Crucial UN meetings to shape Cyprus problem future

General, Antonio Guterres, will have on Saturday consecutive meetings with the Foreign Minister of Turkey, Hakan Fidan and with Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar.

The two meetings are considered to be of decisive importance as regards Guterres' next steps on the Cyprus issue, how he will proceed as regards the issue of the appointment of a UN envoy on Cyprus, and whether he will have a joint meeting with Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Tatar, issues which UNSG is expected to discuss with Fidan and Tatar.

Guterres' meeting with Fidan has been scheduled for 1230 and with Tatar at 1300 hrs. He meets with the Turkish Foreign Minister after the cancellation of his meeting on Tuesday with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

On Friday, Guterres met with Cyprus President, Nikos Christodoulides, who said after their meeting that the Secretary General is on the same page with Nicosia as regards the issue of the appointment of a personality for the Cyprus issue but also on the need to convene a trilateral meeting.

He also noted the fact that the Secretary-General will hold on Saturday meetings with Fidan, and Tatar, adding that he expressed his readiness to participate, even on Saturday, in a trilateral meeting that will lead to the announcement of the appointment of a personality who will look into the prospects for the resumption of talks.

Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, also met with Guterres on Friday. Mitsotakis expressed Greece's support to Guterres' efforts for the resumption of negotiations that will lead to a Cyprus settlement, in the framework of the UN decisions and for the appointment of an envoy.

Christodoulides concludes on Saturday the programme of his visit to New York from where he departs late in the evening. In the morning he will visit Queens College where a special ceremony will take place in his honour and after that he will attend the Federation of Cypriot American Organizations National Convention. Later he will have a bilateral meeting with the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud

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. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.