A senior British government official has said that the UK has a special role to play in the forthcoming talks in Geneva regarding the security and guarantees in Cyprus, but added that a decision on the level of representation has not yet been taken.
“I don’t think that decisions about attendance at Geneva have yet been made; but we will approach that in the context of how we can best support the process there and the opportunity that stands before us to finally settle this issue,” the official has told the Cyprus News Agency in London.
As she added, the UK is a firm supporter of finding a settlement in Cyprus, as one of the three guarantor powers (the other two are Greece and Turkey). “We have sought to do what we can to support that UN-led process and we will continue to do so.”
Asked about London’s position with regard to Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades’ call for all five permanent members of the UN Security Council to participate in next month’s multi-party conference, the official underlined that the UK “has a particular role to play as one of the guarantors.”
Adding that it is a UN-led process and that the Prime Minister discussed it with the UN Secretary-General in New York in September, the British government official noted: “We will then want to look at what they think will best lead to a successful resolution and how we can support that.”
On December 1st, President Anastasiades, and the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı met in Nicosia and assessed the state of play of the UN-led negotiations and exchanged views on the way forward.
In line with their joint resolve to reach a comprehensive settlement as soon as possible, they decided that they will meet in Geneva on the 9th of January 2017.
`On the 11th of January, they will present their respective maps. From the 12th of January, a Conference on Cyprus will be convened with the added participation of the guarantor powers. Other relevant parties shall be invited as needed” a UN statement on the meeting said.
The latest round of UN-led peace talks began in May last year with a view to finding a negotiated settlement that would reunited Cyprus, divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion.
CNA/TG/MM/2016
ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY