Cyprus president says UN may revive reunification efforts in 2026

The United Nations is likely to launch a fresh push to resolve the decades-old split of Cyprus before the term of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expires at the end of the year, Cyprus's President Nikos Christodoulides said.

Christodoulides, who represents the Greek Cypriots in talks with Turkish Cypriots, made the comments in an interview on Tuesday night with Cyprus's Alpha TV.

These are the details:

• Christodoulides told the channel he had been informed that Guterres was encouraged by discussions he had had with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in March.

• "We might be close to developments, which may lead to a peace plan," Christodoulides said.

• Cyprus was divided in 1974 after Turkey invaded parts of the island's north following a Greek-backed coup.

• Seeds of division were sown shortly after independence from Britain in 1960, when a power-sharing administration of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots collapsed amid violence.

• Greek Cypriots run Cyprus's internationally recognised government in the south with Turkish Cypriots administering the north and a UN-patrolled buffer zone between them.

• The last meaningful negotiations on Cyprus collapsed in 2017 amid disagreements on whether Turkey should have a role in a future federated Cyprus with two self-governing regions linked by a strong central government.

• In 2004, Greek Cypriots rejected a United Nations peace plan, saying it did not address security concerns and the long-term viability of the proposed reunified state, or the property rights of tens of thousands of internally displaced people.

• Turkish Cypriots, whose breakaway state is recognised only by Ankara, accepted the proposal.