Talks on the future of Cyprus were positive, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said Tuesday at the end of the two-day meeting at the U.N. in Geneva.
“We hope to open a new page on a sustainable future for the island,” Tatar told reporters.
He said he was "satisfied" with the discussions held with his Greek counterpart Nikos Christodoulides and representatives from Greece, Türkiye and Britain.
"We are faced with two options either we continue the way we are with all the repercussions, or build the future of the island together," Tatar said.
The meeting was meant to breathe new life into the Cyprus peace process that has been on hiatus for nearly eight years.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the talks had made progress for the first time in years, agreeing a series of joint initiatives including the opening of crossing points.
"Discussions were held in a constructive atmosphere with both sides showing clear commitment to making progress and continuing dialogue," Guterres said.
He announced new confidence-building measures between the two sides which included opening the four crossing points; demining; the creation of a new committee on youth affairs; environmental initiatives; solar energy projects in the buffer zone; and the restoration of cemeteries.
"Today there was meaningful progress," he added, hailing a "new atmosphere" in the multi-year talks which have been deadlocked since 2017.
The two sides agreed to another meeting at the end of July and to a new U.N. special envoy, Guterres said.
The Mediterranean Island was divided in 1974 after a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was founded in 1983.
The Turkish side strictly adheres to a two-state solution based on sovereign equality, arguing that past efforts to reunify the island under a federal model have failed due to the Greek Cypriot administration's reluctance to share power and resources.
The island has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, under the auspices of the guarantor countries.
The Greek Cypriot administration joined the European Union in 2004-the same year that Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N. plan to resolve the dispute in a referendum.
