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At that meeting, Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar agreed to on issues like energy, environment, opening along a U.N.-controlled buffer zone, youth affairs and demining.

when Turkey invaded following a coup by Athens junta-backed supporters of uniting the island with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence, and it maintains more than 35,000 troops in the island’s northern third.

Negotiations between the rivals have been .

Maria Angela Holguin, a new envoy Guterres appointed, said at the end of her first weeklong visit to Cyprus in late May that Guterres “continues to push� for a resumption of peace talks.

But no breakthrough is expected at the meeting this month because Turkey and Turkish Cypriot insist on a two-state accord that Greek Cypriots flatly reject.

The agreed-upon, U.N.-endorsed framework for a peace deal has been a reunified Cyprus as a federation composed of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot zones.

Ever since his 2020 election, Tatar has been demanding a two-state deal. He faces reelection in October and says he’s running on the same two-state platform with Ankara’s full backing.

Greek Cypriots say they won’t agree to any accord that formally partitions the island, allows for a permanent Turkish troop presence, gives Turkey rights to militarily intervene or offers the minority Turkish Cypriots a veto right on all government decisions.

Despite these differences, the rivals have made some progress on trust-building measures, which also include work on a photovoltaic park inside the buffer zone and restoration work on cemeteries on both sides of the divide.

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AP writer Menelaos Hadjicostis contributed from Nicosia, Cyprus.