	Background1

The Republic of Cyprus gained its independence from Great Britain in 1960. The idea was to achieve enough progress by then on many of the basic issues that both sides would then ask the U.N. Secretary-General to convene a five-party conference (with the two Cypriot communities and the security guarantee countries, Greece, Turkey, and the UK) in December to discuss the issue of security guarantees and finalize an agreement. On April 11, 2017, after eight weeks of suspended negotiations, both sides agreed to resume the talks and scheduled additional meetings throughout May. Attempts to Break the Deadlock

In an attempt to assess the two sides' interest in resuming the negotiations and break the stalemate, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in July 2018 appointed Jane Holl Lute as his new special adviser to Cyprus. Lute's mission was to consult not only with the two Cypriot leaders but also with Athens, Ankara, and London to assess their perspectives on the future of the Cyprus problem and to determine if sufficient conditions existed for the negotiations to resume. Nevertheless, Lute conducted a first round of consultations and presented her report to the Secretary-General in September 2018. This time, however, the Secretary-General tasked Lute to determine during her consultations whether there were grounds for the two leaders to accept what Guterres referred to as a "terms of reference" document that would include his original 2017 six-point framework, those issues on which both sides previously agreed "convergences" had been reached, and a road map for when and how new negotiations would be launched. As in the past, Akinci rejected the return of Morphou as part of a final settlement. This proposal resulted in the atmosphere becoming muddled. Akinci expressed skepticism of Anastasiades's proposal, seeing it as undermining his support for a federal solution and a way to try to reach a settlement without giving the Turkish Cypriots the political equality they sought at any federal level. Some suggested that Akinci and Ankara were no longer on the same page. These questions resulted Lute's inability to craft a terms of reference document by the end of 2018, and she stated she would have to return to the island for another round of consultations in early 2019. When Lute returned, she apparently found both sides seemingly farther apart. Aside from the long-standing disagreements between the two Cypriot sides, particularly on security and troops, a big sticking point was Akinci's insistence that the Turkish Cypriots have political equality in the new federal government rather than holding a minority status. He proposed that on all issues there must be a positive Turkish Cypriot vote. Anastasiades again rejected that approach, claiming it would give the Turkish Cypriots an absolute veto over all policy issues and would subject Cyprus to the demands of Ankara, potentially resulting in gridlock. Anastasiades, however, apparently did express a willingness to discuss Akinci's proposal, but only for some issues. At the same time, Anastasiades resurrected an old proposal that the new government be a cross between a presidential system, in which the president would be a Greek Cypriot, and a parliamentary system in which a prime minister would rotate between the two communities. Akinci rejected this proposal, arguing that it reinforced his view that the Greek Cypriots will always see the Turkish Cypriots as a minority and not a coequal partner. Lute's fourth return to Cyprus again failed to achieve an agreement between the two Cypriot leaders on a "terms of reference" document that would become the basis for restarting the negotiations and suggested that negotiations were unlikely to resume anytime soon. Even if Anastasiades and Akinci could compromise on some form of an agreement on the definition of political equality for the Turkish Cypriots, questions still remain on what type of final governmental structure would be addressed, specifically, is the long-sought bizonal, bicommunal, federal solution for the island still attainable?
Four months into 2019, unification talks intended to end the division of Cyprus after 55 years as a politically separated nation and 45 years as a physically divided country have remained suspended since July 2017. Attempts by the United Nations to find common ground between the two Cypriot communities to resume the negotiations have not been successful. The talks have fallen victim to the realities of five decades of separation and both sides' inability to make the necessary concessions to reach a final settlement. As a result, the long-sought bizonal, bicommunal, federal solution for the island has remained elusive and may no longer be attainable.
Cyprus negotiations typically exhibit periodic levels of optimism, quickly tempered by the political reality that difficult times between Greek and Turkish Cypriots always lay ahead. In June 2018, in an attempt to jump-start the talks, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Jane Holl Lute as his new adviser for Cyprus. Her mission was to consult with the two Cypriot leaders, Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akinci, and the three guarantor parties (Greece, Turkey, and Great Britain) to determine if sufficient conditions existed to resume U.N.-hosted negotiations and, if so, to prepare a comprehensive "terms of reference" document by the end of 2018. This document was supposed to include a version of a 2017 "framework" proposed by Guterres, previous "convergences" both sides had reportedly reached on many issues, and a proposed road map for how the negotiations would proceed.
Lute conducted her first consultations in September 2018 and a second round in October. Although the talks reportedly were "productive," they did not result in an agreement to resume the talks and Lute announced she would have to return to the island in early 2019, reaffirming the difficulty many thought she would encounter in trying to reach agreement on the provisions of the "terms of reference." Lute's initial return in January 2019 was short and inconclusive.
Subsequently, Lute returned to meet with Anastasiades and Akinci on April 7. What Lute apparently found was that both sides were seemingly farther apart. Aside from the long-standing disagreement on security guarantees, a big sticking point was Akinci's insistence that the Turkish Cypriots have political equality, demanding that on all issues taken up at any new federal level, a positive Turkish Cypriot vote would be necessary. Anastasiades expressed a willingness to discuss Akinci's proposal for some issues but rejected the demand claiming, it would give the Turkish Cypriots an absolute veto over all policy issues, potentially resulting in gridlock. At the same time, Anastasiades resurrected an old proposal that the new government be a cross between a presidential system, in which the president would be a Greek Cypriot, and a parliamentary system in which a prime minister would rotate between the two communities. Akinci rejected this proposal, claiming it reinforced his view that the Greek Cypriots will always see the Turkish Cypriots as a minority and not a coequal partner.
Lute's fourth attempt failed to achieve an agreement between the two Cypriot leaders on how to restart the talks and suggested that negotiations were likely to remain suspended indefinitely.
The United States historically has held an "honest broker" approach to achieving a just, equitable, and lasting settlement of the Cyprus issue. However, some observers have seen recent actions within Congress and the Administration in support of Cyprus's unfettered energy development in the Eastern Mediterranean and lifting of restrictions on arms sales to Cyprus as an admission by the United States that an equitable solution has become more difficult. These policy directions also suggest that U.S. interests in the Eastern Mediterranean have moved on to security and energy concerns for which closer relations with the Republic of Cyprus have become a higher priority.
This report provides an overview of the negotiations' history and a description of some of the issues involved in those talks.