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UN Chief Deplores Failed Peace Talks on Cyprus

© AFP 2023 / Jewel SAMADUN Secretary-General-designate Antonio Guterres speaks during the ceremony for the appointment of the Secretary-General during the 70th session of the General Assembly October 13, 2016 at the United Nations in New York
UN Secretary-General-designate Antonio Guterres speaks during the ceremony for the appointment of the Secretary-General during the 70th session of the General Assembly October 13, 2016 at the United Nations in New York - Sputnik International
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A new round of peace talks to end a lasting dispute over the divided Cyprus has ended in a failure, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres announced Friday.

Antonio Guterres speaking at the UN headquarters in New York. (File) - Sputnik International
UN Secretary-General to Return to Cyprus Talks in Switzerland
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — "I am deeply sorry to inform you that despite the very strong commitment and engagement of all the delegations and different parties… the Conference on Cyprus was closed without an agreement being reached," he said at a briefing.

The conference in Crans Montana, Switzerland was attended by Greek and Turkish Cypriot delegations, envoys from Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom, observers from the European Union and the UN team.

Guterres said an agreement was "not possible" but this did not mean that other initiatives could not be developed to address the Cyprus problem. He added differences remained between delegations on a number of issues that he refused to specify.

Cyprus has been divided for more than 40 years.

In 1983, Turkish Cypriots declared the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. They claimed the move would protect them from attacks by Cypriot Greeks supported by Athens.

The international community considers northern Cyprus, recognized only by Turkey, to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.

Greek Cypriots find the presence of Turkish troops on Cyprus threatening and have sought their full withdrawal, but Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has ruled it out.

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