What Guterres’s open window means for Cyprus talks

Politics Antonio GuterresCyprus problemTop News What Guterres’s open window means for Cyprus talks Guterres Cyprus Problem Un Relevant News Fitto to visit Cyprus for talks with Christodoulides and Erhurman 30 July 2026 What Guterres’s open window means for Cyprus talks 30 July 2026 Convict serving drug sentence dies at Nicosia hospital 30 July 2026 Andreas Bimbishis 30 July 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber UN Secretary-General António Guterres wrapped up two days of intensive contacts with the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders in Cyprus by leaving the door open for further talks. He said he still has consent from both sides and the guarantor powers to convene a 5+1 meeting, though no date has been set, and sources told Phileleftheros that a compromise proposal on crossing points was accepted by President Nicos Christodoulides but rejected by Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman. Diplomatic sources said Guterres’s own direct call to Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan proved decisive in securing Turkey’s consent to move forward. No date set for new meeting Guterres said Wednesday he still has consent from both Cypriot leaders and the guarantor powers to convene a 5+1 meeting on the Cyprus problem, though no date has been set. Guterres made the remarks at a press conference following a trilateral meeting with Christodoulides and Erhürman, the second such meeting in as many days. Guterres said preparation for the meeting must cover confidence-building measures, methodology and substance. “Because I don’t want to see more 5+1 meetings without results,” he said. He added that he had decided to call another 5+1 meeting after appropriate preparation, taking into account convergences already reached in previous negotiations. Phileleftheros noted that this reference to prior convergences amounts to an acknowledgement of the negotiating acquis built up over previous rounds. It signals that preparation for the new meeting will not start from scratch and that earlier progress will not be discarded. Guterres said he would work in consultation with both sides and the guarantor powers to create the conditions for a successful meeting. During his visit, he noted, he had heard from many Cypriots. Their message, he said, was that they want progress, want their leaders to make compromises to close the final gap toward a settlement, and want a future defined by cooperation rather than division. This, he added, was the spirit of his talks with both leaders, separately and jointly. Phileleftheros noted that Guterres’s reference to a “final mile” appeared to point to the point at which talks broke down at Crans-Montana. Compromise on crossing points rejected by Erhürman Sources familiar with the discussions told Phileleftheros that Guterres had put forward a compromise proposal on opening crossing points, suggesting the simultaneous opening of the Mia Milia and Athienou crossings. The sources said this was a slightly revised version of a proposal made a year earlier in New York. The revised version would reduce the number of checkpoints on the Athienou-to-Aglantzia route from three, as the Turkish Cypriot side had requested, to two. The same sources said Christodoulides agreed to the compromise and was ready for Guterres to announce it as early as Tuesday’s press conference. Erhürman rejected the proposal. Phileleftheros noted that this outcome illustrates Erhürman’s limited room to make decisions on such matters independently, since Turkey does not allow any Turkish Cypriot leader to make decisions affecting Turkish military positions or Ankara’s preferred degree of control over the area. Christodoulides’s own proposals Separate sources who spoke to Phileleftheros said Christodoulides had proposed, in his Tuesday meeting with Guterres, that measures on missing persons be included in any framework. This would allow the Committee on Missing Persons to gain access to more sites for excavation as well as to Turkish military archives, so the missing persons issue could be fully investigated. These sources said Guterres noted the proposal positively during the trilateral meeting. However, the Turkish Cypriot side did not respond positively, since Guterres made no reference to it in his subsequent statements. The same sources added that Christodoulides also raised, in a one-on-one meeting with Guterres, a second proposal concerning Turkey. He put forward goodwill initiatives or reciprocal steps between the Republic of Cyprus and Turkey, which he said could be advanced through a mutual approach between the two countries. The Fidan phone call Diplomatic sources told Phileleftheros that the decisive factor behind Guterres’s announcement that all parties agree to prepare for an informal 5+1 meeting was his own direct intervention with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. A phone call between Guterres