UN Secretary-General Guterres: Progress made in building confidence in Cyprus talks

Guterres made a statement to the press following the Extended Informal Meeting on Cyprus held in New York, where Türkiye was represented by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar, Greek Cypriot Administration leader Nikos Christodoulides, Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis, and UK Minister of State for Europe and North America Stephen Doughty represented the United Kingdom.

"The talks were constructive."

Guterres stated that he has remained committed to the security and well-being of Cypriots since the beginning of his term, and that the talks held today were "constructive."

Guterres noted that progress on six initiatives agreed in March had been reviewed, and that agreements on establishing a technical committee for youth initiatives, initiatives related to the environment and climate change, cemetery restoration and mining had been implemented.

Noting that discussions are ongoing on the opening of four new crossing points and the use of solar energy in the buffer zone, Guterres said, "It is critical that all of these initiatives are implemented as quickly as possible for the benefit of all Cypriots."

Responding to an Anadolu Agency (AA) reporter's question about the new crossing points, Guterres stated that progress had been made on the issue and an agreement had been reached, but that the new crossing points had not yet been opened.

"There is still a route issue that needs to be addressed in future discussions," Guterres said.

"We are moving forward step by step to build trust"

Emphasizing that there are very different views among the parties regarding the solution to the Cyprus problem, Guterres continued as follows:

"We are moving forward step by step to build trust and I believe we have created the necessary conditions to do concrete work for the benefit of the Cypriot people and we are in full agreement that this process must continue."

“Solving the Syrian problem belongs to the Syrians”

Referring to the conflict in Syria, Guterres underlined that the country's territorial integrity must be respected and the rights of different communities there must be recognized.

Guterres said, “Solving the Syrian problem belongs to the Syrians.”