Greek and Turkish Cypriot diaspora organisations in the UK have issued a joint statement welcoming the appointment of María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar as the UN Secretary General’s personal envoy on Cyprus.

As the statement reads, the organisation is “clear that a solution to the Cyprus issue must reunify the island and its people, in full line with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, as well as with principles of international law, EU acquis and human rights.”

Welcoming the appointment of the new envoy, the signatories call for reunification talks to resume on the agreed UN basis as soon as possible.

They refer to the UNSC resolution 2674 of 30th July 2023 which reiterated the agreed basis.

“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,” the statement notes.

The signatories are the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK, the Republican Turkish Party UK, the Turkish Cypriot Association for Democracy and Sol Hareket UK.