Military history of Cyprus

The Cyprus problem and the prospect of resuming reunification talks was one of the issues that dominated Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis' meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York on Monday.

A senior U.N. envoy with a special task on reporting about whether there is ground for a new initiative to resolve the decades-old Cyprus problem has held talks with senior Turkish officials in Ankara, including Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

The obstacles to rekindling talks on the Cyprus issue, let alone to reaching a mutually acceptable settlement, were the focus of a meeting in Athens on Tuesday between María Ángela Holguín Cuellar, the UN chief's new personal envoy for Cyprus, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis.

Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis met on Tuesday with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' new personal envoy for Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar.

The meeting in Athens was the first between the two officials since Cuellar was appointed to the post in a bid to restart stalled talks on the Cyprus issue.

In the immediate aftermath of Turkey's invasion of Cyprus in 1974, American foreign policy became focused on three areas: a) preventing a war between Greece and Turkey; b) keeping NATO's southern flank intact; and c) averting Soviet involvement. In other areas, it allowed developments to take their own course, so that a new balance of power was created between Greece, Turkey and Cyprus.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to extend the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus for a year and urged all parties including rival Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to take steps "to de-escalate tensions in and around the buffer zone" dividing the Mediterranean island.

Türkiye has expressed its discontent with the recent decision by the U.N. to extend the mandate of its peacekeeping force in Cyprus "without consulting the Turkish Cypriot side."

Cyprus announced a series of gestures to support estranged Turkish Cypriots on Friday, days before the visit of a United Nations envoy who will assess prospects for the resumption of long-stalled peace talks.

The European Union is ready to support United Nations-backed efforts to resume Cyprus peace talks, Belgian Ambassador to Cyprus Marc Calcoen told the Cyprus News Agency, as his country prepares to assume the bloc's six-month rotating presidency on January 1. 

Defense Minister Yaşar Güler has advocated for a two-state solution as the only viable resolution to the longstanding conflict on the divided island of Cyprus.