Trilateral New York meeting on Cyprus not expected before October, diplomatic sources say

A trilateral meeting on the Cyprus issue in New York is not expected to take place before October, according to diplomatic sources. The same sources say that the possible final date for a trilateral meeting will be decided after the separate meetings the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will have with the two leaders – the President of the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot leader – on the sidelines of the UN summit.

Furthermore, during a press conference, the President of the United Nations General Assembly (PGA) for the 78th session, Dennis Francis, expressed his support to Guterres’ efforts to find common ground between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot side that will lead to the resumption of negotiations, in reply to a question from the Cyprus News Agency.

“I certainly hope for a positive outcome. This situation, as you know, has been going on for a very long time since 1974. I fully support the efforts of the Secretary General and his Good Offices efforts to bring this situation to a
n end. The General Assembly, as you know, has passed previous resolutions. So, perhaps this time we will make meaningful progress,” he said.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

Source: Cyprus News Agency