María Ángela Holguín, the United Nations Secretary-General's personal envoy on Cyprus, arrived at the Presidential Palace shortly after 9.30am on Monday, where she was received by President Nikos Christodoulides.
The meeting marks the beginning of a crucial week of diplomatic contacts on the Cyprus issue, which will culminate with the arrival in Cyprus of UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Starting with Monday morning's meeting between Christodoulides and Holguín, Nicosia enters a week of intensive diplomacy aimed at assessing whether conditions exist for the resumption of substantive negotiations on the Cyprus problem.
The key question remains whether the renewed diplomatic activity will help bring the sides closer to restarting meaningful talks or whether it will become another unsuccessful attempt to bridge longstanding differences.
Holguín's visit follows a final round of meetings in Ankara and Brussels, where she sought to explore possible areas of convergence ahead of this week's discussions.
According to information available, the UN envoy is expected to brief Christodoulides on positions conveyed by the Turkish side through Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who reportedly has not ruled out a return to dialogue but has linked any progress to broader issues concerning EU-Turkey relations.
According to the same sources, Ankara continues to raise issues including:
- Turkey's participation in the European defence programme SAFE
- Visa liberalisation for Turkish citizens
- Upgrading the EU-Turkey Customs Union
The moves are viewed as part of Turkey's strategy of placing the Cyprus issue within a wider framework of negotiations with the European Union.
