UN chief hails ‘meaningful progress’ in Cyprus talks

Talks on the future of Cyprus were positive, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said Tuesday at the end of the two-day meeting at the U.N. in Geneva.

“We hope to open a new page on a sustainable future for the island,” Tatar told reporters.

He said he was “satisfied” with the discussions held with his Greek counterpart Nikos Christodoulides and representatives from Türkiye, Greece and Britain at the  informal five-party conference.

“We are faced with two options either we continue the way we are with all the repercussions, or build the future of the island together,” Tatar said.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the talks had made progress for the first time in years, agreeing a series of joint initiatives including the opening of crossing points.

He announced new confidence-building measures between the two sides which included opening the four crossing points; demining; the creation of a new committee on youth affairs; environmental initiatives; solar energy projects in the buffer zone; and the restoration of cemeteries.

“Today there was meaningful progress,” he added, hailing a “new atmosphere” in the multi-year talks which have been deadlocked since 2017.

The two sides agreed to another meeting at the end of July and to a new U.N. special envoy, Guterres said.