UN’s Guterres presses on with bid to restart talks on reuniting Cyprus

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is pressing on with a bid to restart negotiations on reuniting Cyprus, nearly two years after talks collapsed. In a report sent to the council on Tuesday, Guterres said he had asked his envoy, American diplomat Jane Holl Lute, to continue holding talks with Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders, AFP reported. “It is my hope that the ongoing consultations will lead to a return to negotiations… with the aim of reaching a lasting resolution of the Cyprus issue,” Guterres said. Talks on reunifying Cyprus broke down in July 2017 when Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders failed to agree on compromises concerning power-sharing and security arrangements for the island. Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied the northern third of the island in response to a Greek military junta-sponsored coup.