New york: Cyprus President, Nikos Christodoulides, will hold a series of meetings this week on the Cyprus issue, as well as international, energy, and bilateral issues, in New York, where he will attend the 80th High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly.
According to Cyprus News Agency, on the sidelines of the General Assembly, the President of the Republic will also hold on September 27 a joint meeting with the UN Secretary-General, Ant³nio Guterres, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar. During the High-Level Week, Mr. Christodoulides will also hold a series of contacts with heads of state and government, senior officials of international organizations, as well as top business leaders in the fields of energy, technology, and financial services.
On September 22, the President will have separate meetings with King Abdullah II of Jordan, as well as with senior executives of Chevron and Amazon. At noon on the same day, the President of the Republic will participate in the High-Level International Summit for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the implementation of the Two-State Solution, which will take place at UN headquarters.
On September 23, Christodoulides will attend a reception hosted by the UN Secretary-General for the heads of state participating in the General Assembly, and then he will attend the opening of the General Debate. He will also have separate meetings with the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, and the Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. Later in the evening, the President of the Republic, together with First Lady, Philippa Karsera Christodoulides, will attend the reception hosted by US President, Donald Trump, and the First Lady of the United States.
On September 24, the President of the Republic will address the General Debate of the 80th Session of the General Assembly, highlighting the unwavering commitment of the Republic of Cyprus to international law and the need to achieve a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem, based on UN resolutions and the principles of the European Union.
On September 25, the President will have a bilateral meeting with the UN Secretary-General at the UN headquarters, during which they will discuss the latest developments on the Cyprus issue within the framework of the Secretary-General’s efforts to resume negotiations, in line with the relevant Security Council resolutions. Afterwards, he will host a luncheon for the Permanent Representatives of the five Permanent Members of the UN Security Council (US, France, China, Russia, United Kingdom). He will also meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, as well as with senior executives of ExxonMobil.
On September 26, President Christodoulides will meet with the Crown Prince of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, and with the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan. On the same day, he will also attend the diaspora event at Terrace on the Park in Queens, New York, organized by the Federation of Cypriot American Organizations (FCAO), during which he will address the diaspora community.
On September 27, the President of the Republic will hold a joint meeting with the UN Secretary-General and the Turkish Cypriot leader, convened during the informal Conference on Cyprus held in New York in July. Christodoulides, who will depart for Cyprus on the same day, is accompanied in New York by Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis, Deputy Minister for European Affairs Marilena Raouna, the Director of the President’s Diplomatic Office Doros Venezis, and other senior officials.
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.