UN Secretary-General on Cyprus - Media Stakeout | United Nations

Media stakeout by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, following the informal meeting on Cyprus held at the UN Headquarters in New York. --- Ladies and gentlemen of the media, Thank you for joining us. Today, I convened a meeting I proposed in March with the clear goal of pursuing the constructive dialogue between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot Leaders. I am grateful for the participation of His Excellency Nicos Christodoulides, and His Excellency Ersin Tatar. And I thank the Foreign Minister of Greece, His Excellency Giorgios Gerapetritis, the Foreign Minister of Türkiye, His Excellency Hakan Fidan, and the Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories of the United Kingdom, His Excellency Stephen Doughty, who represents the guarantor powers of Cyprus. From the very start of my mandate, I have been committed to the security and well-being of the Cypriots — the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots. Once again, today’s discussions were constructive. Both leaders reviewed the progress on the six initiatives they agreed in March to build trust. Out of these six initiatives, four have been achieved: - the creation of a technical committee on youth; - initiatives on the environment and climate change, including the impact on mining areas; - the restoration of cemeteries; - an agreement on demining will be closed once the final technical details are established; Discussions will continue on the remaining two: - - the opening of four crossing points; and - -solar energy in the buffer zone. In addition, they came to a common understanding on: - -a consultative body for civil society engagement; - -exchange of cultural artifacts; - -an initiative on air quality monitoring; and - -addressing microplastic pollution. It is critical to implement these initiatives – all of them – as soon as possible for the benefit of all Cypriots. We also agreed that I would have a joint meeting with Mr. Tatar and Mr. Christodoulides during the high-level week, and that there would be another informal meeting in the present format later this year. As with the six initiatives agreed in March, the initiatives agreed today have the potential to have a real and significant positive impact on peoples’ lives across the island. They are not merely symbolic gestures, but issues that require cooperation. There’s a long road ahead. And it is important to think about what the future can mean – for all Cypriots. But these steps clearly demonstrate a commitment to continuing a dialogue on the way forward and working on initiatives that benefit all Cypriots. Thank you. I will answer three questions. Question: Thank you. Thank you Secretary-General. Serife Cetin, Anadolu Agency. I just wanted to ask you, sir, what is the impediment that hinders progress on opening of new crossing points? What would you say is the main challenge on this issue? Secretary-General: We have reached an agreement on the crossing points themselves. There is a question of an itinerary in relation to one of them that will be further discussed now. But there was important progress in this regard. Question: The new points have not been, opening new crossing points have not been decided? Secretary-General: Before we need to finish the agreement. As I said, there is still a question of itinerary to be addressed in future discussions. Question: What is the problem with the itinerary? Secretary-General: These are very technical things that are in the language that I do not dominate. But as I said, there was a lot of progress, but there are still some aspects of itinerary that need to be addressed. Question: Mr. Secretary-General, would you consider this is a start for a new round of negotiations? Could you say that? Is it a new start for a new round? Secretary-General: I think that this is a process, a complex process. We all know that there are very different points of view from the two sides in relation to a solution on the problem of Cyprus. But I think we are building, step by step, confidence and creating the conditions to do concrete things to the benefit of the Cypriot people, and, with a total consensus that this process must go on. Question: Were you happy with the results? Secretary-General: I am happy, of course, I would like much more, but this is a complex issue and I think that we made progress that needs to be registered. Full transcript: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/press-encounter/2025-07-17/secretary-generals-remarks-press-following-informal-meeting-%E2%80%AFcyprus


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