The United Nations is likely to launch a fresh push to resolve the decades-old split of Cyprus before the term of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expires at the end of the year, Cyprus’s President Nikos Christodoulides said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Christodoulides, who represents the Greek Cypriots in talks with Turkish Cypriots, made the comments in an interview on Tuesday night with Cyprus’s Alpha TV.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
These are the details:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Christodoulides told the channel he had been informed that Guterres \u2060was encouraged by \u2060discussions he had had with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in March.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“We might be close to developments, which may lead to a peace plan,” Christodoulides said.<\/p>\n
\nCyprus was divided in 1974 after T\u00fcrkiye invaded parts of the island’s \u2060north following a Greek-backed coup.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Seeds of division were sown shortly after independence from Britain in 1960, when a power-sharing administration of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots collapsed amid violence.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Greek Cypriots run Cyprus’s internationally recognized government in the south with Turkish Cypriots administering the north and a UN-patrolled buffer zone between them.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The last meaningful negotiations on Cyprus collapsed in 2017 amid \u2060disagreements \u2060on whether T\u00fcrkiye should have a role in a future federated Cyprus with two self-governing regions linked by a strong central government.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In 2004, Greek Cypriots rejected a United Nations peace plan, saying it did not address security concerns and the long-term viability of the proposed reunified state, or the property rights of tens of thousands of internally displaced people.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Turkish Cypriots, whose breakaway state is recognized only by Ankara, accepted the proposal.<\/p>\n