President Nikos Christodoulides held out hope for a possible trilateral meeting in New York after his meeting with António Guterres on Thursday.
Following a 15-minute meeting with the UN Secretary-General on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Christodoulides said Guterres received his “new ideas” on substance, methodology and confidence-building measures (CBMs) “in a very positive manner”.
President highlights EU-Turkey track
The president said his strategy to get the EU more actively involved was “key to this major effort,” noting that Guterres told him he discussed the Cyprus issue in depth with the Presidents of the European Commission and Council.
Christodoulides added that the two negotiators, Menelaos Menelaou and Mehmet Dana, were due to hold a joint meeting with UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo and Personal Envoy María Ángela Holguín yesterday.
The president said he informed Guterres he was ready to extend his stay in New York for a trilateral meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman. He also thanked the outgoing UN chief for his “strong commitment” towards resuming negotiations.
Based on their discussion, Christodoulides said he believed this was “an achievable development if there is political will”.
Asked about the UNSG’s response to his suggestion for a trilateral, the president replied: “It is among the Secretary-General’s considerations, and he will inform me accordingly. You understand that there must also be a response from the other side.”
On the 19 “new ideas” submitted by the Greek Cypriot side at the last leaders’ meeting before heading to New York, Christodoulides said: “They demonstrate our clear political will and our readiness”. The coming days will show whether these diplomatic efforts will bear fruit, he added.
Guterres fully committed
He argued that Guterres was doing “everything possible to convene an expanded conference that will lead to the resumption of talks,” including his extensive discussion with two of the heads of the EU institutions.
On the UN ‘convergences document’ being prepared, the president said: “The document is in its final form and forms part of the broader discussions we had.”
Asked whether Turkey could come to the negotiating table, Christodoulides said the UN and EU were working on it, “making use of, and this is an important detail, the acquis of the negotiations up to and including the final day at Crans-Montana.”
A UN readout of the meeting simply said Guterres and Christodoulides “discussed the way forward on the Cyprus issue”.
Meetings on the margins
The week has seen a flurry of meetings involving the Cyprus peace effort. Guterres met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday and was due to meet Greek Prime Minister Kyriacos Mitsotakis last night. On Saturday, Guterres will meet with the Turkish Cypriot leader.
Earlier in the week, Erhürman met with new US Ambassador John Breslow in the north while, in New York, Holguín met separately with Christodoulides, Menelaou, Erhürman and Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis. Christodoulides also met with new British PM Andrew Burnham.
Government sources say Guterres remains strongly committed to achieving meaningful progress on Cyprus before his term ends. He considers a new 5+1 feasible with the Turkish side consenting in principle, though no substantive change in its rhetoric has been recorded so far.
