Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will take part in an informal meeting on Cyprus under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General, to be held in New York on July 16–17, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
The gathering will include broader participation and follow a similar meeting hosted in Geneva in March. It aims to facilitate an exchange of views on developments in six key cooperation areas previously agreed upon by the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot sides.
Cyprus is split between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. Greek Cypriots control the southern part of the island and are recognized by the international community as a state, despite protests from Turkish Cypriots and Türkiye. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), located in the northern part of the island, is recognized by Türkiye, which is a guarantor state in the resolution of the longstanding “Cyprus question.” TRNC President Ersin Tatar and Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides will join Fidan, Guterres, as well as the foreign minister of Greece, George Gerapettis and the U.K. Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories, Stephen Doughty. Greece and the U.K. are other guarantor states in the process.
All sides participating in the New York talks last came together in Switzerland’s Geneva in March. The talks, at least for now, are informal and ministry sources said they should not be viewed as “continuation of earlier negotiation processes (between Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides), nor “beginning of a new negotiation process.”
The talks in Geneva focused on exploring areas of cooperation between the two sides on the island, rather than reaching a final resolution on the status of the communities. Eventually, the sides agreed upon the opening of new crossing points in the divided island where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots are separated by a U.N. buffer zone, clearance of land mines, cooperation on environment and climate change, solar-powered electricity production in the buffer zone, restoration of cemeteries and the establishment of a joint technical committee for the youth. Although progress was reported in some topics discussed in Geneva, cooperation stalled in others, such as the clearance of mines and electricity production, due to the uncompromising stance of the Greek Cypriot side.
The talks are overseen by Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, who was appointed by Guterres as the U.N. secretary-general's envoy for Cyprus and took office on May 12. Cuellar had launched a diplomatic blitz since then, meeting Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, as well as Fidan, Gerapetritis and Doughty, before talks with EU Council chief Antonio Costa on July 2. The EU sides with Greek Cypriots on the future of the island as the community is recognized as a state by the bloc and a member of the EU.
