External Guarantees System For Cyprus Fails To Meet Current Global Realities - Moscow

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External Guarantees System for Cyprus Fails to Meet Current Global Realities - Moscow

The existing system of external security assurances for Cyprus does not correspond to present international realities or the international legal status of the republic, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday following talks with his Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulides

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd February, 2019) The existing system of external security assurances for Cyprus does not correspond to present international realities or the international legal status of the republic, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday following talks with his Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulides.

The system in question was formed with the signing of the Treaty of Guarantee at the end of British colonial rule over the island in 1960. According to the treaty, Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom act as the guarantors of the independence, security and territorial integrity of Cyprus. Nicosia considers the system of guarantees "anachronistic" and a limitation on Cyprus' sovereignty.

"It is obvious that the existing system of external security guarantees for the island no longer meets present realities and the current international legal status of the republic ... We are convinced that guarantees of the UN Security Council should become the most effective way to ensure independence of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of united Cyprus," Lavrov said after talks with Christodoulides.

Cyprus has been de facto divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded the island. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was declared in 1983, and is recognized only by Turkey.

Negotiations on the reunification of Cyprus have been conducted almost from the moment of its division. In February 2014, these talks were repeatedly interrupted and resumed after a two-year hiatus initiated by incumbent Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.

In July 2017, negotiations on Cyprus were held in Switzerland's Crans-Montana, but they ultimately collapsed due to the lack of any concrete decisions. Athens believes that the conference in Crans-Montana constituted the first real chance to solve the Cyprus problem and blames Ankara for the failure of talks.