António Guterres to Open Dialogue on Cyprus in Geneva

UN Secretary-General António Guterres will inaugurate the conference on the reunification of Cyprus scheduled for Thursday in Geneva, announced his spokesman Stephane Dujarric

Speaking to the press, the spokesman stated that Guterres will travel on Wednesday afternoon to the Swiss city, returning to New York on Friday.

The Geneva conference will welcome Greek Cypriot leaders Nikos Anastasiadis and Turkish Cypriot Mustafa Akinci, who expect to reach to a mutually beneficial solution on the divided island after 19 months of negotiations.

A part of Cyprus was invaded and occupied in 1974 by Turkey, the only country that recognizes the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Last week Guterres received Turkey’s Foreign Ministers Mevlut Cavusoglu and Greece’s Nikos Kotzias at the UN headquarters, to address the issue of reunification and the meeting of January 12 in which both countries will participate as guarantors, along with the United Kingdom.

During the last 19 months, significant progress has been made in the five chapters chosen by the Cypriots to resolve the dispute, stated the Special Adviser on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide on the occasion of the preparatory meeting between the parties.