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.

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  Nicosia in Cyprus is the last divided capital city in Europe. Today marks the date in 1983 when the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus declared independence, nine years after Turkish forces landed on the island. The TRNC remains unrecognised by the international community, apart from Turkey. Declan McVeigh / The National

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  A shot of no-man’s-land in Nicosia from the Turkish side of the divided Cyprus capital. Declan McVeigh / The National

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  Turkish Cypriot graves near Famagusta on the island's east coast. Declan McVeigh / The National

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  Omeriye Mosque is the only Muslim place of worship open on the Greek side of Nicosia. Declan McVeigh / The National

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  A shot of no-man’s-land, taken from the Greek sector of Nicosia. Local people refer to this UN buffer area - established in 1964 and expanded 10 years later - as the "dead zone". Here ceasefire lines are sometimes just metres apart. Declan McVeigh / The National

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  The UN's Green Line cuts 180 kilometres across the island of Cyprus and divides the capital, Nicosia, in two. Cyprus has endured this partition since 1974. Declan McVeigh / The National

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  Ledra Street is the only foot crossing between the Turkish and Greek sectors of Nicosia. Visitors will have their passports stamped with 90-day visas by TRNC officials upon entering Northern Cyprus. There is a building nearby that acts as a watchtower for general public and tourists. Declan McVeigh / The National

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  Part of the UN's Green Line which cuts 180 kilometres across the island of Cyprus and divides its capital, Nicosia, in two. Visitors can walk down Nicosia's busy shopping streets, take a few turns, and be confronted by barricades dividing north from south. Declan McVeigh / The National

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  Nicosia is dotted with memorials to past conflicts. The 1973 Liberty Monument in the city's Greek zone honours paramilitary fighters of Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston, who fought British forces between 1955 and 1959. Declan McVeigh / The National

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  Famagusta beach with abandoned hotels and buildings form a 'ghost town' since Turkish forces landed on the island in 1974. Declan McVeigh / The National

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  Much of Famagusta beach in eastern Cyprus and its ghost town remain off-limits. Turkey continues to station thousands of troops on the divided island. Declan McVeigh / The National

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.