Foreign Office says BBF “broad enough framework” for Cyprus settlement, report about controversial UK proposal revised

A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesperson has essentially dismissed a report that during this week’s informal talks in Geneva on the Cyprus settlement the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab tabled a proposal which deviated from the agreed UN parameters.

In a statement released to the Cyprus News Agency the Foreign Office official said that “the UK believes that a bizonal, bicommunal federation is a broad enough framework for both sides to meet their respective objectives.”

The statement followed a report by the Turkish Service of the BBC World Service on Friday which had claimed that an alternative proposal to the decentralised federation that Mr Raab presented to the two Cypriot communities’ leaders in Geneva was based on the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots should mutually recognise each other`s existence, and Northern Cyprus should be regarded as a part of the EU but not have an international recognition.

Later on Friday the article was updated to reflect the Foreign Office’s position that Raab had not deviated from the UN parameters and had supported a decentralised federation.

The revised article quotes a diplomatic source from Britain as saying that the Cyprus problem settlement basis is determined by the relevant UN Security Council resolutions as the internationally accepted bi-communal and bi-zonal federation with political equality

It adds that the UK delegation in Geneva urged the parties in Cyprus to be “creative and flexible” and gave the message that many different solutions could be tried within the existing parameters.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday at the end of the 5+1 informal meeting in Geneva on Cyprus that he does not give up and announced another 5+1 meeting in two to three months from now, again with the objective to move in the direction of reaching common ground.