Cyprus included in UN Security Council round-up for 2007

The UN Security Council issued a press release on January 4, in which it rounds up its work for the year 2007 and describes the efforts made for achieving peace and security by geographical area and by country. The press release states that in 2007 the Security Council focused intensive efforts on maintaining peace and security in Darfur and elsewhere in Africa, in the Middle East, in Kosovo and other areas, and dealt with issues such as terrorism, protection of human rights and other issues of high priority.

With regard to Cyprus the UN announcement said: “The Council held two meetings to extend the mandate of the 43-year-old United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) by adopting resolutions 1758 (2007) and 1789 (2007).  The first six-month extension was from 15 June to 15 December and the second from the latter date until 15 June 2008.  In the first of the two texts, the Council noted with concern the lack of progress on the 8 July 2006 Agreement — a set of principles and decisions signed by the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders, which recognized the status quo as unacceptable and a comprehensive settlement as both desirable and possible. 

The two sides had agreed to immediately begin a two-track process involving technical discussions of issues affecting the day-to-day life of the Cypriot people and, concurrently, consideration by working groups of substantive issues, leading to a comprehensive settlement.  The first draft resolution reaffirmed that talks on a final political solution to the Cyprus problem had been at an impasse for too long.  Adopting the second text on 14 December, the Council again expressed concern over the lack of progress”.