Guterres' visit comes amid reports that the UN is exploring a possible new framework for resolving the Cyprus issue. The discussion gained momentum after Britain's The Independent reported on July 12 that Holguin was working on a revised settlement proposal. According to the newspaper, the framework would retain the agreed model of a bizonal, bicommunal federation, as set out in relevant UN Security Council resolutions, while granting significantly greater autonomy to the two constituent states and limiting the powers of the federal government. The report also claims that, in exchange for this broader autonomy, the Turkish Cypriot side would be expected to accept territorial adjustments, including the return of the fenced-off city of Varosha and the town of Morphou. British newspaper 'The Independent' reported on July 12 that the UN secretary-general's personal envoy, Maria Angela Holguin (pictured here), is working on a revised settlement proposal for Cyprus Image: Kostas Pikoulas/IMAGO It also suggests that new security arrangements are being considered that would allow Greek and Turkish troops to remain on the island under NATO command.
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