Head of United Nations, António Guterres,described the informal talks he had in Berlin with Greek Cypriot leader, Nicos Anastasiades, and the leader of the Turkish Cypriots, Mustafa Akıncı as “focused and frank.”
In a statement, Guterres said among others that “both leaders welcomed my engagement and reaffirmed to me their commitment and determination to achieve a settlement based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality as set out in the relevant Security Council resolutions, including OP4 of UN Security Council Resolution 716.”
Guterres said he believes the two leaders are “motivated by a sense of urgency” and had agreed “that achieving a comprehensive and durable settlement to the Cyprus problem within a foreseeable horizon is of utmost importance to the future well-being of both communities and that the status quo is unsustainable.”
The Greek Cypriot leader and the Turkish Cypriot leader affirmed their commitment to the Joint Declaration of 11 February 2014, and “the six point framework I presented on 30 June 2017 with a view to achieve a strategic agreement paving the way forward for a comprehensive settlement”.
Guterres said that in view of these discussions, “I have agreed to extend my efforts to achieve terms of reference to serve as a consensus starting point for phased, meaningful, and results-oriented negotiations at the earliest feasible opportunity. In this regard, I committed to explore with the Turkish Cypriot leader and the Greek Cypriot leader and with the Guarantor powers, the possibility to convene an informal five-plus-UN meeting at an appropriate stage.”