The United States urged the United Nations to send a new special envoy to Cyprus to focus on peace negotiations on the divided Mediterranean island, the third-ranking U.S. diplomat said. “The U.S. wants to have a new beginning with the government of Cyprus,” Undersecretary of State for political affairs Nicholas Burns said after meeting with Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos in New York City, where leaders from around the world have gathered for the annual U.N. General Assembly. “On the question of the problem of Cyprus, which has gone on for so many decades, the U.S. government has a very clear view: that the international community should not postpone the efforts to bring peace to Cyprus,” Burns said. “So we are recommending to the U.N. Secretary-General that he makes a new attempt to appoint a negotiator to lead international negotiations for peace in Cyprus,” Burns said, adding that he told Papadopoulos “the U.S. would be very supportive of that and of course would be actively involved in that.” Talks on resolving the Cyprus issue have stalled since 2004, when Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N.-drafted proposal to reunify the island. The plan was backed by most Turkish Cypriot voters.
