UN chief Guterres ‘realistic’ as Cyprus talks open in Geneva

Antonio Guterres is hosting discussions in Geneva this week on the divided island’s future after a four-year hiatus.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he is being “realistic” about the prospect of progress during key talks on reunifying Cyprus, and urged Greek and Turkish Cypriot parties to “be creative” in their approach. The Geneva-based meeting over the divided Mediterranean island’s future will begin later on Tuesday. Guterres invited officials of the two communities in Cyprus, as well as the foreign ministers of Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom – a former colonial ruler in Cyprus – to attend in an effort to resume peace negotiations that collapsed in mid-2017.