The Office of the President announced on Wednesday that it has approved the appointment of Colin Stewart as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative to Cyprus and Chief of Mission of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).

In a written statement, the president’s office said that Stewart who will also serve as acting Special Advisor to the Secretary-General will assume his duties on December 1.

Reminding that Stewart’s predecessor, Elizabeth Spehar’s term on the island had ended in September earlier this year, the statement said that the UN had sought the consent of the Turkish Cypriot side for the appointment of a new special representative.

Pointing out that the Turkish Cypriot side and Turkey underlined at every opportunity the need to find common ground in order for official negotiations to begin, the Office of the President said that no such ground existed at the moment, a conclusion confirmed by the UN Secretary-General at the end of the five-plus-one meeting held in Geneva in April this year.

It reminded that it was decided to continue efforts aimed at achieving a common ground for the restart of official negotiations.

The statement also reminded that President Ersin Tatar had tabled a proposal at the informal meeting to launch official talks in order to achieve a new relationship based on cooperation between two equal and sovereign states with equal international status.

The same statement said that the Turkish Cypriot side and Turkey had given consent to the appointment of a new personal representative after the previous envoy Jane Holl Lute’s term had expired.