The Cyprus conference will begin again today in the town of Crans-Montana in Switzerland.
The conference, which will be held within the framework of the UN Secretary General’s declaration on 4th June, will start at 10.00 local time. (TRNC time: 11.00)
The conference, which will be attended by the both sides in Cyprus, as well as the guarantor countries Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom, will focus on the issues of “Security and Guarantees” alongside all other issues for which a solution has yet to be reached so far in the Cyprus negotiation process.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kocias, and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Boris Johnson will participate in the conference. Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini will represent the EU as an observer country.
The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is expected to attend the conference in the following days.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Serdar Denktaş and Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu will be present at the negotiations to be held in Crans-Montana.
Meanwhile, the official opening of the Cyprus Conference was held yesterday evening at the Le Regent Convention Centre in Crans-Montana.
President Mustafa Akıncı, the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades, the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Greece’s Foreign Minister Nikos Kocias and the UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Boris Johnson attended the meeting. Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, was also present at the dinner.
Additionally, President Mustafa Akıncı held a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in Crans-Montana in order to evaluate the current status of talks before the conference.
Türkeş: The UN has ‘forced’ a meeting in Crans-Montana once again
Discussing the Cyprus Conference to be held in Switzerland, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Tuğrul Türkeş has stated that the UN has ‘forced’ the meeting in Crans-Montana this week.
Türkeş, who is in London said: “I have to use this term again, a meeting will be forcibly held in Crans-Montana by the UN on June 27-28, with a ‘compulsory’ ‘meeting once again.” He continued, “Turkish Cypriot people do not deserve the unfair isolations imposed on them and they need to get rid of these as soon as possible. The politicians in Cyprus, especially the TRNC President, the negotiator and the government, are doing their utmost. Turkey also supports the TRNC. I know that the international press often misrepresents these things. It is clear that Turkey has always lent its support to finding a solution.
The Greek Cypriot side, which unfairly secured EU membership in 2004, sees the Turkish Cypriot people as a minority. This is the problem – it starts here. Our proposal, however, is to facilitate two equal communities, and a new federation state. Turkey supports this. This is the truth. Today’s population rates do not mean anything. However, from time to time, the Western press, especially the European press says so many different things.”
Eide: UN “will not submit a joint document” at the Cyprus Conference.
The United Nations (UN) Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide has stated that the UN will not present a “joint document” to the parties in the conference.
Eide said at a press conference at the UN Geneva Office that the Cyprus Conference, which will start today, will be the continuation of the conference in Geneva in January.
Eide reiterated the statement of President Mustafa Akıncı at the press conference held the previous day that the conference should be treated as time for “a decision”. Responding to the question, “Are you of the same opinion?” Eide said that this approach is crucial: “we hope that it will be a conference for a decision, for a comprehensive solution that will unite the island.”
UNSG Guterres hails Cyprus Conference ‘opportunity’
The United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on all interested parties to consider the opportunity of Cyprus reunification this week.
In his written statement ahead of the Cyprus Conference which will start today in Switzerland, Guterres said that he is pleased that the parties are coming together again for negotiations in Switzerland. He added that this determined step which has been taken by the sides has encouraged him.
Stating that the UN would support this effort, Guterres said, “As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I reiterate my steadfast commitment to supporting this effort. I urge all participants to demonstrate the will and leadership required to conclude a comprehensive settlement.”
Source: TRNC Public Information Office –
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Whats the point of further negotiations, they should be discussing getting the North recognised, stopping the embargoes and giving the north what it really wants, it’s own independence. There is no love between the north and the south and never will be. Sad as that sounds it’s the truth, well that’s how I see it. I hope I’m wrong!