UN chief’s personal envoy on Cyprus to visit island next week

WASHINGTON

The U.N. secretary-general’s personal envoy for Cyprus will travel to the Eastern Mediterranean island this week to hold a new round of talks with Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders, the United Nation’s has announced.

Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar will travel to Cyprus this week, meeting separately with Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar, respectively, on Sept. 2, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.

During her visit, she will also hold discussions with the representatives of the two leaders and members of the Technical Committee on Youth and the Committee on Missing Persons, among other interlocutors, said Dujarric.

The Colombian diplomat was appointed as the secretary-general’s envoy last year in January to explore prospects for resuming stalled peace talks on the divided island.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

During her latest visit in July, she said that the U.N. was pushing for a breakthrough.

"All this effort the U.N. is doing is for the prosperity of the island, so that the people have a better life," Holguin told reporters after meeting Tatar.

"And we continue to work, the commitment of the U.N. is totally for that, so we hope the leaders can think about that, and we have results next week."

In a 5+1 format meeting in July, U.N. chief Antonio Guterres brought Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leader leaders together along with the representatives from three guarantor countries — Türkiye, Greece and Britain.

This gathering followed a meeting in Geneva in March, which marked the first meaningful progress in years.

At that gathering, both sides agreed on a set of confidence-building measures, including opening more crossing points across the divide, cooperating on solar energy, and removing landmines, steps Guterres described as reflecting a "new atmosphere" and renewed urgency.