President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman met on Thursday under United Nations auspices in the UN Protected Area, holding what a UN press statement described as "a good discussion" on confidence-building measures, methodology and the substance of the Cyprus problem, which concluded after two hours.
The two leaders will now brief UN Secretary-General António Guterres on their talks and discuss the way forward, according to the statement, issued by the United Nations in Cyprus.
The meeting was the leaders' final face-to-face contact before a critical week of Cyprus-related diplomacy in New York, where both sides will hold a series of meetings around the UN General Assembly. Speaking before the talks, Christodoulides said he was approaching the meeting positively and intended to table 19 specific points spanning exactly the three areas the UN statement later confirmed were discussed: the substance of the Cyprus issue, negotiating methodology and confidence-building measures.
Thursday's meeting was thought to be the 11th between the two leaders since last October, with their negotiators having held 16 meetings over the same period, Christodoulides said.
Broader formats still on the table
Ahead of the meeting, Christodoulides said he would meet the UN Secretary-General's Personal Envoy, María Ángela Holguín, during the first days of his visit to New York, and reiterated that the Greek Cypriot side remains ready to take part in broader formats should the UN consider them necessary. "We are fully prepared, if the Secretary-General considers it appropriate, beyond a bilateral meeting, to participate in discussions at a trilateral level or even at an expanded conference," he said, adding that his side was also prepared to stay in New York longer, return at a later stage, or attend talks in Geneva if that would help move the process forward.
On the prospect of a trilateral meeting or expanded conference, Christodoulides said timing and venue were not the issue. "We believe the necessary groundwork exists to move forward with an expanded conference," he said. "What is missing, in my view, is the political will."
Christodoulides also said he had spoken by phone earlier on Thursday with Johannes Hahn, the EU's special envoy for the Cyprus issue, who he said has already begun taking initiatives, particularly regarding EU-Turkey relations, which Nicosia views as an important part of the broader diplomatic effort. Asked separately about mixed marriages, Christodoulides said he does not regard the issue as a confidence-building measure, adding that the Republic of Cyprus continues to apply existing regulations to all citizenship applications it receives.
