The UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy for the Cyprus issue, María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar is expected to deliver her report to Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, following deliberations in the past six months in search for common ground on the way forward in the Cyprus issue.
On Thursday, July 11, Colin Stewart, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprus and Head of UNFICYP, is set to inform the Security Council during a closed meeting as the body holds consultations regarding the peacekeeping force on the island.
Amid these developments, Greek PM, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is in Washington DC for the NATO Summit, is expected to meet on the sidelines with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan tomorrow at 4:00 pm (US EST) following a sudden request from the Turkish side, according to diplomatic sources. There was no bilateral meeting on the schedule of the two leaders.
Mitsotakis will be accompanied by Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giorgos Gerapetritis and the head of Greek Prime Minister’s
diplomatic cabinet, ambassador Anna-Maria Boura.
The meeting between Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Tayyip Erdogan will take place ten days before the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Kyriakos Mitsotakis is scheduled to pay a visit to Cyprus in the next days, in order to attend events by the Republic of Cyprus commemorating the sad anniversary.
Following the conclusion of the NATO Summit, Mitsotakis travels to New York, where on Friday at 11.15 am (local time) he is scheduled to meet with UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. The meeting will focus on Greece, following the country’s election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2025-2026 term, as well as on the Cyprus issue and the work of María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar. On Cyprus, the Greek Premier will highlight the need for the International Organization to remain committed to the framework established by Security Council resolutions, diplomatic sources say.
Cyprus has been divided since 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. Guterres last January appointed Holguin 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