Christodoulides says both leaders agree Cyprus solution must follow UN resolutions

Nicosia, Cyprus. President Nikos Christodoulides said on Tuesday that he and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman had agreed during their meeting that any Cyprus settlement must conform to the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. He also said efforts were continuing to organise an enlarged meeting before the year ends, with the aim of announcing a return to negotiations.

Agreement on the UN framework

Christodoulides said the Security Council resolutions clearly defined the form of a Cyprus settlement and that any UN secretary-general drew their mandate from the council. He said he and Erhurman were fully aligned on that point.

The approaching end of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ term, which expires at the end of December, was a significant factor in their discussions, according to Christodoulides. He said Tuesday’s meeting had opened with that issue.

Efforts to arrange an enlarged meeting

Christodoulides said an enlarged meeting before Guterres leaves office remained possible. Such a gathering would involve the two Cypriot sides, the UN and the three guarantor powers: Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

He said no conclusion had been reached on whether the meeting would take place, but efforts were under way to organise it before the end of the year. Those efforts, he said, were the reason for UN Cyprus problem envoy Maria Angela Holguin’s planned visit to Cyprus before the month ends. He added that Guterres remained politically committed to the Cyprus issue.

Addressing the feasibility of a meeting this year, Christodoulides said convening it was not enough on its own: the objective was to be able to announce that negotiations would resume.

He said a specific proposal he had submitted to Guterres was directed towards that goal and had been discussed again with Erhurman on Tuesday. Developments over the coming weeks would determine how matters progressed, he added.

Responses to 19 discussion points

Asked what Tuesday’s talks had covered, Christodoulides said he had raised his 19 discussion points for the second time. According to the president, Erhurman responded negatively to some and positively to others, while requesting additional time to examine and decide on the remaining issues.