Nicosia:Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides is set to meet Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman today at 330 p.m. at the United Nations Good Offices Mission located at the former Nicosia airport within the U.N.-controlled buffer zone.
According to Cyprus News Agency, President Christodoulides emphasized the importance of transforming the current opportunity into a resumption of negotiations on the Cyprus issue. He mentioned this following a meeting with the mayor of Morphou, expressing optimism about restarting talks that stalled in 2017.
The upcoming meeting with the Turkish Cypriot leader was initiated by Christodoulides to discuss concrete steps toward achieving renewed negotiations. He highlighted the United Nations' completion of a document outlining convergences, which is expected to serve as the groundwork for these discussions.
President Christodoulides also referenced a 19-point proposal presented to the Turkish Cypriot leader at their last meeting. This proposal includes new, specific ideas distinct from those previously rejected by the Turkish side. The proposals have been positively received by the UN and align with the approach of the UN Secretary-General in New York.
He reiterated the opportunity that exists with the current UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whose term is nearing its end, noting the desire to capitalize on this period. Meanwhile, he remains in contact with potential candidates for the next UN Secretary-General.
Since 1974, Cyprus has been divided following Turkey's invasion and occupation of the northern third of the island. Despite multiple rounds of UN-led peace talks, no resolution has been reached largely due to Turkish resistance. The last round of negotiations, which took place in July 2017 at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, ended without agreement.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres plans to convene another meeting in a broader format after sufficient preparation, with consensus from both sides and the guarantor powers. María Angela Holguín, Guterres' Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is engaging with the parties, and Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto is serving as the European Commission's Special Representative for Cyprus, succeeding Johannes Hahn.