The postponed meeting between the two leaders has been rescheduled for next Wednesday, 9 September at 10.30am at the UN Protected Area in the Nicosia buffer zone, sources have confirmed.
The second meeting between President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman – since the UN Secretary-General’s departure from the island – was due to take place tomorrow, Wednesday, but was cancelled following the ferry disaster off Kyrenia on Sunday that has left at least eight dead and 20 people still missing.
Sources confirmed to Politis that the leaders’ meeting has been rescheduled for the following Wednesday instead, at 10.30am.
The leaders have pledged to meet at least weekly in the coming period as they seek to make progress on confidence-building measures, methodology and issues of substance before meeting separately with the UN chief on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly later this month.
Christodoulides has said the leaders will have the opportunity to brief António Guterres on their progress to date in the hope he will then convene an expanded conference with the aim of announcing the resumption of formal peace talks.
Given the delay resulting from the Kyrenia ferry disaster, the leaders will have the chance to meet two or three more times before heading to New York near the end of September.
