Negotiations between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders to reunify Cyprus have failed, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres announced Friday.
“I’m very sorry to tell you that despite the very strong commitment and engagement of all the delegations and different parties … the conference on Cyprus was closed without an agreement being reached,” Guterres said in a short press conference held in the early hours of Friday morning.
Guterres added: “There is a certain number of questions — I would not like to isolate one question in particular” that led the talks to collapse.
The latest round of talks was billed by many as the best opportunity for reunification in decades, and it is unclear how, if at all, the reunification process will continue.
Guterres said that while an agreement could not be reached, “That doesn’t mean that other initiatives cannot be developed in order to address the Cyprus problem.”
Cyprus has been divided by the U.N.’s Green Line since 1974, following a Greek Cypriot attempt to unify with Greece and a Turkish invasion. The Greek Cypriot government is recognized around the world except by Turkey, while the Turkish Cypriot government isn’t recognized anywhere except in Turkey.