UN chief to hold informal meeting on Cyprus issue in Geneva

HAMILTON, Canada

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will convene an informal meeting on Cyprus with the leaders of the divided island and guarantor powers at the UN Office in Geneva from March 17 - 18.

"The secretary general will convene the two Cypriot leaders and the guarantor of powers of Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom, for an informal meeting on Cyprus at the UN Office in Geneva, and that will take place on the 17th to the 18th of March," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric announced during a news conference.

Saying the meeting would be held in line with the UN office's "efforts on the Cyprus issue,” Dujarric said "the informal meeting will provide an opportunity for meaningful discussion on the way forward."

"The United Nations remains committed to supporting the Cypriot leaders and all Cypriots," he added.

Decades-long dispute

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot Administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.