Current:Home > MyUN envoy says her experience in Colombia deal may help her efforts in restarting Cyprus talks-LoTradeCoin
UN envoy says her experience in Colombia deal may help her efforts in restarting Cyprus talks
View Date:2024-12-23 23:33:34
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A United Nations official said on Tuesday that her experience in negotiating an end to decades of conflict in her native Colombia may help her as she seeks to rekindle talks over Cyprus’ ethnic division.
María Ángela Holguín Cuellar, the U.N. chief’s new personal envoy for Cyprus, said she believes she can work with both Greek Cypriots in the island’s internationally recognized south and Turkish Cypriots in the breakaway north to get them back to the negotiating table after years of complete stalemate.
“I was part of that team that we finally reached a peace agreement” in Colombia, Holguín told reporters after her first meeting with the Greek Cypriot President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides. “And I think I can collaborate and do all my best for ... a good result for Cyprus.”
Holguín served as Colombia’s top diplomat during 2010-2018 and as the country’s representative to the U.N. during 2004-2006. It’s her first trip to the east Mediterranean island nation after her appointment earlier this month.
She is also meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar later on Tuesday and will separately contact women’s organizations and other civil society groups over the next few days for a first-hand assessment to gauge whether conditions have ripened for a resumption of full-fledged peace talks.
Cyprus was divided along ethnic lines in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup mounted by Greek junta-backed supporters of union with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a 1983 Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence and maintains more than 35,000 troops in the island’s northern third.
A Cyprus peace deal would reduce a source of potential conflict next door to an unstable Middle East and allow for the easier harnessing of hydrocarbon reserves in the eastern Mediterranean Sea’s natural gas-rich waters.
But Holguín faces a tough task as the two sides have grown increasingly apart in the years since the last major push to reach a peace settlement in the summer of 2017. The fact that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has dispatched an envoy to tell him if it’s worth another U.N. – facilitated round of negotiations indicates the degree of caution the world body is approaching the conflict after half a century of failure.
Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots say the only way to peace is a two-state deal, ditching an agreement to reunify the island as a federation composed of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot zones.
The majority Greek Cypriots reject anything that would formalize a partition, as well as demands for a Turkish Cypriot veto on all federal-level government decisions, permanent Turkish troop presence and Turkish military intervention rights.
Cyprus government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis dismissed Tatar’s remark that Holguín’s time to reach any assessment is limited to a few months.
“There’s no timetable, there no time limit,” he said. “Certainly, we believe that if there’s the same political will from the other side, the resumption of talks can happen very quickly.”
veryGood! (1334)
Related
- NBPA reaches Kyle Singler’s family after cryptic Instagram video draws concern
- Researchers have identified a new pack of endangered gray wolves in California
- How 'Yo! MTV Raps' helped mainstream hip-hop
- Lahaina, his hometown, was in flames. He looked for a way out. Then he heard the screams.
- Utah AD Mark Harlan rips officials following loss to BYU, claims game was 'stolen from us'
- Video shows hissing snake found in Arizona woman's toilet: My worst nightmare
- Tia Mowry's Past Breastfeeding Struggles Are All Too Relatable
- Former curator sues Massachusetts art museum for racial discrimination
- The charming Russian scene-stealers of 'Anora' are also real-life best friends
- Police: New York inmate used bed sheets to escape from hospital's 5th floor
Ranking
- Gigi Hadid and Bradley Cooper Prove They're Going Strong With Twinning Looks on NYC Date
- Baker Mayfield has sharp first outing for Buccaneers in preseason loss to Steelers
- 50 essential hip-hop songs to celebrate 50 years: Grandmaster Flash, Jay-Z, Outkast, more
- Alabama riverfront brawl videos spark a cultural moment about race, solidarity and justice
- 'Yellowstone' premiere: Record ratings, Rip's ride and Billy Klapper's tribute
- Lahaina, his hometown, was in flames. He looked for a way out. Then he heard the screams.
- A cherished weekend flea market in the Ukrainian capital survives despite war
- Police: New York inmate used bed sheets to escape from hospital's 5th floor
Recommendation
-
Reese Witherspoon's Daughter Ava Phillippe Introduces Adorable New Family Member
-
Will Milwaukee Brewers look to relocate if state stadium financing package fails?
-
In 'Red, White & Royal Blue,' a director centers true queer intimacy on screen
-
As flames swallowed Maui, survivors made harrowing escapes
-
2 dead in explosion at Kentucky factory that also damaged surrounding neighborhood
-
'Wait Wait' for August 12, 2023: 25th Anniversary Spectacular, Part V
-
50 essential hip-hop songs to celebrate 50 years: Grandmaster Flash, Jay-Z, Outkast, more
-
Searching for the missing on Maui, some wait in agony to make contact. And then the phone rings.