UN Secretary-General António Guterres made clear that no 3+1 or 5+1 meeting on the Cyprus issue will take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, stressing that “there is still a lot of work to be done.”
He made the remarks during the customary press conference ahead of High-Level Week, after being asked by the Cyprus News Agency whether, following his communication with his Personal Envoy, the conditions he had set in July for such a meeting had been met.
At the same time, he stressed that the United Nations remains committed to efforts to make progress on the Cyprus issue.
The 5+1 format includes the two Cypriot sides, Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom, plus the UN. The 3+1 format includes the two sides in Cyprus and one additional party, plus the UN.
“We are determined to move things forward, and we are determined to do everything possible for this to happen when the conditions are in place for the meeting to be successful,” he said.
Guterres also said that any new meeting should be prepared in a way that creates a genuine prospect of results. “We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past,” he said.
On the Cyprus issue, the 5+1 format includes the two Cypriot sides, the three guarantor powers — Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom — and the UN. The 3+1 format includes the two sides in Cyprus — Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots — together with one additional party, plus the United Nations.
Source: Kathimerini Cyprus
