Nicosia: The next meeting between the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Tufan Erhrman, is scheduled for May 8 at 16:00, confirmed Government Spokesman, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, on Thursday. The meeting will be held at the residence of the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative in Cyprus, Khassim Diagne.
According to Cyprus News Agency, Letymbiotis addressed journalists at the Presidential Palace, emphasizing the importance of these regular meetings. He noted that they are crucial in maintaining open and sincere communication channels. The ultimate goal of these discussions is to gradually create the necessary conditions for resuming substantive negotiations aimed at resolving the longstanding division of Cyprus.
The upcoming meeting will see both leaders picking up the conversation from where it last concluded. Cyprus has been partitioned since 1974 following Turkey's invasion and occupation of the island's northern third. Despite numerous UN-led peace efforts, a resolution has remained elusive. The most recent negotiation attempt in July 2017 at Crans-Montana in Switzerland ended without any agreement.
In 2025, the UN Secretary-General hosted two informal meetings on the Cyprus issue in Geneva in March and in New York in July. A tripartite meeting involving the Cyprus leaders was also convened in late September during the UN General Assembly High Level Week. Although an informal meeting in a broader format was anticipated before the end of 2025, it has yet to be announced. Mara Angela Holgun, tasked by the UN Secretary-General as his Personal Envoy on Cyprus, continues to engage with the involved parties.