Second round of UN's Cyprus talks set for end of month


The second round of U.N.'s Geneva conference which is perceived as the final phase by all sides in the talks, is set to be held on June 28 in Switzerland's city of Geneva. As the reunification talks between Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı and Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades experienced a hiatus, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had met Anastasiades and Akıncı in efforts to end the stalemate on talks last week.

The first round of the Geneva conference for reunification of the long-divided island was done in January where it stalled with no outcome due to Greece's request for hiatus. The second round of the Geneva conference set for end of June is also to be attended by all guarantor countries including Britain, Turkey and Greece. In addition to the guarantor countries and the sides from Cyprus, the EU is to send officials as monitors to the Geneva conference. The Conference in Geneva is anticipated to last for as long as two weeks, the U.N. is to announce its decision of "reaching a stalemate in Cyprus" if both sides are unable to meet common grounds.

Meanwhile, Akıncı who had convened a meeting with Turkish Cypriot political party leaders and representatives had told the members of the media that Turkish Cypriots urge the Geneva conference to be the final stop in the negotiations as he had also emphasized that they expect Geneva to be a resolution process.