UN chief makes rare Cyprus visit to help ease decades-old ethnic division

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on a rare visit to Cyprus said Tuesday he was demonstrating his commitment to resolving the island nation’s decades-old ethnic division, even as expectations remain low for a speedy breakthrough leading to a peace accord.

“I will do everything I can to support the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in this very important moment,” Guterres said after talks with Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.

The U.N. chief also met with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman and was scheduled to hold joint meetings with both later Tuesday and Wednesday.

The first visit by a U.N. chief in 16 years came during renewed efforts to resume formal peace talks after a nearly decade-long hiatus. The last major push, which Guterres mediated in 2017, collapsed in recriminations over who and what was to blame for the impasse.

A Cyprus peace deal would help unlock the eastern Mediterranean’s potential as a provider of natural gas for Europe and beyond while easing tensions in a turbulent region with competing interests over energy, territory and influence.

Numerous rounds of U.N.-mediated talks have shared the same fate since 1974, when the island was divided following a Turkish invasion prompted by an Athens-backed coup with the stated goal of union with Greece.

Turkish Cypriots declared independence in the island’s northern third in 1983 but it’s only recognized by Turkey, which maintains more than 35,000 troops there. Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, but only the internationally recognized south enjoys full benefits.

A few months before his U.N. term expires, Guterres wants to convene a wider meeting to involve top diplomats from Cyprus’ guarantors — Greece, Turkey and Britain — to declare a formal start to peace talks. It is hoped a declaration would offer momentum to the process so that Guterres’ successor could see it through.

Guterres told Christodoulides he’s fully aware a Cyprus deal would have “not only a very positive impact for Cyprus, but will be extremely useful in the context of a very difficult situation of the region.”

Cyprus government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis said the fact that Guterres has devoted his personal time to the visit “signals that there can be progress.”

But hurdles to a peace deal remain. A U.N.-endorsed outline of a deal in the form of a federated Cyprus made up of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot-administered zones has been in place for decades, but time has hardened each side’s position and driven them farther apart.

Turkish Cypriots say the majority Greek Cypriots refuse to equally share power even under a federal deal.

Earlier this month, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz repeated Ankara’s support for a two-state accord granting international recognition for the breakaway Turkish Cypriots. Yilmaz also issued a veiled warning against the Cypriot government against leveraging its EU membership and closer ties to Israel to extract concessions from Ankara.

Greek Cypriots have said they would never accept a two-state deal that would formally partition the island and permanently entrench a Turkish military presence they see as an existential threat.