The goal set weeks ago by the UN Secretary-General—to convene a new informal five-party meeting before the General Assembly—is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve.

António Guterres is aware that the setback stems from Ankara’s stance, but he is not expected to blame anyone for the failure, once again maintaining a neutral stance in the hope that the situation will change.

One Last Attempt

María Ángela Olguín will make one more attempt—perhaps her last—during the new round of talks scheduled for next week.

The most crucial meetings may be those in Brussels, since EU-Turkey relations play a decisive role in the effort to get Erdogan to see the Cyprus issue as a glass half-full rather than half-empty.

“Ankara knows that any decision regarding EU-Turkey relations must be viewed through the lens of the Republic of Cyprus.”
_{^{Yiannis Antoniou – Deputy Government Spokesperson}}

READ ALSO: Bleak Outlook for the Cyprus Issue: Why the Five-Party Talks Hang by a Thread

According to the Deputy Government Spokesperson, the government has no reservations about participating in negotiations to resolve the Cyprus issue; however, it will not accept a flawed process that would create risks.

Guarantees and NATO

While everyone in Nicosia awaits further developments, AKEL is once again taking the lead on the issue of NATO and the possibility of the North Atlantic Alliance guaranteeing a potential solution to the Cyprus problem, no matter how utopian that may seem at the moment.

“Having NATO join the guarantee system is like putting the wolf in charge of the sheep… such reasoning ultimately leads to the solidification of the impasse and partition.”
_{^{Stefanos Stefanou – General Secretary of AKEL}}

At the same time, the so-called authorities are also adopting a wait-and-see stance, with Tufan Erhurman currently refraining from making any public statements on the Cyprus issue, as he recovers at home following a brief health scare that kept him in a hospital in occupied Nicosia last night.

Watch Giorgos Chrysanthos’s report: