Christodoulides and Erhurman to meet Tuesday as differences over talks persist
Cyprus’ leaders will hold another weekly meeting on Tuesday, with disagreements continuing over political equality, a rotating presidency and the agenda for discussions.
Pyla, Cyprus. President Nikos Christodoulides will meet Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman on Tuesday for another round of their weekly discussions, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis announced on Monday. The meeting follows their joint appearance at a bicommunal festival, despite continuing differences over settlement negotiations.
Government outlines approach to negotiations
Letymbiotis said the government remained focused on making meaningful progress towards restarting negotiations where they had stopped, under the framework already agreed.
He said its approach continued to be constructive and consistent, supported by specific proposals, and expressed confidence that meaningful dialogue could establish the conditions needed to move forward.
Disagreement also persists over the agenda for the leaders’ meetings. At their meeting last month, Christodoulides proposed 19 additional discussion points.
Dispute over political equality
The leaders remain far apart on several matters, including how political equality would operate following a Cyprus settlement.
On Sunday, Christodoulides accused Erhurman of attaching conditions to renewed negotiations by insisting that a settlement include a presidency rotating between the two communities.
Christodoulides said the Turkish side wanted advance acceptance of particular positions important to Turkish Cypriots, while demonstrating no readiness to consider or accept Greek Cypriot positions concerning other major elements of the Cyprus problem.
For the Turkish Cypriot side, a rotating presidency is essential to the political equality envisaged in United Nations resolutions for the island’s two main communities.
Mehmet Dana, Erhurman’s undersecretary, previously told the Cyprus Mail that rotation was an essential element of political equality. He said political equality underpinned a system in which a limited set of defined powers would be exercised jointly through shared competences, and that this principle was not negotiable.
Joint appearance in Pyla
Tuesday’s meeting will take place three days after both leaders attended a bicommunal festival in Pyla, a village in Larnaca district.
Christodoulides said their attendance conveyed peace, coexistence and the need to reunify Cyprus at last. Referring to a recent interview he had given to the Turkish Cypriot press, he repeated his view that reunification would certainly have happened if the decision rested with Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
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