The United Nations has recruited María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar, a former Columbian Foreign Minister, to visit Cyprus and discuss plans to resolve the island’s ethnic divide.
Cyprus has been divided for 50 years, following an illegal occupation by Turkish forces in 1974.
Ms Cuéllar will head to Cyprus to speak with the Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and the leader of the Turkish Cypriots, Ersin Tatar, to see whether she is able to revive peace talks.
This deal aims to reduce potential conflict and allow for easier harnessing of hydrocarbon reserves in the East Mediterranean Sea’s waters.
In his New Year’s message, Christodoulides said having Ms Cuéllar visit is the “first important step” to making peace between the two sides.
He added that he was “absolutely ready” to move things forward, however the “road will be long and the difficulties a given.”
Tatar shared with a Turkish Cypriot newspaper last week that he had “no expectations” of any peace talks in the works.
Source: Ekathimerini.
