A new bilateral meeting will take place today, Tuesday, in Nicosia between the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Tufan Erhurman, taking place during a period of low diplomatic activity on the Cyprus issue. The meeting, which will also be attended by a United Nations representative, simply aims to maintain regular meetings and dialogue on the Cyprus problem.
A dominant element of the meeting is the “shadow” cast by recent statements from the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy, María Ángela Holguín. Ms. Holguín, through her article, proposed restarting negotiations next July, after the completion of Cyprus’s EU Presidency and the May parliamentary elections, while also deeming it necessary to give Mr. Erhurman time to consolidate his position in the occupied territories. Moreover, Ms. Holguín conveyed that she would not actively engage until there is some progress in communication between the two sides, characteristically saying: “When I see that I can contribute to a specific step forward and the leaders consider that the UN’s presence is useful for facilitating decision-making,” pointing out to both sides that steps forward are expected.
In Cyprus, they attribute the change in Ms. Holguín’s stance to Mr. Erhurman’s recent visit to New York and his contacts with UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Cyprus issue: Christodoulides frustrated by Holguín’s stance – Erhurman aligned with Ankara
The President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, appeared visibly frustrated by Ms. Holguín’s stance, mainly regarding the postponement of the five-party meeting. As he stated, the Cypriot side is ready to meet in an expanded conference, as agreed with the Secretary-General in New York, and to start talks from where they left off at Crans-Montana. “With full respect for the negotiating acquis. Let us all prove in practice that we are ready. Let us leave aside the statements,” as he said.
However, Mr. Erhurman’s statements from Istanbul leave little room for optimism, as he appeared fully aligned with Ankara’s line. He provocatively claimed that Greek Cypriots “fear” Turkey and that any military effort on their part would fail.
Under this light, government sources, speaking to parapolitika.gr, characterize today’s meeting as having “low expectations,” something that was also evident from the preparatory meetings of negotiators last week. Despite the difficulties, the intention of the Greek Cypriot side is to keep the process alive, seeking at least elementary communication that could prevent a complete deadlock.
