UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Cyprus, Colin Stewart, expressed his concern about the militarisation of the buffer zone which is proceeding "at a troubling pace on both sides",to Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar. In statements after having had a 50-minute meeting with Tatar on Tuesday afternoon, Stewart said that his visit was intended to brief him on his trip to New York, as he departs this weekend and will brief the UN Security Council on 11 July, before returning to Cyprus in early August. He said they discussed the main issues on which he intends to brief the UNSC and will be included in the UNSG's report to the Council. "In particular, my concern on the militarisation of the buffer zone, which is going ahead at a troubling pace on both sides, and despite the Security Council's request on both sides to consider mutual de-escalation, we have seen no progress in this regard," he said. Stewart had a meeting yesterday with President Nikos Christodoulides. Cyprus has been divided sin ce 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar of Colombia as his personal envoy for Cyprus, to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf and search for common ground on the way forward in the Cyprus issue. Source: Cyprus News Agency