A bicommunal peace group has called for parallel demonstrations in north and south Nicosia on Monday to coincide with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ visit to Cyprus, urging renewed efforts to reunify the island under a federal settlement.

The Bi-communal Peace Initiative – United Cyprus said the rallies, to be held under the slogan “Federal Solution Now”, will begin at 6.30pm, the same time Guterres is due to host President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman for a dinner meeting.

The demonstration in the south will take place at the access road to the UN representative’s office opposite the University of Nicosia, while a parallel gathering in the north will be held at the Kermia (Metehan) roundabout.

The group said it was calling on organisations and individuals from both communities to take part in support of efforts to resume negotiations aimed at reunifying Cyprus as a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, in line with UN Security Council resolutions.

It also called for any renewed talks to build on the convergences achieved up to the 2017 Crans-Montana negotiations and to focus on the remaining issues outlined in Guterres’ six-point framework.

Earlier that day, at 10.30am, a bicommunal delegation representing organisations supporting the initiative is expected to gather at the Home for Cooperation in the buffer zone to welcome the UN secretary-general as he crosses to the north and to present him with a joint message.

In its statement, the initiative described Guterres’ visit as an important opportunity to advance the peace process, while warning that the effort carried risks and required visible support from civil society on both sides of the divide.

Guterres is due to visit Cyprus from July 27 to 29 in what the government has described as the first visit by a UN secretary-general to the island in 16 years.

Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said that the visit was intended to help create the conditions for an informal expanded conference on the Cyprus problem and to support efforts to restart negotiations.

He added that such a meeting could take place before the end of the summer if Turkey adopted what he described as a “more constructive approach” and dropped its insistence on a two-state solution.