The next step of the UN will be to conduct consultations with all parties, said on Wednesday Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) Elizabeth Spehar.
Answering questions after a meeting with Democratic Party leader Nicholas Papadopoulos, Spehar said she is meeting with the political parties to “see how they see the current situation and touch base and I hope to be doing that in the coming period”.
Asked about any moves following the elections in Turkey, Spehar replied that “the SG announced in his last report that he will conducting consultations with all the parties and for the UN that will be the next step”.
To a question when the next step from Antonio Guterres will be, Spehar replied “I would say in this coming period, soon”.
According to the advance copy of the Report of the Secretary-General on progress towards a settlement in Cyprus for the information of the members of the Security Council, the UNSG said he believes “there is still scope for the sides to act responsibly and decisively in order to chart a common way forward for the island”.
Guterres also said that in the coming period, he intends to send a senior United Nations official to conduct in-depth consultations with the parties. “The consultations will provide a more formal, structured, and detailed channel for the parties to convey to the United Nations the outcomes of their reflection since Crans-Montana and to help determine whether conditions have or have not matured at this stage for a meaningful process. I encourage the parties to recognize the importance of this exercise and to seize the opportunity accordingly,” he noted in his Good Offices Mission report.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. A UN-backed Conference on Cyprus last summer in the Swiss resort of Crans Montana, aiming to reunify the island under a federal roof, ended inconclusively.
