UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that he plans to convene a new 5+1 meeting on the Cyprus issue aimed at creating the conditions for a successful outcome.
Speaking at a news conference in New York on Friday, Guterres said his recent visit to Cyprus highlighted the urgency of finding a solution amid growing regional instability.
“My visit to Cyprus showed that in a rapidly changing and increasingly volatile region, the search for solutions is more urgent than ever.
“Based on our discussions on the way forward, I decided that I would convene another 5+1 meeting, after adequate preparations on confidence building, methodology and substance, taking into account the convergences already achieved,” Guterres said.
“5+1” meeting would include both the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) president and the Greek-administered Southern Cyprus leader, plus the foreign ministers of the island’s three guarantor countries – Türkiye, Greece, and the United Kingdom – and the UN’s Guterres.
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Guterres said the UN would work with both sides and the guarantor countries to create the conditions for the meeting’s success.
Asked what he meant by “adequate preparation” for a new five-party-plus-one meeting, Guterres said previous attempts had failed because they were not sufficiently prepared.
“Exactly that. I mean, we had several meetings of the 5+1 that were not able to reach conclusions because they had not been well prepared,” he said.
