President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides has called a meeting of the National Council for Wednesday, 30 September, Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis announced on Monday.
In a post on X, Letymbiotis said that President Christodoulides would brief the political leadership on the latest developments on the Cyprus issue and his contacts in New York, followed by an exchange of views on the next steps in efforts to resume substantive negotiations.
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.