Türkiye reiterates two-state position on Cyprus to UN envoy

ANKARA

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has told the United Nations secretary-general’s personal envoy on Cyprus that Türkiye sees the coexistence of two states on the island as the most realistic basis for a settlement, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

Fidan met Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ personal envoy on Cyprus, in Ankara on June 15.

The meeting focused on recent developments regarding the Cyprus issue and Holguin Cuellar’s contacts last week with the island’s two leaders, the ministry said.

Fidan said Ankara supported Guterres’ efforts on Cyprus.

He also said Türkiye, as a guarantor country and motherland, believed the most realistic solution to the issue was the coexistence of two states on the island.

Approaches that do not recognize the Turkish Cypriot people’s sovereign equality and equal international status would not produce results, Fidan said.

Cyprus has been divided for decades despite repeated U.N.-led efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement.

The most recent major round of talks, held in Switzerland in 2017 under the auspices of the guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom, ended without an agreement.