Nicosia is awaiting word from António Guterres’s Personal Envoy and does not wish to see any changes to the schedule.

What everyone is waiting for right now is the confirmation of Ms. Olgin’s meetings in Brussels, and then her visit to Cyprus for a final round of talks before the much-discussed and still-unconfirmed convening of the informal five-party meeting.

“In any case, however, her visit to Brussels will take place, and the discussions there will serve as an assessment of the meetings held on the sidelines of the NATO summit last week; and after Brussels, she will visit our country, where she will be able to discuss the next steps with President Christodoulides and Mr. Erchiurman, of course.” ^{Konstantinos Letympiotis, Government Spokesperson}

Timelines

According to the Government Spokesperson, Nicosia’s approach remains unchanged, nor has its commitment to convening an informal multilateral meeting as soon as possible in the presence of the three guarantor powers, with the European Union playing an active role.

“The next informal multilateral meeting should aim to resume substantive negotiations from the point at which they were suspended. It is up to occupying Turkey to demonstrate a constructive attitude toward this new initiative undertaken by Mr. Guterres.” ^{Konstantinos Letympiotis, Government Spokesperson}

Euro-Turkish Relations

Of course, Euro-Turkish relations and the need to link them to the Cyprus issue are part of the picture, which is why Ms. Olgin’s meetings with António Costa and Ursula von der Leyen are considered extremely important.

“What I think is now becoming clear from all the statements, both from Turkey and the United Nations, is Turkey’s interest in leveraging Euro-Turkish relations.” ^{Konstantinos Letympiotis, Government Spokesperson}

Explaining that it is clear to all sides that this also involves the Cyprus issue, as a European problem, and not merely as a national issue.

Occupied Areas

A wait-and-see approach, of course, in the occupied territories as well, with Tufan Erhürman at home recovering after doctors advised him to rest due to the illness he experienced on Friday.

However, the Cyprus issue remains high on the agenda of the Turkish Cypriot press, with the Special Presidential Representative of the so-called government, Huseyin Yusuf, reminding everyone that the sovereign equality of Turkish Cypriots is the key to unlocking the process.

“A new round of negotiations must not begin without the acceptance of sovereign equality. Turkish Cypriots are equal owners of this island and have never been a minority.” ^{Huseyin Yusuf, Special Presidential Representative of the “TRNC”}

He stated that the so-called TRNC is the product of a “peacekeeping operation,” as he referred to the 1974 invasion.

See the report by Giorgos Chrysanthos