Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ personal envoy on Cyprus in Ankara to discuss the latest developments on the Cyprus issue ahead of the UN chief’s planned visit to the island.
According to Turkish foreign ministry sources, during the meeting on Friday, Fidan and the UN’s Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar exchanged views on recent developments about Cyprus.
Fidan reiterated that Türkiye, as a guarantor power and the Turkish Cypriots’ motherland, believes “the most realistic solution to the Cyprus issue lies in the coexistence of the two states on the island.”
He also said that approaches failing to recognise the Turkish Cypriot people’s inherent rights to sovereign equality and equal international status, based on the realities on the island, “will not contribute to a solution.”
Cuellar’s appointment
Guterres appointed Cuellar, a former Colombian foreign minister, his personal envoy on Cyprus on January 5 2024.
She was tasked with determining, through consultations with the two sides on the island and the three guarantor powers, whether sufficient common ground existed to launch a new formal negotiation process on the Cyprus issue.
Cuellar’s initial mandate ended in July 2024. Based on her findings, the UN formally concluded in October 2024 that no common ground existed between the parties for a settlement.
In 2025, Guterres launched a new cooperation process aimed at building trust between the two sides by fostering a culture of cooperation despite the absence of common ground for formal negotiations.
