UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to call all interested parties in the Cyprus issue for a meeting in November now that leadership elections in the divided island’s breakaway north have taken place.
This is what Philenews reported on Tuesday citing inside information.
“The Secretary General’s invitations are ready, he will first address them to the two leaders in Nicosia and then to the three guarantor powers,” the paper also said.
“Antonio Guterres’ goal is to hold a procedural meeting with a 5 + 1 composition in November, that is, with the participation of the two leaders, the three guarantor forces and the United Nations,” it added.
Diplomatic circles in Nicosia believe the Secretary General’s move is imminent so as to push the stalled process of reunification a step forward.
But analysts believe the election on Sunday of hardliner Ersin Tartar at the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot community complicates further efforts to reach a bizonal, bi-communal federal settlement in Cyprus.
The island is divided since an invasion in 1974 by Turkey which still maintains troops in the north and is the only country to recognise a secessionist entity there.
Ankara-favoured Tartar is openly supporting a two-state solution in full violation of UN resolutions.
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has already expressed willingness for the UN-brokered talks to resume the soonest possible. And for the dialogue to be based on the agreed guidelines and principles.
