The United Nations (UN) special envoy to Cyprus today asked the Greek and Turkish communities of the Mediterranean island to pressure their leaders to return to the negotiating table to find a solution to a conflict of 50 years.
“I appeal to all Cypriots to encourage and pressure their leaders to work towards a better and secure future. Leaders must show will and determination to make real progress”, urged the UN special envoy to Cyprus, MarÃa Ãngela HolguÃn Cuéllar, in an open letter published today by Unficyp, the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus.
In the letter, Holguín Cuéllar, appointed to the position in January by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, refers to the fact that Cyprus has been “stuck in time” – according to her, the conflict has frozen the island for more than 50 years – and asks us to look to the future.
The conflict has lasted since 1974, when the Turkish army occupied the northern part of the island in response to a Greek Cypriot coup d’état that sought to unify the island with Greece.
The island is separated between the Republic of Cyprus, of Greek culture, a member of the European Union, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognized only by Turkey.
In the open letter, the international representative explains that she was tasked with investigating whether there are favorable conditions for the resumption of negotiations with a view to building a definitive and sustainable solution to the Cyprus issue.
The last round of contacts took place in 2017.
“It is important to move away from solutions that, in the past, created expectations that were not met and led to more disagreements and frustrations. Now, we have to think differently, maintaining the conviction that a common future would bring great opportunities for all Cypriots”, says HolguÃn.
The United Nations vision for the unification of Cyprus continues to be the creation of a federal, bi-zonal, bi-communal state, emerging from two constituent states – one Greek Cypriot and the other Cypriot Turkish – with a single sovereignty, citizenship and international personality.
Holguín Cuéllar guarantees that, in the months he was in office, he found that “too many years were spent in confrontation and discrimination and too much time blaming the other party”.
And, in this sense, he insists that the current situation in Cyprus “has created a greater distance and a lack of knowledge of others, which grows with each passing day”.
“Recognizing the challenges, I believe that Cypriots could have a brighter and more positive outlook if they could come to terms with their history of pain. We cannot forget the young people on both sides of the island. They deserve a different life, with equal opportunities, so that your future is not truncated by the past”, argues Holguín.
The UN representative has extensive experience in conflicts, since, during her mandate as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, the Final Peace Agreement was signed between the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP, in 2016, to put an end to Colombia’s armed conflict that began in 1960.
The UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) has been present on that island since 1964, when it was called to put an end to hostilities that arose between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots three years after Cyprus became independent of the UK.
