President tells UN chief he is ready for a meeting on Cyprus “anytime, anywhere”

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides expressed his readiness to meet “anytime and anywhere” both with the Turkish Cypriot leader and the Turkish delegation, in a bid to resume settlement talks, during a meeting with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, at the international organisation’s headquarters, in New York.

In statements after the 23 September meeting, in the framework of the UN General Assembly, President Christodoulides said that he had a very constructive discussion with Guterres, which started with the UN Secretary-General extending his gratitude to the Republic of Cyprus for the country’s role concerning the humanitarian aid towards Gaza.

The initiative helped to a large extent address the challenges in the region and is still in force, as the President said.

Moreover, he noted that they discussed the prospects of resuming settlement talks for Cyprus. The President said that he thanked the UN SG “who is politically committed not just to the restart of talks, but to the resolution of the Cyprus issue on the basis of the agreed framework.”

The President said that he referred to everything the Greek Cypriot side did in the past 18 months, after he assumed office, through concrete actions and not mere words, as he put it. We have proven our political willingness, our readiness to resume talks while utilizing the acquis of negotiations, he added.

President Christodoulides underlined that he remains at the disposal of the Secretary-General, “any time, anywhere, to meet with the Turkish Cypriot leader as well as with the Turkish delegation.”

He went on to say that the SG is making an effort towards this direction for some time now, “which I hope will bear fruit.” “I repeat, from our part we are ready, any time” he noted.

Asked if a meeting could take place in October, the President reiterated “any time and anywhere, this was our massage to the Secretary-General.”

We should leave the SG do his job, President Christodoulides said. He noted that he was informed by the UN chief, that there will be a meeting with Turkish President Erdogan tomorrow, in the framework of his overall meetings. “Lets hope that there will be some positive results in relation to the realization of this meeting, which will of course be followed by other steps and he [the UN SG] himself will make announcements” the President added.

Asked about a meeting he is scheduled to have with Deputy National Security Advisor Jonathan Finer tomorrow, the President said that this meeting undoubtedly concerns the Cyprus issue, but is more about the bilateral relations between Cyprus and the United States, as well as about the US interest to take part in a more substantial way in the electricity interconnection between Cyprus and Greece.

Therefore, he added, tomorrow’s meeting (24 September) is more about our bilateral issues.

We expect at the beginning of 2025 to have some positive announcements concerning our bilateral relations “that will prove the strategic choice to enhance our relations”, but also in relation to the electricity interconnection, the President added. This issue, he said, will be addressed at tomorrow’s trilateral meeting with the Greek Premier and the President of France.

From the Cypriot side, the meeting was also attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Constantinos Kombos, Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis, Deputy Minister of European Affairs Marilena Rauna, Cyprus’ Permanent Representative to the UN Maria Michael, the Negotiator of the Greek Cypriot side Menelaos Menelaou, the Director of the Diplomatic Office of the President Doros Venezis and other officials.

A readout issued by the office of the Secreatry-General after the meeting with President Christodoulides, says that they discussed the way forward on the Cyprus issue as well as the situation in the Middle East.

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 conclusively.

(Source: CNA)