CYPRUS: UN envoy to return in November to break the ice

UN envoy Jane Holl Lute will visit Cyprus in November to prepare the groundwork for a meeting of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres with Cypriot leaders expected to take place at the end of next month.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci are expected to meet the UN chief somewhere in Europe to agree on a resumption of stalled peace talks.

This is to be followed by an informal five-party conference, with the participation of the three guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey and the UK, with a view to getting talks back on track.

A well-informed source has told the Cyprus News Agency that a conclusion on the terms of reference, on which Lute’s efforts have been focusing, seems to be within reach.

“It seems that we are now moving towards the resumption of the negotiations,” said the source.

Lute’s shuttle diplomacy in September, during her last visit to Cyprus, was unsuccessful in getting an agreement.

The source said that Guterres’ meeting with Anastasiades and Akinci, may reach a conclusion on the terms of reference but the UNSG may announce the terms of reference during the informal five-party conference, which the EU is expected to attend as an observer.

The same source said that the Greek Cypriot side has made it clear to the United Nations that the terms of reference will be agreed by the two sides, but it would be better if the guarantor powers also express their commitment to them.

This aims at preventing the possibility of the Turkish side bringing up the issue of discussing another base for a solution other than a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third.

Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The last round of negotiations, in the summer of 2017, at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. (source CNA)