Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci were separately informed on Saturday, by Andreas Mavroyiannis and Ozdil Nami, respectively, about the outcome of the deliberations on security and the guarantees which the working group of deputies, established by the Conference on Cyprus, had earlier this week in Mont-Pelerin, Switzerland.

Greek Cypriot negotiator at the Cyprus talks Andreas Mavroyiannis and Turkish Cypriot negotiator at the talks Ozdil Nami have also represented the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot side, respectively, at the working group of deputies.

In statements on Friday, Anastasiades said that after the completion of the deputies` meetings in Mont-Pelerin the political leaderships of the parties participating in the Conference on Cyprus must look into those proposals which are in line with the statement of the Conference issued on January 12, which determines “the framework for any political decisions.”

The working group of deputies met in Mont-Pelerin on January 18-19. UN Secretary General`s Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide said in a statement that the working group “successfully completed the mandate entrusted to it by the Conference, namely identifying specific questions related to the issue of security and guarantees and the instruments needed to address them.”

The Conference on Cyprus convened in Geneva, on January 12, under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, with the participation of Anastasiades and Akinci, the Foreign Ministers of Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom as guarantor powers and in the presence of the European Union as an observer, to address the issue of security and guarantees, a crucial chapter in discussions for a Cyprus settlement.

It decided to establish a working group at the level of deputies to identify specific questions and the instruments needed to address them, and that the Conference will continue at political level immediately thereafter to review the outcome of the working group’s discussions. In parallel, according to the decision taken by the Conference, the negotiations on outstanding issues in the other chapters will continue between the two sides in Cyprus.

The Conference said that participants “recognized that the security of one community cannot come at the expense of the security of the other. They also acknowledged the need to address the traditional security concerns of the two communities while at the same time developing a security vision for a future united federal Cyprus.”

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Anastasiades and Akinci have been engaged in UN-led talks since May 2015, with a view to reunite the island under a federal roof.