Cyprus settlement talks fall flat as common ground hard to find

UN chief Antonio Guterres to host all parties again within three months

Antonio Guterres said not enough common ground was found to allow for the resumption of formal negotiations. Reuters

Cyprus's rival leaders failed to find sufficient common ground to resume formal peace negotiations, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said after hosting three days of talks in Geneva.

The Turkish and Greek-Cypriot administrations fundamentally disagree on a lasting solution for the divided island, 47 years after it split.

"We have not yet found enough common ground to allow for the resumption of formal negotiations in relation to the settlement of the Cyprus problem," Mr Guterres said.

"But I do not give up. My agenda is strictly to fight for the security and wellbeing of the Cypriots – of the Greek-Cypriots and the Turkish-Cypriots – that deserve to live in peace and prosperity together."

The talks were attended by Greek-Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades, Turkish-Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, and the foreign ministers of Greece, Turkey and Britain – the three guarantors of the island's 1960 independence.

Mr Guterres said the Turkish-Cypriot side, whose breakaway administration is recognised only by Turkey, continues to support a two-state solution. In comparison, the internationally recognised Greek-Cypriot government wants a federal system with political equity.

"Nobody should expect us to be patched onto a unitary, single state. We are negotiating for a two-state solution," Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the Greek Cypriot side had brought no new proposals to Geneva and had sounded "like a broken record".

He said there was "no common ground to restart negotiations", but added that Turkey would support unofficial meetings that sought to find a way through the impasse.

"There must be a new negotiations process between two states rather than two communities," Mr Cavusoglu said.

Mr Anastasiades said the Greek Cypriot side would continue to work to find a solution to reunite Cyprus based on a bi-zonal federation.

Mr Guterres said all parties would meet again in the next two or three months "with the objective to move in the direction of reaching common ground to allow for formal negotiations to start".

"We are determined to do everything we can to make this dialogue move on and to make this dialogue ... reach positive results."

Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he welcomed the "commitment by all sides to meet again in the near future".

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey occupied the northern third in response to a coup orchestrated by an Athens-backed junta seeking to annex the island to Greece.