New York, United States. Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman’s undersecretary Mehmet Dana met diplomats over the weekend following UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ latest reports on Unficyp and his good offices.
Meetings with national representatives and UN official
According to Erhurman’s office, Dana met representatives to the UN of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Germany, Pakistan, Liberia, and Panama, as well as UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Rosemary DiCarlo.
The office said Dana discussed with national representatives the latest developments on the Cyprus issue, assessments contained in Guterres’ reports, and matters related to the Security Council resolution on renewing Unficyp’s mandate later this month.
With DiCarlo, it said, he discussed the diplomatic process regarding the Cyprus issue, the positions of the two sides, and possible steps for the upcoming period.
Planned envoy visit and enlarged meeting
UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin is expected to return to Cyprus this month to meet both Erhurman and President Nikos Christodoulides, with a new enlarged meeting set to take place in the weeks that follow.
The enlarged meeting is expected to bring together the island’s two sides, the three guarantor powers Greece, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, and the UN. Erhurman said last month that it should not be held without prior agreements on certain issues in Nicosia.
Security Council vote on Unficyp mandate
In New York, the UN Security Council is set to vote on January 29 on renewing Unficyp’s mandate for another year.
Unficyp has a rolling one-year mandate that was most recently extended on January 31 last year, with all 15 Security Council members at the time, including guarantor powers Greece and the United Kingdom, voting in favour of the motion, which also took stock of the state of the Cyprus problem.
Ahead of this year’s vote, Abukar Dahir Osman, Somalia’s permanent representative to the UN, said no problems are foreseen regarding the renewal. Somalia took over the Security Council’s rotating presidency at the beginning of this month.
“I do not think there will be any problem. The security council continues to support the secretary-general [Antonio Guterres]’ good offices and remains committed to an approach based on dialogue and de-escalation,” he told the Cyprus News Agency.
What do you expect from the upcoming Security Council vote on renewing Unficyp’s mandate?