No 3+1 or 5+1 meeting on the Cyprus issue on the margins of the UN General Assembly, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday, noting that ‘there is still a lot of work to be done’, but also stressing that “we are determined to move things ahead”.
Responding to a question from the Cyprus News Agency during the press conference ahead of UNGA81- on whether, following his recent conversation with his Personal Envoy for Cyprus, he judged that the conditions he had set in July have been, or were now being met for a possible 3+1 or even 5+1 meeting, the Secretary-General ruled out such a meeting during UNGA.
‘Not on the margins of UNGA,’ Guterres said. ‘There is still a lot of work to be done, but we are determined to move things ahead,’ he added.
The Secretary-General stressed that the United Nations remained committed to advancing the process and creating the conditions for a future meeting to produce results.
‘We are determined to do everything possible for that to take place when conditions are met for the meeting to be successful’ he said.
Guterres also underlined the need to avoid repeating unsuccessful approaches from the past. ‘We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past’ he said.
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. María Angela Holguín, Guterres’ Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is tasked to engage with the parties.