UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has full trust and confidence in his Special Representative in Cyprus, Colin Stewart.
This is what Guterres’ spokesperson said in New York on Friday, before dismissing Turkish Cypriot press reports alleging that Stewart had blamed the Greek Cypriots for the impasse in the Cyprus problem.
The spokesman sent the message that it was important to focus on “what is said in official remarks and what is written in official reports rather than hearsay from private conversations”.
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades had earlier said that if indeed something similar was said by the special representative then “we are no longer talking about a representative of the UN, but a representative of those who violate international law”.
Turkey still maintains troops in the breakaway northern part of Cyprus following an illegal invasion back in 1974.
The spokesman also said that the UN and that included Colin Stewart and the mission in Cyprus work impartially with both sides in the divided island.
The UN in Cyprus has repeatedly said the reports from the north were unfounded.
