UN chief says set to convene new talks on divided Cyprus

NICOSIA

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a news conference after his join meeting with Turkish Cypriot Leader Tufan Erhurman and Greek Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides at a U.N. compound in the Nicosia airport area, inside the United Nations-controlled buffer zone in the divided capital of Nicosia, Cyprus, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias )

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres said on July 29 he would convene new talks on the Cyprus conflict involving rival leaders on the divided island and the three guarantor powers.

But he gave no date for the meeting, announced at a brief new conference after he held a trilateral meeting with the rival Cypriot leaders to weigh the prospect for new talks nine years after the peace process collapsed.

“I have the consensus of both sides and the guarantors to move into a 5-plus-1 meeting but with adequate preparation,” he said of a format involving the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaders with representatives of Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom.

The three nations were named in 1960 when the island became independent from Britain, given the role of guaranteeing the constitutional order at a time of tensions between Greeks and Turkish Cypriots communities.Guterres said the deadline for the meeting was “not defined but we are going to work together as fast ... as possible”.

The announcement came after he held trilateral talks with Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart, Tufan Erhürman.

The outgoing U.N. leader, whose term in office finishes at the year’s end, held separate meetings with both leaders on July 28 to weigh the prospect of fresh negotiations nine years after the peace process collapsed.

The rejection of a U.N. peace plan by Greek Cypriot voters in a 2004 referendum meant the southern administration entered the EU that year still as a divided island, with Turkish Cypriots denied the full benefits of membership.

The northern part is recognized only by Ankara.

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.