On Monday, a high-ranking United Nations official met here separately with Cyprus’ President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar in a bid to restart the stalled Cyprus peace negotiations.
Miroslav Jenca, UN assistant secretary-general for Europe, Central Asia and Americas, was dispatched by UN Secretary Antonio Guterres to assess the prospects of resuming negotiations for a solution to the Cyprus problem.
After meeting with Christodoulides, Jenca said that “the most important thing that I would mention is that the UN Secretary is paying utmost attention to the situation on the island.”
He said that he discussed with Christodoulides ways of resuming talks, adding that “the Secretary General will use all his good offices in order to help this process to find a solution to the Cyprus issue.”
The events had a lasting impact on Cyprus. The division of the island and the subsequent displacement of people have resulted in a protracted and unresolved conflict. The United Nations peacekeeping force, UNFICYP, was deployed to maintain peace and facilitate negotiations. pic.twitter.com/aOWiTgrJN9
— The Daily Historian (@_DailyHistorian) July 20, 2023
Following meeting with Tatar, Jenca expressed hope that “in the future there will be common ground for the resumption of peace talks for the benefit of all people.”
Jenca’s visit comes more than a week after assaults against UN peacekeepers in Cyprus by Turkish Cypriot personnel as the peacekeepers were trying to prevent the unauthorized construction of a road.
The incident took place inside the buffer zone near Pyla, or Pile in Turkish, a village near the southeastern coast of Cyprus that is inhabited by both Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Jenca will tour the flare-up area on Tuesday to be briefed on the current situation by UN personnel there.
