Cyprus's government spokesman Konstantinos Letympiотis placed blame for the stalled Cyprus reunification talks squarely ...

Cyprus's government spokesman Konstantinos Letympiотis placed blame for the stalled Cyprus reunification talks squarely on Ankara after Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides met with UN Secretary-General António Guterres in Nicosia on Tuesday. Letympiотis said the Cyprus issue has been at a standstill since 2021 "as a result of Turkey's intransigence and declared position," which he said falls entirely outside the agreed UN framework. Turkey continues to push for a two-state solution, a position Cyprus and the UN both reject. The Cypriot government described the Christodoulides-Guterres meeting as "substantive and sincere," welcoming what Letympiотis called Guterres's "strong personal political commitment" to restarting the reunification process. Cyprus wants negotiations to resume from where they broke down at the Crans-Montana talks in 2017. Letympiотis emphasized that any new process must be based on UN Security Council resolutions, meaning a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, fully in line with EU principles. He said the Cypriot side rejects any framework outside those parameters, an indirect but clear signal that Ankara's two-state push is a non-starter. Guterres, speaking outside the Presidential Palace before the meeting, had noted that the success of any new effort depends not only on Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots but also on the guarantor powers. Letympiотis seized on that, calling on all parties, naming Turkey directly, to "align with international legitimacy." Cyprus is also pushing for a new informal expanded conference, one that Letympiотis said should not be symbolic but serve as a genuine launchpad for substantive negotiations. He said Guterres's special envoy María Ángela Holguín is also working in that direction. The Cypriot government expressed hope that meaningful progress comes before Guterres's term expires. #Cyprus #CyprusIssue #Turkey