UN chief to visit Cyprus for talks with Turkish, Greek Cypriot leaders

The UN announced Thursday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will travel to Cyprus to advance the peace process., accodoing to his spokesperson.

"The secretary-general will travel to Cyprus from the 27 to the 29 of July as part of his good officer's mission and his strong demonstrated commitment to the Cyprus issue," Stephane Dujarric said during a news conference.

Noting that Guterres will meet Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Tufan Erhurman and Nikos Christodoulides, the Greek Cypriot administration leader, Dujarric said the UN chief will also meet "other stakeholders and discuss efforts to advance the peace process and support stability on the island, including through the work of the UN peacekeeping mission on the ground there, UNFICYP."

UNFICYP, one of the UN's longest-running peacekeeping missions, has been stationed on the island since 1964.

Decades-long problem

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite 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.