NICOSIA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot people were stunned and disappointed by the announcement by the United Nations in the early hours of Friday that the new round of peace talks on Cyprus fail to reach any agreements.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a news conference after a meeting that ended at 3 a.m. (0000 GMT) at the Swiss Alpine report of Crans-Montana that "the conference on Cyprus was closed without an agreement being reached."
A group of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, who had gathered every night for the past month at a crossing point in the heart of the capital Nicosia to demand a solution from their leaders, converged at their meeting point after the disheartening announcement and they were evidently downcast.
"We are really frustrated and disappointed, all the more so because it does not seem to be a fall back plan to end the separation of the people," said Christos Christofides, one of those who attended the nightly gatherings.
Cyprus was divided when Turkey mounted a military operation in 1974, in response to a Greek-inspired coup, resulting in the occupation of 37 percent of the island's territory.
Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said before departing from Crans-Montana that the Turkish Cypriot side has a clear conscience as it has done whatever it could to reach a solution.
Cypriot government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides, back in Cyprus after the conference, sought to calm people who were alarmed by the collapse of the negotiations.
He said that the failure of the conference, though not a positive development, was not the end of the road. He promised that Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades would redouble his efforts to create conditions to bring about reunification.
