National Council to convene following Cuellar's appointment as Cyprus envoy

The National Council, the top advisory body on the Cyprus issue, convenes on Monday, 8 January following the appointment by the United Nations Secretary-General of María Angela Holguín Cuéllar as his Personal Envoy for Cyprus.

Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis had stated that the National Council is set to convene under President Nikos Christodoulides where the strategy and next steps after Guellar’s appointment will be discussed.

President Christodoulides will also exchange views with the political leadership.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on 5 January appointed María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar of Columbia as his personal envoy for Cyprus, it was announced at the UN regular briefing in New York.

“The SG has asked Ms Holguin to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf to search for Common Ground on the way forward and to advice him on the Cyprus issue,” Stephanie Tremblay, Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General said.

She added that the new envoy “has extensive diplomatic experience at the highest levels including as Foreign Affairs Minister of Colombia between 2010 and 2018.”

According to her CV, as announced by the UN, Holguin also served as delegate of the President of Colombia in the Peace Process Negotiation in Havana, Cuba (2015-2016) and was a member of the Cabinet for Post-Conflict (2017-2018).  

Previous posts in her diplomatic career include the position of Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations, Ambassador to Venezuela and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.  

She holds a degree in Political Science from the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá.  She also studied at the Centre d´Études Diplomatiques et Stratégiques and at the Université Paris–Sorbonne in Paris.  In addition to Spanish, she speaks English and French. 

Christodoulides on 7 January once again welcomed Cuellar's official appointment.

In statements to the press following the celebrations for the Epiphany in Larnaca, Christodoulides said he considers the appointment as “particularly important,” recalling that since the assumption of his duties he worked very methodically to this end.

Noting that the appointment is included in the Secretary-General’s report on his Good Offices Mission, the President pointed out that “this a response to any concerns on where we are heading.”

“What I can state is that, as far as our side is concerned, and will brief the National Council (top advisory body to the President on the Cyprus problem) on Monday, is that I will do everything possible for a possible outcome in the process,” he said.

Noting that he is not disregarding the difficulties, he added “We are here to tackle all difficulties and problems because there is no other choice than the solution of the Cyprus problem on the basis of the agreed framework.”

The President refrained from commenting on the remarks made by the Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, noting that these statements are well known.

“All of us will be judged on the discussion table,” he added.

Furthermore, President Christodoulides said that Antonio Guterres’ report could be better with regard to the violation by the Turkish side in the buffer zone.

“Surely, the report could be better, particularly concerning the reference on the violations in the buffer zone,” he said, adding that the traditional equidistance approach by the UN is continuing.”

The President also recalled that he contacted the UN Chief over the violations of buffer zone, as “this is something which concerns us particularly.”

“This, among others, is one of the fait accompli created by the elapse of time and for this reason in 2024, which marks 50 years since the Turkish invasion and occupation, we will do our utmost to reunify our island,” he went on to say

Furthermore, Government Spokesman Constantinos Letympiotis also welcomed the appointment of Holguin-Cuellar as the UN SG’s personal envoy noting that this is a very positive development.

“With sincere political will to contribute constructively so that conditions for the resumption of the talks from they were left-off aiming at a viable and comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem on the basis of a bi-zonal bi-communal federation,” he said.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

(Source: CNA)