Progress on Security, Guarantees Vital, All Agree after Secretary-General Meets with Leaders of Cyprus’ Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot Communities

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks following his meeting with Nicos Anastasiades, Greek Cypriot leader, and Mustafa Akıncı, Turkish Cypriot leader, in New York today:

The Secretary-General met today with the Greek Cypriot leader, Nicos Anastasiades, and with the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akıncı.

The leaders and the Secretary-General agreed on the need to reconvene the Conference on Cyprus in June, in line with the 12 January statement of the Conference.

All agreed that the chapter on security and guarantees is of vital importance to the two communities.  Progress on this chapter is an essential element in reaching an overall agreement and in building trust between the two communities in relation to their future security.

The Special Adviser of the Secretary-General, Espen [Barth] Eide, will engage with all participants in the preparation of a common document to guide the discussions on security and guarantees, based on the outcome of the meetings of the Conference on Cyprus in Geneva and Mont Pelerin.

The leaders agreed to continue in parallel the bicommunal negotiations in Geneva on all other outstanding issues, starting with territory, property and governance and power-sharing.

The leaders and the Secretary-General agreed that all issues will be negotiated interdependently and that nothing is agreed till everything is agreed, as per the joint declaration of 11 February 2014.

In the follow-up to this meeting, the Secretary-General will reach out to the other participants in the Conference:  Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom, and the European Union as an observer.