“What is also needed is the demonstration of genuine good will by our compatriots to negotiate in good faith,” Mr. Anastasiades told the United Nations 69th General Assembly on the third day of its General Debate, at UN Headquarters in New York.

Noting that the current status quo is to no one’s benefit, Mr. Anastasiades said that his packet of Confidence Building Measures would create a win-win for everyone concerned, helping to build mutual understanding, confidence and good will would spur ongoing negotiations.

He added a call for the Government of Turkey “to contribute constructively to the efforts to reach a settlement, not only in theory and rhetoric, but through practical and substantial actions.”

These first steps are part of Mr. Anastasiades’s ultimate visions to relieve all Cypriots, particularly the younger generations, “from the anachronistic burden of living in a divided country in which they are forcibly prevented from enjoying the freedoms that is the birthright of every citizen in the world.”

The United Nations works through the good offices of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to assist in the search for a comprehensive and mutually acceptable settlement to the Cyprus problem.

The UN also maintains a peacekeeping force in Cyprus, known as UNFICYP, which was deployed in 1964, when inter-communal fighting erupted on the Mediterranean island.

Among other issues noted in his speech, Mr. Anastasiades conveyed his deep concern about regional and global insecurity brought on by terrorism, annexation of territories via illegal use of force, religious fundamentalism, and forcible displacement of people.

His address is one of some 196 scheduled in the course of the annual high-level debate which will last through next week.

Nicos Anastasiades, President of the Republic of Cyprus, addresses the general debate of the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly. UN Photo/Amanda Voisard