Source: CNA
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has put a lot of effort to help the parties in Cyprus resolve the problems on the ground, his Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday.
Dujarric was replying to a journalist’s question during a press briefing at UN headquarters about why the SG did not issue a similar statement for Cyprus as the one for Ukraine, according to a Press and Information Office (PIO) press release.
“I would encourage you to do some research. You are free to look at, to see what the Secretary-General at the time, in the early-mid 70s, said about what was going on in Cyprus,” he said.
He pointed out that “currently, the Cyprus situation is one for which the Secretary-General, I think, has put out a lot of effort, a lot of political capital in order to help the parties resolve the problems on the ground.”
“And whether it’s through his good offices, whether it’s the mission, we continue to work in that way,” 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. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
