The UN Secretary-General has taken note of the recent election of Ersin Tatar as the Turkish Cypriot leader and remains committed to supporting both sides in revitalizing the political process in divided Cyprus.
This is what Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman of the UN chief has said, before adding that Antonio Guterres is exploring the possibility of convening an informal five-plus-UN meeting with both leaders and the guarantor powers at an appropriate stage.
“The Secretary-General underscores the importance of trust-building between the two communities and encourages the continued development and implementation of confidence-building measures which would bring the two communities closer together,” Dujarric also said late on Tuesday.
“He further calls on the two sides and all relevant parties to avoid any unilateral actions that could undermine the prospects for renewed negotiations,” he added.
As the way forward, he also said, the best way to resolve disputes is by returning to negotiations by fostering lasting settlement of long standing Cyprus problem for the benefit of all Cypriots and create a peace in the region.
Asked if the Secretary-General has a time-frame work to bring the two parties together, Dujarric replied negatively adding that developments in the breakaway Turkish-held north Cyprus were fairly new.
“The elections took place over the weekend but discussions will be ongoing,” he added.
Cyprus is divided since a 1974 invasion by Turkey which still maintain troops in the breakaway northern part.
