Cyprus issue remains deadlocked following UN General Assembly

President Nikos Christodoulides concluded his visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly without achieving the goal of resuming negotiations on the Cyprus issue. Despite efforts to break the ongoing stalemate, including a proposal for a trilateral meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, the initiative failed to materialize. Reports confirm that the prospect of such a meeting, which the President had pushed since September 9, collapsed, leaving the diplomatic situation unchanged.

Domestic political reactions in Cyprus have been critical of the lack of progress. The AKEL party expressed disappointment, noting that the government failed to break the deadlock and pointing to Ankara's continued adherence to positions held since the 2017 collapse of talks in Crans-Montana. While President Christodoulides utilized his speech at the UN to publicly criticize Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, observers and political critics question whether such rhetoric effectively advances the peace process or simply reflects the current lack of diplomatic momentum.

With no official trilateral meeting taking place, the UN Secretary-General moved forward with his planned individual meeting with Tufan Erhurman on the evening of September 26. As the Cypriot delegation returned home, there are no immediate signs of a breakthrough, leaving the resolution of the decades-long division in the same difficult position as before the summit.