07/07/2017 09:42
The Conference on Cyprus at Crans Montana ended without an agreement, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres announced on Friday after a dinner with all the participating delegations, that ended in the early hours without a result.
" I am deeply sorry to inform you that despite the very strong commitment and engagement of all the delegations of the different parties, the Greek Cypriot, the Turkish Cypriot delegation, Greece, Turkey, the UK and the EU as an observer and of course the UN team, the Conference on Cyprus was closed without an agreement being reached," he told a news conference.
Guterres returned to Crans Montana on Thursday in an effort to break the deadlock that the talks at the Swiss resort faced.
"Unfortunately, as I said, an agreement wasn’t possible and the conference was closed without the possibility to bring a solution to this dramatically long lasting problem", he added.
Guterres expressed "deep gratitude and appreciation to the leaders of the two communities" and wished "the best for all Cypriots, of north and south. And I also want to express my deep gratitude to the representatives of the guarantor powers and the EU".
At the same time, he expressed his “enormous appreciation to the UN team and my advisor Espen Barth Eide”, noting that Eide has “done everything possible to bring closer the positions of the different delegations”.
Asked if the parties will continue the negotiations, Guterres said “the Conference is closed”.
“That doesn’t mean that other initiatives won’t be developed in order to address the Cyprus problem. But this Conference was closed unfortunately without a result. The United Nations is always at the disposal of the parties”, Guterres added.
UN-facilitated peace talks began in Crans-Montana on June 28 to help find a negotiated settlement that would reunify Cyprus, divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion.
" I am deeply sorry to inform you that despite the very strong commitment and engagement of all the delegations of the different parties, the Greek Cypriot, the Turkish Cypriot delegation, Greece, Turkey, the UK and the EU as an observer and of course the UN team, the Conference on Cyprus was closed without an agreement being reached," he told a news conference.
Guterres returned to Crans Montana on Thursday in an effort to break the deadlock that the talks at the Swiss resort faced.
"Unfortunately, as I said, an agreement wasn’t possible and the conference was closed without the possibility to bring a solution to this dramatically long lasting problem", he added.
Guterres expressed "deep gratitude and appreciation to the leaders of the two communities" and wished "the best for all Cypriots, of north and south. And I also want to express my deep gratitude to the representatives of the guarantor powers and the EU".
At the same time, he expressed his “enormous appreciation to the UN team and my advisor Espen Barth Eide”, noting that Eide has “done everything possible to bring closer the positions of the different delegations”.
Asked if the parties will continue the negotiations, Guterres said “the Conference is closed”.
“That doesn’t mean that other initiatives won’t be developed in order to address the Cyprus problem. But this Conference was closed unfortunately without a result. The United Nations is always at the disposal of the parties”, Guterres added.
UN-facilitated peace talks began in Crans-Montana on June 28 to help find a negotiated settlement that would reunify Cyprus, divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion.
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