and Fidan, made two days after UN envoy María Ángela Holguín’s visit to Ankara, proved decisive. Guterres’s personal envoy had met Fidan in person the previous Friday but had not secured a positive response; Guterres’s own call to Fidan did. These diplomatic sources said Guterres secured Fidan’s “OK” to proceed at this stage, though movement on the ground has not yet followed. They added that Turkey has now given its consent for preparations to begin toward an expanded meeting, and that Guterres made clear to his interlocutors that the next 5+1 meeting must succeed. No “new ideas” on the table A source present at the talks over the past two days told Phileleftheros that Guterres did not present or refer to any “new ideas,” including material previously published in Cypriot, Turkish and British media. Discussions will be based on the parameters of the existing Guterres framework, the source noted, without that framework itself being a formal reference point. Guterres’s stated aim, according to the source, is to arrive at the expanded meeting with a framework for resuming talks. Given known Turkish objections, the source added, the framework will not be formally named after Guterres. It will set out the convergences already reached, as well as the divergences, meaning the points on which no convergence has been achieved. Christodoulides: first time substance discussed since Crans-Montana Christodoulides, in his first statements after the meeting, said he was satisfied that the substance of the Cyprus problem had been discussed for the first time since Crans-Montana. He said he was taking away three points from the two days of contacts: Guterres remains fully committed to the UN Security Council resolutions and to the negotiating acquis achieved up to Crans-Montana. All sides, starting with Cyprus, have responded positively to convening an expanded conference, which he said must succeed. This should lead to a positive announcement on resuming talks from where they were interrupted at Crans-Montana, in cooperation with Holguín and the EU. Erhürman: more optimistic than before the visit Erhürman said he was more optimistic than before Guterres’s visit. Nothing tangible had emerged, he noted, but a road map had been created that could lead to a process. He said he considered the visit significant, along with Guterres’s references to methodology and confidence-building measures, which he said reflected his own positions. Erhürman said he viewed the visit as important and positive for four reasons: It was the first UN visit of its kind in 16 years, a clear sign of the importance the UN attaches to the Cyprus problem. Guterres was accompanied by a large delegation of senior UN officials. Guterres met Christodoulides separately in the south and Erhürman separately at his office in the north, which he said showed both leaders were being treated as equals under UN auspices. Guterres came to facilitate talks in Nicosia itself, reflecting his view that the two leaders could discuss some issues there and find a solution if the will exists. Athens and Ankara react differently Athens and Ankara reacted very differently to the outcome of Guterres’s visit. Greece’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Greece remains ready to contribute constructively to a successful informal meeting. Its steady goal, the ministry stated, remains resolution of the Cyprus problem within the parameters set by the UN Security Council. The ministry welcomed Guterres’s remarks, saying he remains firmly committed to the good offices mission entrusted to him by the Security Council to find a comprehensive, fair and viable solution to the Cyprus problem within UN parameters. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said there is still no common ground between the two sides for a solution to the Cyprus problem. In a statement released by ministry spokesperson Öncü Keçeli, Ankara said it appreciates Guterres’s efforts on Cyprus before the end of his term. At a time when there is still no common ground for a solution, the ministry noted, emphasis should be placed on progress in specific areas of cooperation, within the process launched by the UN Secretary-General in 2025. Progress on cooperation issues, it added, could help build trust between the two communities. The Turkish ministry also criticised the Greek Cypriot side, saying no concrete prospect for a solution is possible unless what it called the Greek Cypriot side’s “uncompromising stance” changes, and unless actions it said negatively affect regional security come to an end. The ministry again rejected solution models tried in previous decades, describing them as exhausted and belonging to the past. It reiterated Ankara’s position that a fair, comprehensive and viable solution can only be achieved on the basis of realities on the island and on the basis of sovereign equality and equal international status for Turkish Cypriots. 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