Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders who met on Tuesday in New York for informal talks hosted by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres agreed to meet again soon for talks that will also include guarantors Türkiye and Greece.
The next meeting will discuss "the way forward" on stalled negotiations for a solution to the island’s division.
The island of Cyprus was split decades ago in Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power after a coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island, preceded by years of attacks and persecution by Greek Cypriots on Cypriot Turks, who had withdrawn into enclaves for their safety.
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) entirely broke away from the south and declared independence in 1983 but is only recognized by Türkiye.
The island has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years. U.N.-backed reunification talks have been in limbo since the last round collapsed at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, in July 2017 between Türkiye, Greece and the U.K.
The Greek Cypriot administration joined the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.
An international embargo against Turkish Cyprus is currently in place in several areas, allowing access to international communications, postal services and transport only through Türkiye.
Turkish Cyprus has been committed to demanding a two-state solution that would ensure international recognition and equal sovereignty and status, something the Greek Cypriots reject out of hand.
Greek Cypriots want reunification that would provide for a federation, which the Turkish side says is now impossible.
At a dinner, Guterres encouraged Greek Cypriot administration leader Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar "to consider how to bridge the gap in their positions and rebuild trust to allow movement leading to a settlement," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
"The leaders agreed to have an informal meeting in a broader format in the near future, under the auspices of the secretary-general, to discuss the way forward," he added. "They also agreed to meet in Cyprus to explore the possibility of opening new crossings."
Christodoulides told the U.N. General Assembly last month that he was ready to resume reunification talks immediately.
Tatar, however, reaffirmed that the TRNC's position remains unchanged and that formal negotiations will not resume until the TRNC’s sovereign equality and international status are recognized.
Türkiye and Greece have been working to mend their bilateral ties strained by various issues, including the island, and their recent thaw could help negotiations for the island.
A Cyprus peace deal would reduce a source of potential conflict next door to an unstable Middle East and allow for the easier harnessing of hydrocarbon reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean's natural gas-rich waters where Türkiye has a drillship probing the seabed.
Additionally, Tatar noted a decision to meet Christodoulides on the island of Cyprus to discuss the opening of new border crossings is contingent on acceptable requests. The island currently has eight crossings between the south and north.
Since 1964, a buffer zone watched by U.N. peacekeepers has separated the two nations, including their shared capital Lefkoşa (Nicosia). Some 10,000 people live in several villages and work on farms located within the zone; the village of Pyla is famous for being one of the few remaining villages on the island where Turkish and Greek Cypriots still live side by side.