President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides expressed hope that the discussion during tonight’s dinner with the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman would be just as constructive as the one he had earlier this morning with the UN Secretary-General.
Upon departure from the Presidential Palace for the residence of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Cyprus, in Nicosia airport, where the dinner will take place, President Christodoulides was asked whether he was optimistic about the dinner.
“The only thing I would like to say is that I express the wish and hope that tonight’s discussion will be as good as the discussion I had this morning with the Secretary-General,” he said.
The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, held a meeting on Tuesday morning with the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides after which he said that he will do everything he can to support the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots in this very important moment.
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.