Current:Home > MarketsUN chief names a new envoy to scope out the chances of reviving Cyprus peace talks -Elevate Capital Network
UN chief names a new envoy to scope out the chances of reviving Cyprus peace talks
View
Date:2025-04-13 01:23:34
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday named a former Colombian foreign minister as his personal envoy to scope out the chances of reviving talks to resolve Cyprus’ ethnic divide, an issue that has defied international diplomacy for nearly five decades.
María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar will work on Guterres’ behalf to “search for common ground on the way forward” and to serve as the U.N. chief’s advisor on Cyprus, U.N. associate spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay said.
Cuéllar served as Colombia’s top diplomat during 2010-2018 and as the country’s representative to the U.N. during 2004-2006.
She is expected to travel to Cyprus soon to sound out Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, Ersin Tatar.
Cyprus was divided into ethnic Greek and Turkish sides in 1974, when Turkey invaded just days after a coup mounted by supporters of union with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence and keeps some 40,000 troops in the Mediterranean island nation’s breakaway north.
A Cyprus peace deal would reduce a source of potential conflict next door to an unstable Middle East and allow for the easier harnessing of hydrocarbon reserves in the eastern Mediterranean Sea’s natural gas-rich waters.
But Guterres’ appointment of an envoy to inform him whether it would be worth trying to jumpstart the long-stalled peace talks reflects a more cautious approach as a result of numerous failed attempts to produce an accord. If anything, the two sides have grown further apart since the last major push for progress in the summer of 2017.
Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots say they have ditched an agreed-upon framework that called for reunifying Cyprus as a federated state with Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot zones. Instead, they are advocating fpr what effectively amounts to a two-state deal.
Turkish Cypriots argue that the majority Greek Cypriots want to lord over the entire island by refusing to equally share power. They also support Turkey’s insistence on maintaining military intervention rights and a permanent troop presence on the island as part of any deal.
Greek Cypriots strongly oppose a deal that would formalize the island’s ethnic cleave and reject a Turkish Cypriot demand for veto powers on all government decisions at a federal level. They also reject Turkey’s stipulations, arguing a permanent Turkish troop presence and a right to military intervention would would undercut the country’s sovereignty.
Before Cuellar’s appointment, the two Cypriot sides appeared to have eased up on antagonistic rhetoric, but tensions between them linger. In recent months, there were Greek Cypriot accusations of stepped up, unauthorized Turkish Cypriot incursions into the U.N.-controlled buffer zone in a suburb of Nicosia, the country’s divided capital.
In his New Year’s message, Christodoulides called the envoy’s appointment a “first important step” to reviving peace talks. He said he was “absolutely ready” to move things forward but acknowledged that the “road will be long and the difficulties a given.”
Tatar told a Turkish Cypriot newspaper last week that he had “no expectations” of any peace talks in the new year. He said Cuellar’s assignment to identify areas of agreement won’t lead anywhere if Turkish Cypriot “sovereignty and equality” are not accepted.
___
An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the U.N. spokesperson who announced the envoy’s appointment. It was Stephanie Tremblay, not Stephene Dujarric.
veryGood! (27)
Related
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- Texas judge rules as unconstitutional a law that erodes city regulations in favor of state control
- Judge rules for Georgia election workers in defamation suit against Rudy Giuliani over 2020 election falsehoods
- Charlize Theron Reveals She's Still Recovering From This '90s Beauty Trend
- Meet 11-year-old skateboarder Zheng Haohao, the youngest Olympian competing in Paris
- Pennsylvania men charged with trafficking homemade ‘ghost guns,’ silencers
- US applications for jobless claims inch back down as companies hold on to their employees
- Idalia makes history along Florida's Big Bend, McConnell freezes again: 5 Things podcast
- A steeplechase record at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Then a proposal. (He said yes.)
- Colorado governor defends 'Don't Tread on Me' flag after student told to remove patch
Ranking
- Illinois Gov. Pritzker calls for sheriff to resign after Sonya Massey shooting
- Ford recalls nearly 42,000 F250 and F350 trucks because rear axle shaft may break
- 11 hospitalized after Delta flight hits severe turbulence en route to Atlanta
- Couple arrested for animal cruelty, child endangerment after 30 dead dogs found in NJ home
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball breaks women's sport world attendance record with match at football stadium
- Stock market today: Asian markets lower after Japanese factory activity and China services weaken
- North Carolina Gov. Cooper endorses fellow Democrat Josh Stein to succeed him
Recommendation
How breaking emerged from battles in the burning Bronx to the Paris Olympics stage
A 100-year-old oak tree falls on the Florida governor's mansion, Casey DeSantis says
CNN names new CEO as Mark Thompson, former BBC and New York Times chief
Tennessee woman charged with murder in fatal shooting of 4-year-old girl
Jury selection set for Monday for ex-politician accused of killing Las Vegas investigative reporter
UPS driver dies days after working in searing Texas heat
Out of work actors sign up for Cameo video app for cash
Boat capsizes moments after Coast Guard rescues 4 people and dog in New Jersey