UN chief returns to Cyprus talks to push historic deal

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will fly to Switzerland later on Wednesday to push leaders closer to a historic deal on reunifying Cyprus.

Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders, whose latest round of talks opened in the Swiss Alpine resort of Crans-Montana a week ago, have asked Guterres to return to the table, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Dujarric declined to say whether a deal was within reach, saying, "It would be dangerous of me to make any sort of predictions at this point."

"The secretary-general just felt that it was a good time for him to return to the talks and he will be there tomorrow," he added.

TRT World 's Christine Pirovolakis has more.

An ongoing issue

The UN-sponsored talks opened on June 28 amid some optimism over the prospects for reaching a final settlement to end the decades-old division of the Mediterranean island.

Negotiations have run into hurdles over the thorny issue of security guarantees and the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the north of the island.

Guterres on Friday said negotiations had been "highly constructive" and that the Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides had reached a "clear understanding" of the key elements of a final settlement.

Cyprus was split in a Turkish military intervention in 1974, triggered by a brief Greek-orchestrated coup aimed at annexing the island to Greece.

Turkey maintains more than 35,000 troops there.