Turkish Cypriot side: This chance may never come again

"Unfortunately, we couldn't manage to complete the last trial of our generation to reunify the island successfully," Akinci told reporters on Friday about the failed Cyprus talks in Swiss Alps.

"At a point where both sides have lost, unfortunately, the talks failed," he said.

Criticizing the Greek side for the failure of the reunification talks early Friday, Akinci said that while the Turkish side was willing to take steps towards cutting the number of troops on the island, from the first day of the talks the Greek Cypriot side began with a “zero-troops” position.

But the talks’ collapse was not only about the presence of Turkish soldiers on the island, Akinci said.

About the failure, Akinci said: "This is not the end of the world. We will find a way to live with honor. We will manage this."

On the idea of a rotating presidency, Akinci said the Greek Cypriot side was against the idea but signaled it could accept it if the Turkish Cypriot side accepted zero troops being on the island.

About the next steps for the Turkish Cypriot side, Akinci said: "Let's return to Cyprus to talk about what our next plan will be. We only came here with plan A to reunify the island."

'Disappointing outcome'

Speaking after the conference, British Minister of State for Europe and the Americas Alan Duncan said: "This is a disappointing outcome. The U.K. continues to be a strong supporter of a settlement. Now is a time for calm reflection and consideration of future steps. The commitment of the U.K. to a deal on Cyprus remains unwavering."

"Unfortunately, the Cyprus talks in Crans-Montana failed despite all the efforts," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters on Friday. "It was the last conference and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also said he concluded this conference.”

Representatives from the EU, the Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaderships, and the guarantor nations of Turkey, Greece and Britain participated in the intense discussions that began at the end of last month. If there had been a positive atmosphere, Cavusoglu said the prime ministers of the guarantor nations would have been invited to the talks.

But now Turkey has to assess and decide its next steps to resolve the Cyprus issue, he said.

UN chief 'deeply sorry'

Guterres on Thursday returned to Switzerland for the talks after leaving the Swiss resort Saturday, having taken part in earlier rounds of discussion. Guterres returned at Cavusoglu's urging in an effort to speed up the talks.

"The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, appeared before the press at 2.20 a.m. (0120GT) to express his disappointment that the intensive diplomatic efforts … had not yielded an agreement for the future of the Mediterranean island," the UN said in a statement on Friday.

Guterres said he was "deeply sorry" that "despite the very strong commitment of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, the guarantor power, the European Union and the United Nations Cyprus team, the Conference on Cyprus was concluded without an agreement being reached”.

"Unfortunately, as I said, an agreement was not possible and the conference was closed without the possibility to bring a solution to this dramatically long-lasting problem," Guterres said.

"The conference is closed. That does not mean that other initiatives cannot be developed in order to address the Cyprus problem. But this conference was closed, unfortunately, without result," he added.

The UN is seeking a peace deal to unite Cyprus under a federal umbrella that could also define the future of Europe's relations with Turkey, a key player in the conflict.

The Eastern Mediterranean island has been divided since 1974, when a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by violence against the island's Turks, and Ankara's intervention as a guarantor power.

Anadolu Agency