Nicosia, Cyprus. President Nikos Christodoulides said on Wednesday that United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ statement following the latest Cyprus talks was clear and not open to alternative interpretation.
UN meeting plans
Guterres held meetings with Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman before announcing plans to convene another enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem.
He said the meeting would be held once sufficient progress had been made on confidence-building measures, the methodology of the talks and substantive issues.
Guterres said the two sides and the three guarantor powers — Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom — agreed that another enlarged meeting should take place. However, he said it would only be convened after adequate preparation to maximise its prospects of success.
“We will work in consultation with the two sides and the guarantors, to create the conditions for the meeting’s success,” he said.
Call for confidence-building measures
The UN secretary general called on both leaders to intensify efforts to rebuild trust through confidence-building measures.
He said Cypriots had delivered a clear message during his visit: “They want to see their leaders make compromises and to walk that last mile towards a settlement of the Cyprus issue.”
President addresses diaspora council
Speaking to members of the Cypriot diaspora’s central council at the presidential palace, Christodoulides described the period as a critical juncture for the Cyprus issue.
He said developments over the previous two days had required his full attention and that he wanted to brief those attending on the latest developments before discussing other matters behind closed doors.
