New talks on the status of the communities on Cyprus may be held soon, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres signaled on Wednesday. Guterres said he would convene new talks involving the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders on the divided island, as well as the three guarantor powers.
However, he gave no date for the meeting, which he announced at a brief news conference after holding a trilateral meeting with Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot President Tufan Erhürman to assess the prospects for renewed negotiations, nine years after the peace process collapsed.
"I have the consensus of both sides and the guarantors to move into a 5+1 meeting, but with adequate preparation," he said, referring to a format involving Erhürman, Christodoulides, and representatives of Greece, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.
The three countries were designated guarantor powers in 1960, when the island gained independence from Britain, and were entrusted with guaranteeing the constitutional order amid tensions between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.
Guterres said the timeline for the meeting was "not defined, but we are going to work together as fast ... as possible."
The outgoing U.N. chief, whose term in office ends at the end of the year, held separate meetings with both leaders on Tuesday to assess the prospects for fresh negotiations.
Decades of U.N.-backed talks have failed to resolve the island's division, with the last major round of peace negotiations in Switzerland collapsing in July 2017.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Ankara intervened as guarantor after a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece and amid violence against Turkish Cypriots. Today, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is recognized only by Türkiye, while the Greek Cypriot administration represents the island in the European Union.
Speaking before his meeting with Guterres on Tuesday, ahead of Wednesday's trilateral talks, Erhürman underlined that the Turkish Cypriot side remained committed to working toward a "fair and lasting" settlement while emphasizing the need for a different negotiating framework from previous rounds of talks.
"I believe you are aware of the Turkish Cypriot people's strong commitment to a fair and lasting solution," Erhürman said. "We are doing our best regarding confidence-building measures. Unlike the experiences of 2004 and 2017, we are now working on a new and realistic methodology that can help us achieve our common goal."
He also expressed support for the U.N. secretary-general's mediation efforts, saying the Turkish Cypriot side would continue to contribute to the process.
"We strongly support your efforts and welcome them. You can be assured that we will continue to do our utmost," Erhürman told Guterres.
The TRNC advocates a two-state solution based on sovereign equality, while the Greek Cypriot side favors a federal model. Türkiye, one of the island's guarantor states, supports the TRNC's position.
The United Nations has led two major initiatives to resolve the Cyprus question over the past two decades. The first was the so-called Annan Plan, named after former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, which was introduced in 2004. Greek Cypriots rejected the plan in a referendum, while Turkish Cypriots approved it.
In 2017, the United Nations launched the Crans-Montana process, which sought a federal solution to the dispute. That effort also failed and significantly altered the positions of Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriot side. Ankara and Lefkoşa blamed the Greek Cypriot side for the collapse of the talks and shifted from their previously cautious support for a federal model to a firm stance in favor of the TRNC's sovereignty.
Since taking office in 2024, Cuellar has sought to bridge the gap between the parties through diplomatic contacts.
Erhürman, who succeeded Ersin Tatar last year, has been viewed as less hardline than his predecessor, but he has repeatedly made it clear that he would oppose any federation proposal that ignores the rights of Turkish Cypriots. He was quoted on Sunday as saying that they were ready for "a new process" following Guterres' visit.
Erhürman also stressed that, as in the past, they would consult with Türkiye before moving forward with any new initiative aimed at resolving the dispute.
