Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, the United Nations Secretary-General's Personal Envoy on Cyprus, in Ankara to discuss recent developments regarding the Cyprus issue and efforts aimed at achieving lasting stability on the island.

According to sources from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the meeting included a comprehensive review of the envoy's recent contacts with the leaders of the two sides on the island. The parties also discussed the future of diplomatic engagement and ongoing efforts to identify common ground between the sides.

During the meeting, Fidan expressed Türkiye's support for the constructive efforts of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres aimed at advancing a solution to the decades-long dispute.

Reaffirming Türkiye's position as a guarantor power, Fidan said the most realistic path to a settlement lies in the recognition of two separate sovereign states on the island. He stressed that any renewed negotiation process should be based on the existing realities in Cyprus.

Fidan underlined the need to acknowledge the rights of the Turkish Cypriot people and described the current status quo as unsustainable.

He stated that approaches failing to recognize the Turkish Cypriots' inherent rights to sovereign equality and equal international status would not produce results.

The Turkish foreign minister also emphasized that any initiative undertaken without securing these fundamental rights would risk prolonging the deadlock and undermining prospects for a lasting settlement.(ILKHA)