UN chief to meet split Cyprus’ rival leaders in Berlin

A Cypriot official says United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has invited the rival leaders of the ethnically split island nation to meet in Berlin later this month.

Government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said Friday that the Nov. 25 meeting in the German capital will aim to map out the next steps towards a possible resumption of formal peace talks.

Efforts to reunify the east Mediterranean country have been deadlocked since 2017, when high-level negotiations as a Swiss resort that aimed at a breakthrough deal collapsed.

Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup by supporters of union with Greece.

Numerous, UN-facilitated rounds of talks since then have concluded without result.

[AP]