Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaos Menelaou and Turkish Cypriot leader’s representative Mehmet Dana will meet on Monday afternoon ahead of a new meeting between the two leaders, which is likely to take place next Tuesday. An official announcement is expected in the coming days.
President Nikos Christodoulides and Tufan Erhurman met on two consecutive Tuesdays, October 13 and 20.
The two leaders decided to hold meetings with the Technical Committees on Youth and Cultural Heritage, as well as with the Civil Society Advisory Body. According to information obtained by the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), dates for these meetings have not yet been set.
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.