Nicosia: We are doing everything possible, in order to achieve the goal of resuming settlement talks, President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides said on Thursday, in Nicosia, noting at the same time that the Greek Cypriot side will not get drawn into “games” driven by considerations due to electioneering in the Turkish-occupied areas. The rhetoric employed by the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar is further promoting the island’s division, he warned, underlining that this is not helping the cause.
According to Cyprus News Agency, the President was replying to questions upon his arrival at a lunch hosted by the Polish Ambassador on the occasion of the conclusion of the six-month term of the Polish EU Presidency. Asked about the separate meetings the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Mara Angela Holgun Cu©llar, had with the Foreign Ministers of Turkey and Greece, the President said he had not yet been informed. ‘Once we are informed, we will inform the Cypriot public as well’, he said, adding that “we are in constant coordination with the Greek government”, sharing the same goals and objectives.
Regarding the date of the informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format, in New York, he said that certain dates were mentioned for the last ten days of July, and that they are awaiting official invitations. When asked to comment on media reports claiming that the Turkish Foreign Minister raised with Holguin the issue of arrests related to the usurpation of Greek Cypriot properties in the island’s Turkish-occupied areas, the President said that ‘I cannot know, and I cannot rely on media reports. Holgun’s mandate is not about property usurpers. Her mandate is on how to bring about positive results in the upcoming meeting in a broader format.’
He added that “it is through our own initiatives that this momentum exists” – that the expanded meeting in Geneva took place, that the UN Secretary-General appointed a personal envoy, that the EU appointed a special envoy, and that Geneva yielded tangible results. ‘The electoral process in the occupied areas, the atmosphere being created, and Tatar’s increasingly divisive rhetoric – possibly linked to the electoral procedure – are factors that are not helpful. We are doing everything possible, often away from the public eye, to achieve the goal, which time and again is nothing else than the resumption of the talks’, he said.
President Christodoulides further emphasized that we are currently in the midst of an election campaign in the Turkish-occupied areas. ‘As we have already seen lately, there will be a divisive rhetoric on a daily basis, aiming to serve their own considerations.’ He added that “we will not follow or get drawn into games aimed at advancing agendas” some may have with a view to the process taking place in the occupied areas of Cyprus.
‘We have a clear goal. We know where we want to go. We know what we are aiming to achieve, and we are staying focused”, he continued, adding that he will not engage in a daily exchange of statements with Tatar. When asked to comment on a media report in the Turkish Cypriot press claiming that UK legislation will permit direct flights to the occupied areas, the President said that he can not comment on reports in the Turkish Cypriot press. “The issue of direct flights is something that is constantly brought up by some. The international community has repeatedly taken a stance on such matters – even more so the United Kingdom, which is a guarantor power and a member of the United Nations Security Council” he added.
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 due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. UN Secretary General announced that an informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format will be held at the end of July, following a similar meeting in Geneva, on March 17-18. The two sides agreed to proceed with a number of initiatives, involving the opening of crossing points, the creation of a Technical Committee on Youth and other initiatives in the buffer zone and throughout the island.
The UN Secretary-General?Ant³nio Guterres?announced in early May the appointment of Mara Angela Holgun Cu©llar of Colombia as his Personal Envoy on Cyprus, who is tasked to reengage with the parties in order to work on next steps on the Cyprus issue and advise him. Holgun completed a previous assignment as Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General on Cyprus from January to July 2024. The European Commission designated Johannes Hahn, a former European Commissioner, as Special Envoy for Cyprus to contribute to the settlement process, in close cooperation with Holgun.