UN calls off multilateral Cyprus conference

The secretary general of the United Nations (UN) said on Saturday that there was no sufficient progress to hold a multilateral Cyprus conference. A UN statement said Ban Ki-moon spoke to President Dervis Eroglu of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias by phone, and told them that there was not sufficient progress in ongoing negotiations to hold a multilateral conference. Ban asked the two parties to take brave and decisive steps to make progress in ongoing Cyprus negotiations, and said UN Special Adviser on Cyprus Alexander Downer would go to Cyprus next week to discuss this issue in detail with the two leaders. After the second Greentree summit in January, Ban had said that he would ask Downer to express his assessments about the ongoing Cyprus negotiation process by the end of March. Ban had also said that if Downer's report was positive and in line with UN Security Council resolutions, he would think of holding a multi-national conference at the end of April or beginning of May. The Greek Cypriot administration opposes to a multi-national conference, claiming that they have not made "sufficient progress" in ongoing negotiations.