Ankara reiterates sovereign equality call after Cyprus talks
ANKARA
Türkiye has welcomed U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ efforts on Cyprus while reiterating its call for a settlement based on the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Öncü Keçeli made the remarks after Guterres held a trilateral meeting in Nicosia on July 29 with Turkish Cypriot President Tufan Erhürman and Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides.
Following the talks, Guterres said he had secured agreement from both sides and the guarantor powers to convene another meeting in the 5+1 format, although no date had been set.
“I have the consensus of both sides and the guarantors to move into a 5-plus-1 meeting but with adequate preparation,” Guterres said.
The format brings together the two Cypriot leaders, guarantor powers Türkiye, Greece and Britain, and the U.N.
Keçeli said Ankara appreciated the efforts Guterres had made on the Cyprus issue throughout his tenure.
With no common ground currently existing between the sides for a comprehensive settlement, progress in practical areas of cooperation under the process launched by Guterres in 2025 could help build trust and strengthen dialogue, Keçeli said.
He argued that prospects for a settlement would remain limited unless the Greek Cypriot side changed what Ankara describes as its intransigent position and ended actions Türkiye says undermine regional security.
Efforts to reunify Cyprus under a bi-zonal, bicommunal federation have remained stalled since U.N.-sponsored talks collapsed in 2017.The newly elected Turkish Cypriot administration had pledged to revive negotiations before taking office.
The visit marks the first by a sitting U.N. secretary-general to Cyprus in 16 and a half years.The last serving U.N. chief to visit the island was Ban Ki-moon, who traveled there in early 2010.
The two rival leaders first met in December 2025, when they signaled a renewed commitment to reviving the long-stalled peace process.