UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Cyprus on Tuesday for talks aimed at advancing efforts to restart negotiations on the island’s decades-old division, becoming the first sitting UN chief to visit in more than 16 years.
Guterres is scheduled to hold separate meetings Tuesday with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman before visiting the Committee on Missing Persons. On Wednesday, he will chair a trilateral meeting with the two leaders at the UN good offices mission.
“The UN cannot impose peace. Only Cypriots, through their leaders, can build it,” Guterres said in a social media post, reaffirming his “commitment to support for Cypriot communities in the search for a comprehensive and sustainable settlement of the Cyprus issue.”
Guterres is accompanied by his personal envoy, Maria Angela Holguin, who met both leaders ahead of his visit.
