Ankara, Turkey. United Nations envoy for the Cyprus problem Maria Angela Holguin met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday as part of her current round of meetings on the issue. Sources told the Cyprus Mail that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has approved a new UN initiative aimed at resuming formal negotiations.
Meeting in Turkey
Neither the United Nations nor the Turkish foreign ministry commented on the content of Holguin’s meeting with Fidan.
According to sources who spoke to the Cyprus Mail, Erdogan believes the absence of a solution to the Cyprus problem has unduly cost Turkey in recent decades through no fault of its own.
The same sources said Turkey’s support for the 2004 referendum and the 2017 negotiations, both rejected by the Greek Cypriot side, reflects Erdogan’s pragmatic and constructive stance and his willingness to engage in efforts to secure a solution.
Recent contacts
Holguin met President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman last Friday.
After those meetings, she said she would meet Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis later this week before travelling to Brussels.
She also said that after her visit to Brussels, she will return to Cyprus and hold further meetings with Christodoulides and Erhurman before the end of this month.
Plans for enlarged meeting
Holguin confirmed that an enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem is currently intended to take place either in late July or early August.
The meeting is expected to involve the island’s two sides, the three guarantor powers Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom, and the United Nations.
Earlier, both leaders stressed that they want the next enlarged meeting to produce tangible results.
After meeting Holguin, Christodoulides said the goal is for the enlarged meeting to lead to an announcement on the resumption of talks.
Erhurman made no statements after his meeting with Holguin, but later told political talk show Er Meydani that an enlarged meeting must yield meaningful results.
