UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq referred to the relevant Security Council resolutions and meetings held at the United Nations in the 1970s, responding to a question from i24NEWS Israeli journalist Mike Wagenheim regarding the different language used by Secretary-General António Guterres in relation to Syria and Cyprus.
The journalist compared two posts by the Secretary-General, noting that, regarding Syria, he had stated that “Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity must be fully respected” and that ”violations by Israel of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement are unacceptable and must stop”.
By contrast, Wagenheim observed that upon arriving in Cyprus, Antonio Guterres said: “I have just landed in Cyprus to express my commitment to support for Cypriot communities in the search for a comprehensive and sustainable settlement of the Cyprus issue,” adding that “the UN cannot impose peace” and that “only Cypriots, through their leaders, can build it”.
The i24NEWS journalist questioned why, in the case of Cyprus, part of its has been under Turkish occupation since 1974, no reference was made to Turkey, asking the spokesperson whether “Turkey is off-limits?”.
“Mike, it would take hours, possibly days, for me to explain to you fully the differences between the situation in Cyprus and the situation in the Golan Heights,” Farhan Haq replied.
The UN Deputy Spokesperson referred the journalist to “the relevant Security Council resolutions” and the relevant meetings held at the United Nations in the 1970s during each of the two crises.
“Each one has its own dynamic, and the Secretary-General’s positions that he articulated are consistent with the policies that the UN has had, basically, for the past 50 years in each of those cases,” he said.
Responding specifically to the question about the absence of any reference to Turkey, Haq said that “the Secretary-General has frequently mentioned all the various parties involved in Cyprus”.
“He does that when it’s helpful to do those,” he added, explaining that, in this case, the Secretary-General was visiting Cyprus in an effort “to move forwards with the efforts with both the Greek Cypriot community and the Turkish Cypriot community”.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whose term nears its end, announced he would convene another meeting in broader format, after adequate preparation, but gave no timeline. He secured to that end the consensus of both sides and of the guarantor powers. María Angela Holguín, Guterres’ Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is tasked to engage with the parties. Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto acts as the European Commission’s Special Representative for Cyprus, succeeding EU special envoy Johannes Hahn.