NICOSIA, July 2. /TASS/. The parties to the Cyprus issue are still a ways away from finding any middle ground for a settlement on the island, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said at a press conference on the transition of the UN Security Council presidency to Russia in July, the Cyprus Mail newspaper reported.
"The personal envoy of the UN Secretary General, former Colombian Foreign Minister [Maria Angela] Holguin, traveled to the island, spoke with both sides, only to find that the parties are far from a compromise solution that might be found," the newspaper quoted Nebenzya’s response to a question posed at the press conference by a Cyprus News Agency representative.
The Russian permanent representative made it clear that over the last seven years, which have passed since the multilateral meeting held under the auspices of the UN in Switzerland to solve the problem on the island, there has been no visible progress in the Cyprus settlement. "It is unfortunate, but the last opportunity we had was in 2017 in Crans-Montana, which unfortunately was lost and since then there has been no visible, tangible progress in the Cyprus negotiations," Nebenzya added.
Moreover, the Russian envoy added that the UN Security Council is now seeing that the sides to the conflict are becoming more entrenched in their positions.
He added that "now there is the issue of extending the mandate of Ms. Holguin, but this is absolutely the prerogative of the Secretary General, because she is his Personal Envoy."
Cyprus has been divided along national lines since Turkey’s armed invasion in 1974, triggered by a coup d’etat by pro-annexation activists. The military hostilities brought approximately 37% of Cyprus under Turkish control. The TRNC was formed in 1983 on the island. The Republic is recognized in the international community only by Ankara. The southern part of the island remained under the control of the Republic of Cyprus, populated predominantly by Greek Cypriots. Repeated attempts by the parties to resolve the problem have so far failed.
Today, the sides have very different visions on how to solve the Cyprus problem. The Greek Cypriots agree to the unification of the island on the basis of the existing UN Security Council resolutions, which stipulate that a bicircular and bizonal federation should be established on the island. Meanwhile, the current Turkish Cypriot leadership sees the international recognition of the self-proclaimed KKTC and the granting of political equality to the Turkish Cypriots with the representatives of the Greek community of the island as a condition for the settlement of the Cyprus problem.