Geneva to hold UN Cyprus summit in April

In April, the United Nations will convene a five-party Cyprus conference on deadlocked settlement talks in Geneva, the first such meeting since 2017 when that summit collapsed in acrimony.

“The purpose of the meeting will be to determine whether common ground exists for the parties to negotiate a lasting solution to the Cyprus problem within a foreseeable horizon,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The meeting will occur in Geneva, Switzerland, from 27 April to 29, Dujarric said in a written statement.

The conflict has been an endless source of tension between NATO allies Greece and Turkey. More recently, it has complicated any effort to tap suspected energy resources around the Mediterranean island.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar will attend the meeting, along with representatives from Greece, Turkey and Britain, which are guarantors of the island’s sovereignty upon independence in 1960.

The UN Secretary-General intends to convene an informal five-plus-one meeting on the Cyprus issue in Geneva, Switzerland, from 27 to 29 April 2021, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, has said.

The last UN peace effort failed in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana; there have no Cyprus negotiations since then.