Cyprus President hopes for 2-3 more meetings with Turkish Cypriot leader before New York trip
Cyprus President, Nikos Christodoulides, said on Monday that he hopes to hold two or three more meetings with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman before travelling to New York later this month for the United Nations General Assembly.
The President was speaking during a meeting with the Mayor and members of the Morphou Municipal Council. Welcoming them to the Presidential Palace, President Christodoulides said that “our meeting is important, particularly ahead of my trip to New York and the meetings I will have with the Turkish Cypriot leader.”
He recalled that he will meet again with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman on Wednesday. “I hope we can have another two or three meetings before we go to New York,” he added.
“I will brief you on the developments, and you can also tell me about your plans, so that we can see how we can move forward together,” the President told the Morphou Mayor and members of the Municipal Council.
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 Antonio Guterres, whose term nears its end, announced he would convene another meeting in broader format, after adequate preparation, but gave no timeline. He secured to that end the consensus of both sides and of the guarantor powers. María Angela Holguín, Guterres’ Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is tasked to engage with the parties. Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto acts as the European Commission’s Special Representative for Cyprus, succeeding EU special envoy Johannes Hahn.
