UN chief Antonio Guterres met Cyprus's rival leaders on Thursday in a bid to unblock sputtering negotiations to end the island's decades-long division.
Guterres received a stream of top officials who for more than a week have been conducting thorny peace talks in the Swiss Alpine resort of Crans-Montana.
President Nicos Anastasiades, the Greek-Cypriot leader, and his Turkish-Cypriot counterpart Mustafa Akinci had asked Guterres to return to the table, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Wednesday.
But the rival Cypriot leaders and the foreign and European affairs ministers from so-called guarantor powers Greece, Turkey and Britain said little after their flurry of meetings with Guterres, and it remained unclear if he was making any headway.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini was also there to show support for the process, and US Vice President Mike Pence put in a call to Anastasiades and Akinci to urge them to reach a deal.
The UN-backed talks have been billed as the best chance to end one of the world's longest-running political crises.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and later occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-inspired putsch seeking union with Greece.
The UN has said the talks, which began on June 28, are open-ended, but Guterres was under pressure to have something to show for his efforts before he leaves Crans Montana early Friday.
He spent a day at the talks last Friday, hailing them as "a historic opportunity to reach a comprehensive settlement".
But the negotiations have run into hurdles over security guarantees and the withdrawal of Turkish troops.
- Not enough progress -
There had also been talk of the British, Greek and Turkish prime ministers joining the negotiations Thursday, in what would have been seen as a sign of progress.
But they did not show, with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias acknowledging to reporters in Crans-Montana late Wednesday that "we have not made enough progress."
Kotzias, who earlier in the week demonstrated the souring tone at the talks when he called for the withdrawal of Turkey's "occupying troops", said he hoped the negotiations would with Guterres' help move forward on such "substantive" issues.
Turkey maintains more than 35,000 troops there, and any prospects of reunification largely hinge on a drastic reduction of Ankara's military presence.
Several previous peace drives have stumbled over the issue, with Greek Cypriots demanding a total withdrawal of what they say is an occupying force and minority Turkish-speakers fearful of ethnic violence in the event of a pullout.
A diplomatic source told AFP before the talks began that Ankara was prepared to slash its troop numbers by as much as 80 percent, but Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu flatly denied that any such withdrawal was planned.
Cyprus's 1960 constitution provided for 950 Greek and 650 Turkish troops remaining on the island.
But a Greek diplomatic source told AFP Athens wanted "the departure of all the troops".
Following his meeting with Guterres Thursday, Kotzias said the UN chief appeared to understand that "a normal state ... cannot remain under pressure from a third-party state or accept their (troop) presence."
Pence also pushed for a solution during calls with the rival Cypriot leaders.
"The vice president urged President Anastasiades and Mr Akinci to seize this historic opportunity to reunify the island," the White House said.
Pence had also "expressed his confidence in both leaders' ability to secure a settlement that would reunify Cyprus as a bizonal, bicommunal federation to the benefit of all Cypriots". it added.
UN chief Antonio Guterres met Cyprus’s rival leaders on Thursday in a bid to unblock sputtering negotiations to end the island’s decades-long division.
Guterres received a stream of top officials who for more than a week have been conducting thorny peace talks in the Swiss Alpine resort of Crans-Montana.
President Nicos Anastasiades, the Greek-Cypriot leader, and his Turkish-Cypriot counterpart Mustafa Akinci had asked Guterres to return to the table, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Wednesday.
But the rival Cypriot leaders and the foreign and European affairs ministers from so-called guarantor powers Greece, Turkey and Britain said little after their flurry of meetings with Guterres, and it remained unclear if he was making any headway.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini was also there to show support for the process, and US Vice President Mike Pence put in a call to Anastasiades and Akinci to urge them to reach a deal.
The UN-backed talks have been billed as the best chance to end one of the world’s longest-running political crises.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and later occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-inspired putsch seeking union with Greece.
The UN has said the talks, which began on June 28, are open-ended, but Guterres was under pressure to have something to show for his efforts before he leaves Crans Montana early Friday.
He spent a day at the talks last Friday, hailing them as “a historic opportunity to reach a comprehensive settlement”.
But the negotiations have run into hurdles over security guarantees and the withdrawal of Turkish troops.
– Not enough progress –
There had also been talk of the British, Greek and Turkish prime ministers joining the negotiations Thursday, in what would have been seen as a sign of progress.
But they did not show, with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias acknowledging to reporters in Crans-Montana late Wednesday that “we have not made enough progress.”
Kotzias, who earlier in the week demonstrated the souring tone at the talks when he called for the withdrawal of Turkey’s “occupying troops”, said he hoped the negotiations would with Guterres’ help move forward on such “substantive” issues.
Turkey maintains more than 35,000 troops there, and any prospects of reunification largely hinge on a drastic reduction of Ankara’s military presence.
Several previous peace drives have stumbled over the issue, with Greek Cypriots demanding a total withdrawal of what they say is an occupying force and minority Turkish-speakers fearful of ethnic violence in the event of a pullout.
A diplomatic source told AFP before the talks began that Ankara was prepared to slash its troop numbers by as much as 80 percent, but Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu flatly denied that any such withdrawal was planned.
Cyprus’s 1960 constitution provided for 950 Greek and 650 Turkish troops remaining on the island.
But a Greek diplomatic source told AFP Athens wanted “the departure of all the troops”.
Following his meeting with Guterres Thursday, Kotzias said the UN chief appeared to understand that “a normal state … cannot remain under pressure from a third-party state or accept their (troop) presence.”
Pence also pushed for a solution during calls with the rival Cypriot leaders.
“The vice president urged President Anastasiades and Mr Akinci to seize this historic opportunity to reunify the island,” the White House said.
Pence had also “expressed his confidence in both leaders’ ability to secure a settlement that would reunify Cyprus as a bizonal, bicommunal federation to the benefit of all Cypriots”. it added.
