The next meeting between President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhrman, under the auspices of the United Nations, is to take place on Tuesday, October 13, at 3:30 p.m. Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis announced on Wednesday.
‘Our goal remains to achieve meaningful progress towards the resumption of negotiations within the agreed framework, an effort to which the UN Secretary-General remains personally committed’, the Spokesperson said in a post on X.
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.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whose term nears its end, announced he would convene another meeting in broader format, after adequate preparation, but gave no timeline. He secured to that end the consensus of both sides and of the guarantor powers. María Angela Holguín, Guterres’ Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is tasked to engage with the parties. Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto acts as the European Commission’s Special Representative for Cyprus, succeeding EU special envoy Johannes Hahn.