UN Secretary-General António Guterres visits Cyprus to discuss peace process

UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited Cyprus on July 29, 2026, to engage in discussions with President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman. The primary goal of the visit was to assess the possibility of restarting negotiations to resolve the Cyprus issue. Guterres emphasized that while the UN remains ready to support the efforts, a solution must primarily come from the Cypriots themselves, stating that the UN will not impose a settlement.

The visit yielded a consensus among the two sides and the three guarantor powers to work toward a new, well-prepared 5+1 meeting. However, Guterres noted that such a conference would only be convened once meaningful progress is achieved in three specific areas: Confidence Building Measures (CBMs), the methodology of the talks, and the substance of the Cyprus problem.

Reactions to the visit remain mixed. While the Republican Turkish Party (RTP) welcomed the roadmap, opposition figures like Kudret Özersay argued that no tangible progress was made on the core issues. Meanwhile, the Turkish Cypriot leadership continues to coordinate closely with Turkey, with Prime Minister Ünal Üstel highlighting plans for a subsea gas pipeline, which complicates the atmosphere for building trust. Future efforts are now dependent on whether both sides can demonstrate the necessary flexibility to satisfy the UN's conditions for a new summit.