Nikos Christodoulides

A letter sent to President Nicos Anastasiades by UN chief Antonio Guterres confirms the international organization’s position that the Turkish-held fenced-off town of Varosha should open under UN-control.

And not under Turkish administration as it was widely speculated after the collapse of the UN-brokered Cyprus peace talks in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, in July.

Turkey’s insistence on continuing the guarantees treaty, rights of intervention in Cyprus and a permanent Turkish military presence on the island were responsible for the deadlock at the Crans Montana talks on the Cyprus issue, Cyprus government spokesman Nikos Christodoulides said on Saturday.

The Conference on Cyprus ended early on Friday in Crans Montana, Switzerland, without a solution. Turkey’s intransigent stance on the Turkish troops’ stay on the island and its rigid insistence on maintaining the intervention rights and guarantees for at least 15 years until their re-examination was one of the main reasons that led the negotiations to a dead end.

With talks on reuniting the island apparently faltering, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades will present his plan for a settlement to party leaders on Monday, according to Cypriot Government Spokesman Nikos Christodoulides.

Alternate Defense Minister Dimitris Vitsas sought on Friday to distance himself from senior sources at the ministry that leaked to journalists this week that Greece expects a military incident orchestrated by Turkey off the coast of Cyprus in the summer.

Cyprus on Thursday dismissed concerns emanating from the Geek Defense Ministry that Turkey will provoke a dangerous escalation in tension when France's Total company begins extracting natural gas in the island's territorial waters this coming June.

With the International peace talks on the Cypriot problem under way in Geneva, Switzerland, the participation of the Greek PM Alexis Tsipras still remains unclear. Currently the parties attending the meerting include the President of the Cypriot Republic, Nicos Anastasiades, the leader of the Turkish-Cypriot community, Mustafa Akinci and the UN’s special adviser on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide.

Nicosia insisted on Tuesday that the Republic of Cyprus will not be dissolved to make way for a federation with constituent Greek and Turkish states, and that the multilateral summit in Geneva, slated for January 12, that will seek to seal a reunification deal must include the participation of the permanent members of the UN Security Council to ensure its successful outcome.

Reports of UN Special Envoy Espen Barth Eide returning to Cyprus after talks in Switzerland to reunify the ethnically split island collapsed were not confirmed by Cyprus's government on Wednesday.

Reports of UN Special Envoy Espen Barth Eide returning to Cyprus after talks in Switzerland to reunify the ethnically split island collapsed were not confirmed by Cyprus's government on Wednesday.