Nicosia, Cyprus. The Bi-communal Peace Initiative – United Cyprus has called for parallel demonstrations in north and south Nicosia on Monday, coinciding with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ visit to the island. The rallies will urge renewed efforts to reunify Cyprus under a federal settlement.
Parallel demonstrations
The demonstrations, held under the slogan “Federal Solution Now”, are scheduled to begin at 6.30pm, when Guterres is due to host President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman for a dinner meeting.
The gathering in the south will take place on the access road to the UN representative’s office opposite the University of Nicosia. A parallel event in the north will be held at the Kermia (Metehan) roundabout.
Call to resume negotiations
The group called on organisations and individuals from both communities to participate in support of efforts to resume negotiations for a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, in line with UN Security Council resolutions.
It said renewed talks should build on convergences reached up to the 2017 Crans-Montana negotiations and focus on outstanding issues in Guterres’ six-point framework.
Delegation at Home for Cooperation
At 10.30am on the same day, a bicommunal delegation representing organisations supporting the initiative is expected to gather at the Home for Cooperation in the buffer zone. The delegation will welcome Guterres as he crosses to the north and present him with a joint message.
The initiative described the UN secretary-general’s visit as an important opportunity to advance the peace process, while stating that the effort carried risks and required visible civil society support on both sides of the divide.
UN secretary-general’s visit
Guterres is due to visit Cyprus from July 27 to 29, in what the government has described as the first visit by a UN secretary-general to the island in 16 years.
Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said the visit was intended to help create conditions for an informal expanded conference on the Cyprus problem and support efforts to restart negotiations.
He said such a meeting could take place before the end of the summer if Turkey adopted what he described as a more constructive approach and abandoned its insistence on a two-state solution.
