UN Envoy to Travel to Cyprus for High-level Talks
NEW YORK – United Nations envoy María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar will embark on a diplomatic mission to Cyprus next week, seeking to reinvigorate stalled peace negotiations between Turkish and greek Cypriot leaders. The trip, announced by UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, comes as decades-long division continues to plague the island nation.
Holguín Cuéllar is scheduled to meet with Nikos Christodoulides, the leader of the Greek Cypriot administration, on September 12, followed by a meeting with Ersin Tatar, president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), on September 15. The envoy will also consult with representatives from both sides and other key stakeholders in the ongoing dispute. This visit represents a renewed effort by the UN to broker a comprehensive settlement to the cyprus issue, a conflict with deep ancient roots and notable regional implications.
The island has been divided as 1974, following a Greek Cypriot coup d’état aimed at unification with Greece, which prompted military intervention by Türkiye as a guarantor power to protect the Turkish Cypriot population. Prior to the intervention, escalating ethnic violence in the early 1960s had already forced Turkish Cypriots to seek refuge in protected enclaves.
The TRNC was established in 1983, but is recognized only by Türkiye. numerous UN-led diplomatic initiatives have failed to achieve a lasting resolution, including a high-profile attempt in Switzerland in 2017 involving Türkiye, Greece, and the united Kingdom - the island’s guarantor states.Despite joining the European Union in 2004, the Greek Cypriot administration rejected a UN reunification plan that same year, effectively halting progress toward a unified Cyprus. The upcoming meetings with Holguín Cuéllar are seen as a crucial opportunity to explore potential pathways forward and address the complex challenges that continue to divide the island’s communities.