UK Cypriots welcome appointment of UNSG’s Envoy on Cyprus

The National Federation of Cypriots in the UK, coordinated a joint statement with Cypriot diaspora groups, welcoming the appointment of María Angela Holguín Cuéllar as the UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s personal envoy on Cyprus and reaffirming their commitment to a solution to the Cyprus problem in line with UN Security Council resolutions, international law and EU acquis. The joint statement was also signed by the Republican Turkish Party UK, Turkish Cypriot Association for Democracy and Sol Hareket UK.

María Angela Holguín Cuéllar has an extensive career in diplomacy, serving most recently as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. As the UNSG’s envoy on Cyprus, Ms. Holguín will assume a good offices role on his behalf to explore common ground for the resumption of negotiations for a solution to the Cyprus problem.

Read the joint statement here:

We welcome the appointment of UN Special Envoy Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar and call for talks to resume on the agreed UN basis, as soon as possible. On 30th July 2023, the UN Security Council with resolution 2674, reiterated the agreed basis and also agreed to the renewal of the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus. Resolution 2674 reaffirms previous UN Security Council resolutions as the basis for the reunification of Cyprus.

As Cypriot diaspora in the UK, we strongly support the specific reference to UNSC resolution 1251 (1999) which outlines that a solution to the Cyprus problem must be based on: “A State of Cyprus with a single sovereignty and international personality and a single citizenship, with its independence and territorial integrity safeguarded, and comprising two politically equal communities as described in the relevant Security Council resolutions, in a bi-communal and bi-zonal federation, and that such a settlement must exclude union in whole or in part with any other country or any form of partition or secession”

We are clear that a solution to the Cyprus issue must reunify the island and its people, in full line with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, as well as with principles of International Law, EU acquis and Human Rights.

National Federation of Cypriots in the UK

Republican Turkish Party UK

Turkish Cypriot Association for Democracy

Sol Hareket UK

8 January 2024