Erhurman meets UN envoy Holguin amid Cyprus diplomatic contacts in New York

New York, United States. Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman began his contacts on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday with a meeting with the UN’s Cyprus problem envoy, Maria Angela Holguin. Neither made a statement afterward.

Meetings at the United Nations

The meeting came during a week of diplomatic activity on the Cyprus problem. President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis had already met Holguin, while both Cypriot leaders are due to meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres later this week.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Guterres on Tuesday. Erdogan also met British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who later met Christodoulides. After meeting Christodoulides, Holguin said the UN was “continuing its efforts” on the Cyprus problem.

Differences remain

No concrete progress has been made since Guterres visited the island in July. At the time, he promised an enlarged meeting involving the island’s two sides, its guarantor powers — Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom — and the UN, “after adequate progress” on confidence-building measures, the meeting’s methodology and the substance of the talks.

Christodoulides and Erhurman have met three times since July, but the sides remain openly divided over political equality, crossing points and the methodology of the talks.

During the summer, the Greek Cypriot side took initiatives to cancel international events held by the Turkish Cypriot community, including a children’s football camp organised by FC Barcelona and a music festival in Kyrenia. Erhurman warned that such initiatives “undermine trust” and said last week that creating the “conducive climate” mentioned by Guterres was crucial to moving the process forward.

Christodoulides said on Monday that “behind-the-scenes” meetings in New York this week could hold the key to developments on the Cyprus problem.