UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Cyprus early Tuesday to reaffirm the United Nations' commitment to a settlement on the divided island. Guterres met separately with Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Tufan Erhurman and Greek Cypriot administration leader Nikos Christodoulides.
During his visit, Guterres laid a wreath at the UN Peacekeeping Force monument in front of the Ledra Palace Hotel in the buffer zone. The monument, unveiled in 2024, features flags of 43 countries, commemorates over 150,000 UN personnel from 43 troop-contributing countries, and honors 187 personnel from 11 countries who died while serving in Cyprus.
Guterres also visited the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) Anthropology Laboratory, also located in the buffer zone. The UN has maintained a peacekeeping force (UNFICYP) on the island since 1964, and the last comprehensive UN-led negotiation process ended inconclusively in 2017 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.
Guterres described his meetings as 'two very constructive meetings' and said he aims to assess whether confidence-building measures can be advanced for the benefit of both communities. He added, 'I come to express my solidarity and engagement in finding a solution.' The guarantor powers for Cyprus are Turkey, Greece, and the United Kingdom.
Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letimbiotis described the meeting with Christodoulides as 'substantive and sincere.' He noted that Turkish Cypriots seek a solution.
Guterres met with representatives of civil society organizations in the buffer zone. In the evening, he plans to host a dinner with Erhurman and Christodoulides at UN premises in the buffer zone, followed by a joint meeting of the three on Wednesday, July 29, at the UN Good Offices Mission office.
Outside the talks, a group of protesters demonstrated against a federation-based solution while supporting continued Turkish military presence, while another group supported a united Cyprus.