President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman who met on Friday “exchanged views on substance and the way forward and they reiterated their appreciation for the UN Secretary-General’s sustained commitment” and agreed on a series of issues.
According to a UN press release, “the Turkish Cypriot and the Greek Cypriot leaders met today at the Residence of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprus, Khassim Diagne. The meeting took place in a positive atmosphere, and they had a productive discussion.”
They exchanged views on substance and the way forward and they reiterated their appreciation for the UN Secretary-General’s sustained commitment, and agreed on the following.
They agreed on a framework for the establishment of a consultative body for civil society engagement, to work for the preparation of a plan for the conduct of religious services throughout the island for an initial six-month period to be renewed, to continue to work towards a coordinated response to tackle the foot and mouth disease, and to establish a sub-committee under the Technical Committee on Economic and Commercial matters for the discussion of issues related to the designation of products already designated as PGOs/PGIs.
The leaders also agreed to meet again in the near future, the press release ends.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
In 2025 the Secretary-General hosted two informal meetings on Cyprus, in March in Geneva and in July in New York, while a tripartite meeting with the Cyprus leaders was also held in late September, at the end of the UN General Assembly High Level Week. An informal meeting in broader format that was expected to take place before the end of 2025, is yet to be announced. María Angela Holguín, the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is tasked to engage with the parties.