Reunion of Cyprus is off

– Talks to reunify the divided island of Cyprus collapsed yesterday, marking the end of a process seen as the most promising in generations to heal decades of conflict.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a news conference after a stormy last session that the conference on Cyprus was closed without an agreement being reached.

This marked a dramatic culmination to more than two years of a process that had been widely thought of as the best chance at reunification since the island was split between its Greek and Turkish Cypriot populations in 1974.

Guterres flew in on Thursday to press Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci to seal a deal reuniting the island, while US Vice President Mike Pence had phoned to urge them to “seize this historic opportunity”.

Diplomatic efforts to reunite Cyprus have failed since the island was riven in a 1974 Turkish army invasion triggered by a coup by Greek Cypriots seeking union with Greece.

The week of talks in the Swiss Alps ground to a halt as the two sides failed to overcome final obstacles.

Diplomats said Turkey had appeared to be offering little to Greek Cypriots wanting a full withdrawal of Turkish troops from the island, although the Greek Cypriots had indicated readiness to make concessions on Turkish Cypriot demands for a rotating presidency, the other key issue.

Guterres declined to elaborate on what exactly had caused the collapse, but said there was still a wide gap between the two delegations on a number of questions.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who with his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias had been attending the peace talks at the Swiss Alpine resort of Crans-Montana for a week, said: “This outcome shows the impossibility of reaching a settlement within the parameters of the UN.”

Cavusoglu wrote on his Twitter feed: “No use in insisting on them.”

Greek Cypriots blamed the Turkish side. Nicos Christodoulides, spokesperson for the Greek Cypriot government, said Turkey had refused to relinquish its intervention rights on Cyprus or the presence of troops on the island. – Reuters