U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Switzerland on Friday to participate in what could be a decisive day in the negotiations on Cyprus’ future, hoping to change the unfavourable climate that was created on Thursday.
Guterres was to join the talks in the Swiss Alpine resort of Crans-Montana as Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci are under growing international pressure to reach a deal. Speaking from Estonia on Friday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker stressed that it was the “last chance” for a deal.
On Thursday Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu denied reports of a possible withdrawal of troops.
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, who is at the talks, said on Thursday that officials had so far not broken any ground with regard to the pivotal and thorny issue of security.
“The Turks are repeating positions they’ve held for the last decade and they think that they’re new,” Kotzias said.
Meanwhile, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades submitted a 16-page paper outlining Nicosia’s positions on security in response to three questions tabled by UN Under-Secretary-General Jeffrey Feltman – how the two sides see the day after a solution, how the concerns of both communities with regard to security will be addressed, and how its implementation would be monitored.
The Conference will begin at 10:30 with the participation of Guterres, after two separate meetings between U.N.’s envoy on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, with the President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades and the Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.
At noon, the Secretary-General will host a lunch for the two leaders, while Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu are also scheduled to hold a lunch. Guterres will hold a separate meeting with Kotzias at 15:30 and on Friday evening he will host a dinner to the heads of all delegations.
Britain’s Minister of State for Europe and the Americas, Alan Duncan, will also be in Crans-Montana on Friday.
A key point of dispute is the issue of security and guarantees on the island and the presence of thousands of Turkish troops who have been there since the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974.