Top Turkish diplomat meets UN Cyprus envoy

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met Wednesday with the UN's special envoy to Cyprus.

"Stated to Jane Holl Lute, #UN's Senior Official on #Cyprus, that federation project is no longer sustainable," Cavusoglu said on Twitter.

Cavusoglu said the Turkish side promotes a two-state settlement based on equal sovereignty in line with the realities on the island.

Common ground should be reached for a new negotiation process to be launched, he added.

The island of Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by violence against the island's Turks and Ankara's intervention as a guarantor power.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece, and the UK.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was founded in 1983.