President conveys support to Holguin’s effort for a common future in Cyprus

General


We support the effort undertaken by the UNSG personal envoy Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, who believes in the common future of Cyprus, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Monday evening, adding that “we are here to work in order to achieve it.”

In statements to the press in Larnaka, the President was invited to comment on an open letter by Holguin in which there is a statement on moving away from solutions that did not yield results.

President Christodoulides clarified that the UNSG’s personal envoy does not refer to a solution that is not within the framework of the UN. He said that she rather refers to methodological approaches that were used in the past and did not bring any results.

He noted that “we support Holguin’s effort, we support the fact that she really believes in the common future of Cyprus and we are here to work in order to achieve it.”

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yi
eld results.

The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar of Columbia as his personal envoy for Cyprus, to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf and search for common ground on the way forward in the Cyprus issue.

Holguin is set to hand her report to the UNSG on July 10th. The SG will then decide on the next steps.

Source: Cyprus News Agency