UN Secretary-General appoints new special representative in Cyprus

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Wednesday (June 2nd) appointed Lisa Buttenheim as his special representative and head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus. Buttenheim, of the United States, will replace Taye-Brook Zerihoun of Ethiopia, who was appointed in April to a UN post in New York.

Meanwhile, talks aimed at reunifying the divided island were scrubbed on Thursday by Cypriot President Demetris Christofias, citing a recent comment by Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, who said he was not bound by an appeal from Ban. The secretary-general had urged the pair to conduct talks based on “UN parameters [and] Security Council resolutions”, as well as two joint statements issued in the past. The UN had said both Eroglu and Christofias had welcomed Ban’s comments.

Check Also

Investigative report documents Turkish military’s seizure of Syrian farmers’ lands

An investigative report by the Syria Indicator team revealed violations by the Turkish army against …