The first meeting of President Nikos Christodoulides with the new leader of the Turkish Cypriots, Tufan Erhrman began at around 9:50 am on Thursday at the residence of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in the Nicosia Buffer Zone.
UN Secretary-General personal envoy on Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin, is also participating in the meeting via videoconference from Lima, Peru.
President Christodoulides arrived first, accompanied by the Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaos Menelaos.
A few minutes later, at 9:35 am, the Turkish Cypriot leader arrived, accompanied by “under secretary to the president” Mehmet Dana, who is reportedly expected to be appointed by Erhrman, as the new negotiator of the Turkish Cypriot side.
UNSG Special Representative Khassim Diagne, welcomed the two leaders upon their arrivals.
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 was expected later this year.
María Angela Holguín, the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is tasked to engage with the parties, while former European Commissioner Johannes Hahn, designated by the Commission as Special Envoy for Cyprus, is also expected to contribute to the settlement process, in cooperation with Holguín.