Diplomacy & Geopolitics
Cyprus talks: UN plans new meeting on divided island
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday he would convene new Cyprus talks involving the divided island's rival leaders and its three guarantor powers, but only after what he called adequate preparation.
Guterres gave no date for the meeting. He said he wanted progress on confidence-building measures before bringing the parties together again.
"I have the consensus of both sides and the guarantors to move into a 5-plus-1 meeting but with adequate preparation," Guterres said after meetings with the rival Cypriot leaders.
The format would involve the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders, with representatives of Greece, Turkey and Britain. The three countries were made guarantor powers for Cyprus under the 1960 treaty that granted it independence.
Guterres said he wanted progress before the meeting "because I don't want to have more 5-plus-1 meetings without results". He said the deadline was "not defined" but that the sides would work together as quickly as possible.
Nikos Christodoulides, president of the Greek Cypriot-majority and internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus, welcomed the announcement. He said he was optimistic and said it was the first time since talks collapsed in 2017 that the substance of the Cyprus issue had been discussed.
Christodoulides said the renewed talks were not contingent on confidence-building measures. He said his optimism was based on a guarantee that talks would pick up where the previous round left off and on greater European Union involvement.
"We are not starting from zero -- the negotiating acquis will be utilised. That is extremely important," he said.
Christodoulides said the EU was willing to get involved in areas of negotiation with the least progress and wanted better relations with Turkey.
The Turkish Cypriots would be led by Tufan Erhurman, president of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Erhurman was elected in November on a platform of unifying Cyprus, defeating the incumbent Turkey-backed Ersin Tatar, who favoured formally partitioning the island.
In March last year, the two sides agreed to measures including new crossing points on the UN-patrolled buffer zone and a joint solar farm. There has since been only limited progress on implementation.
Guterres, who leaves office at the end of the year, was making the first visit to Cyprus by a UN secretary-general since 2010.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied the island's northern third in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup seeking unification with Greece. The Republic of Cyprus is an EU member and controls the island's mainly Greek Cypriot south. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus declared independence in 1983 and is recognised only by Ankara.
Update
Nikos Christodoulides welcomed the announcement and said he was optimistic.
Christodoulides said it was the first time since the 2017 collapse of talks that the substance of the Cyprus issue had been discussed.
Christodoulides said the renewed talks were not contingent on confidence-building measures and said the previous negotiating acquis would be used.
Christodoulides said the European Union was willing to become involved in areas of negotiation with the least progress.
The source says Tufan Erhurman was elected in November on a platform of unifying Cyprus, defeating Ersin Tatar.
Source note: AFP news report published on 29 July 2026 at 11:25:21 UTC.
Update
Antonio Guterres said he wanted progress in confidence-building measures before convening the 5-plus-1 meeting.
Guterres said he did not want more 5-plus-1 meetings without results.
The visit was the first by a UN secretary-general to Cyprus since 2010.
Measures agreed in March last year, including new buffer-zone crossing points and a joint solar farm, have seen only limited implementation.
Tufan Erhurman was elected in November on a pro-unification platform, replacing Ersin Tatar.
Source note: AFP news report published on 29 July 2026 at 10:44:00 UTC.
Update
Antonio Guterres said after a trilateral meeting that he would convene new Cyprus talks in a 5-plus-1 format.
Guterres said there was no defined deadline for the meeting but that preparations would move as fast as possible.
The item identifies the Turkish Cypriot leader in the talks as Tufan Erhurman.
Source note: AFP news report published on 29 July 2026 at 09:43:30 UTC.
Update
Antonio Guterres said he had the consensus of both Cypriot sides and the guarantor powers to move into a 5-plus-1 meeting.
Guterres said the meeting would require adequate preparation and did not give a date.
The 5-plus-1 format would involve Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders with representatives of Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Source note: AFP news report published on 29 July 2026 at 09:19:35 UTC.
Update
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he would convene new international talks on divided Cyprus.
Source note: AFP news report published on 29 July 2026 at 09:11:42 UTC.
Update
Cypriots interviewed on both sides of the island expressed mixed reactions to the UN push, ranging from hope to scepticism and support for separation.
Turkish Cypriot taxi driver Niyazi Sefi said the peace push was good news and that Cyprus should be one country.
Volcan Sahansiz said years of negotiations had failed and that separation was the best outcome.
Greek Cypriot archaeologist and historian Marangou, who fled Varosha in 1974, said Cypriots needed to focus on what to do now rather than who was to blame.
Source note: AFP news report published on 29 July 2026 at 08:19:28 UTC.
Update
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hosted Republic of Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman for a private dinner on Tuesday evening.
Christodoulides said before the dinner that he hoped the evening discussion would be as good as his earlier meeting with Guterres.
Cyprus analyst Ayla Gurel said Guterres's looming departure, Erhurman's election and Turkey's strategic interests likely contributed to the timing of the visit.
Gurel said she did not expect much from the meetings and said there was insufficient public information about Turkey's intentions or talks with Europe.
Source note: AFP news report published on 28 July 2026 at 18:28:40 UTC.
Update
Antonio Guterres said he held "very constructive" separate meetings with the rival Cypriot leaders.
Republic of Cyprus spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said Nikos Christodoulides and Guterres had a substantive and sincere discussion and hoped for concrete developments by year-end.
Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman said the aim was to use a new and realistic methodology to avoid failures seen in 2004 and 2017.
Source note: AFP news report published on 28 July 2026 at 14:40:48 UTC.
Update
Guterres met Republic of Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides first, then went to the Turkish side of Nicosia for talks with Tufan Erhurman just before midday, official sources said.
Sources close to the Turkish Cypriot government said they were cautiously optimistic about the talks.
Guterres's envoy Maria Angela Holguin said the secretary-general's mission was to facilitate and encourage the leaders and that she hoped for progress.
Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis described the visit as very important and said it could serve as a starting point for negotiations.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan reiterated Ankara's position that the most realistic solution is coexistence of two states on the island.
Source note: AFP news report published on 28 July 2026 at 10:05:18 UTC.
Update
Antonio Guterres arrived in Cyprus overnight.
Guterres began separate meetings with the island's rival leaders on Tuesday.
Guterres said after landing that he was committed to supporting Cypriot communities in the search for a comprehensive and sustainable settlement.
UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin held talks with both rival leaders on Monday ahead of Guterres's arrival.
Source note: AFP news report published on 28 July 2026 at 07:55:52 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
No date has been set for the proposed meeting.
Guterres and Christodoulides differed on whether renewed talks were contingent on progress in confidence-building measures.
Source
AFP news report published on .