UN seeks path to unity as Cyprus marks 50 years of division

By Nathan Morley - Nicosia, Cyprus

This week marks the 50th anniversary since a coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece triggered a Turkish invasion that divided the island.

Since 1974, Turkish Cypriots live in the island’s north and Greek Cypriots in the south. 

For five decades, Cyprus has been one of the most troublesome problems faced by the United Nations. There have been countless attempts to reunite this island. However, efforts have been at a dead end since the last round of United Nations sponsored talks failed in 2017.

Attempting to break the impasse, an envoy for U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres began exploring contacts on Cyprus earlier this year.

Maria Angela Holguin’s mandate to explore the recommencement of negotiations, saw her embark on intensive shuttle tours of Cyprus, Europe and the region to gauge opinion. Nevertheless, her efforts failed to gain momentum.

‘It’s important to steer away from solutions that have created unfulfilled expectations in the past and actually led to more disagreement and disappointments’, Holguin said in an open letter last week. She urged people to think differently, saying a common future would bring about great opportunities for all Cypriots.

In a long and often emotional letter, she urged Cypriots to ‘overcome the history of pain’.

The Cyprus problem is complicated and covers a range of critical issues including security, property, refugees, settlers, the economy and the constitution.

In northern Nicosia, the Turkish Cypriots said they would not sit at any negotiating table unless their sovereignty and equal status was recognised.

Over the diving green line in the Republic of Cyprus, the internationally recognized Greek-Cypriot government reject this condition, and points to existing U.N. resolutions that the island reunifies under a federal umbrella with a central government in Nicosia.

So, as it stands, there are no agreements, and no plans to re-launch negotiations between the two sides.   

Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, but only the south has membership benefits. 

A breakthrough on the island used to be considered important for Turkey, because the divided island had become one of the main obstacles in its efforts to push its bid to join the European Union. However, momentum in her bid to join the EU has slowed in recent years.