Nicosia [Cyprus], May 25: The United Nations Secretary-General's personal envoy has launched a renewed effort to revive stalled peace talks in Cyprus, with low expectations of a breakthrough ahead of a high-level summit planned for July in Geneva under the auspices of UN chief Antonio Guterres.
The envoy, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, a seasoned Colombian diplomat, held a 75-minute meeting on Friday with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, marking the start of a critical round of consultations aimed at narrowing the gap between the island's divided communities, according to local media reports on Saturday.
Speaking after the meeting, Holguin said both sides had agreed to "work hard this month to achieve results based on the March agreement," referring to commitments made earlier this year to launch discussions on six thematic areas focused on confidence-building measures.
"We want to present concrete outcomes ahead of the mutually agreed-upon measures in July, and that is my focus during this visit," Holguin stated.
Cyprus has remained divided since 1974, when a Turkish military intervention followed a coup by Greek army officers. Decades of UN-led negotiations have failed to deliver a comprehensive solution.
Holguin is scheduled to meet Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Monday, before engaging next week with representatives from Cyprus's three guarantor powers - Greece, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
Her itinerary also includes stops in Athens, Ankara, and London following her stay in Cyprus through May 31. She will also travel to Brussels for talks with Johannes Hahn, recently appointed as the European Union's special envoy on Cyprus.
Cyprus government spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis confirmed that Holguin and Christodoulides discussed Hahn's role and the broader interplay between EU-Turkey relations and the Cyprus peace process. He emphasized the EU's potential to significantly support ongoing UN efforts.
Source: Xinhua News Agency