UN Envoy to Travel to Cyprus for High-level Talks
NEW YORK – United Nations envoy Marรญa รngela Holguรญnโค Cuรฉllar will embark onโ a diplomatic mission to Cyprus next week, seeking to reinvigorate stalled peace negotiations โbetween Turkish and greek Cypriot leaders.โ Theโ trip, announced by UN โฃspokesperson Stรฉphane Dujarric, comes as decades-long division continues to plague the island nation.
Holguรญn Cuรฉllar โฃis scheduledโค to meet with Nikos Christodoulides, the leader ofโค the Greek Cypriot โadministration, onโข September 12, followed by โa meetingโ with Ersin Tatar, president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), on September 15. The envoy willโ also consult โคwithโค representatives from โฃboth sides and other key stakeholders in the ongoing dispute. This โvisit represents a renewed effort by the UN to broker a comprehensive settlement to the cyprusโ issue, a conflictโข with โฃdeep ancient roots and โฃnotable regional implications.
The island has been divided as 1974, following a Greekโค Cypriot coup d’รฉtat aimed at unification with Greece, which prompted military intervention โby Tรผrkiye as a guarantor powerโ to โฃprotect the Turkish Cypriot population. Prior to the intervention, escalating ethnic violence in the early โข1960s had already forced Turkish Cypriots toโ seek refuge in โprotected enclaves.
The TRNC was establishedโค in 1983, but is recognized only by Tรผrkiye. โคnumerous UN-led diplomatic initiatives have failed to achieve a lasting resolution, including a high-profile attempt inโ Switzerlandโ in 2017 involving โฃTรผrkiye, Greece, and the unitedโ Kingdom -โค the island’s guarantor โฃstates.Despite joining the European Union in 2004, the โGreek Cypriot administration rejected a UN reunificationโฃ plan that same โyear, effectively halting progress toward a unified Cyprus. The upcoming meetings with Holguรญn โCuรฉllar โare โseen as a crucial opportunity to explore potential pathways โขforward and address the complex challenges that continue โฃto divideโข the island’s communities.