The UN has said newly appointed UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy for Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, will search for common ground on the way forward and advice on the Cyprus issue.
Florencia Soto Niño, Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General was asked during Monday’s briefing to explain what the mandate and the duration of the personal envoy will be and said ‘I honestly do not have very much other than what was in her appointment’.
During the briefing, a journalist referred to the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar’s press release after Cuellar’s appointment was announced, claiming that he accepted the appointment of the envoy on the basis of an agreement achieved regarding the mandate and the duration, namely, the personal envoy will be appointed for a period of six months and with the sole mandate to explore whether common ground exists or not for the start of new formal negotiations between the two sides. The journalist also referred to a statement by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign
Affairs highlighting these two points, and urged Nino to explain what the mandate and the duration of the personal envoy will be and if she could confirm the two points.
The UN official said Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar ‘will search for common ground on the way forward, and advice on the Cyprus issue. This is all we have for now’ and does not really have anything else to elaborate on.
Asked if she has anything on the duration of Cuellar’s mandate, Niño replied ‘I just know that she’s going to take her position shortly. We will let her proceed. And if I have any further updates on this, I will let you know’.
Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 illegal Turkish invasion. Numerous peace talks under the UN aegis with the aim to reunite the island under a federal roof failed to yield results. The latest round of talks took place in the summer of 2017 in the Swiss resort of Crans Montana.
The UN announced last week that the UNSG, Antonio Guterres, appointed Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar of Columbia as his pers
onal envoy for Cyprus, and that her task was to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf to search for common ground on the way forward and advise him on the Cyprus issue.
Source: Cyprus News Agency