UNSG Special Representative holds separate meetings with Anastasiades and Tatar

UN Secretary General`s Special Representative in Cyprus, Colin Stewart, is holding two separate meetings on Tuesday with Cyprus President, Nicos Anastasiades, and Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar.

Anastasiades received Stewart at 1100 local time, at the Presidential Palace, while the UN official will meet with Tatar, in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus, at 1500. The positions of the two sides moving forward with regards to settling the Cyprus problem, in light of the latest UN Security Council resolution for the renewal of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for six more months, are expected to be discussed during the meetings.

Stewart had told the members of the UN Security Council last month, during a meeting of the Council on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ reports on his Good Offices Mission and UNFICYP, that the focus of the Mission is now to build trust and respect between the two communities and to create a better environment for peace-building on the island.

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.