Wednesday’s meeting between the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Tufan Erhurman, has been viewed positively by Nicosia. Authoritative sources told CNA that, despite the “current atmosphere” of recent days, the joint statement by the two leaders, which refers to weekly meetings, offers hope for continuity.
As government sources noted, both the duration of the discussion—which lasted nearly three hours, with the two leaders spending most of that time in private talks— as well as the joint statement referring to the intention to hold weekly meetings, lead to the conclusion that the discussion was positive and sets the course for continued progress, given the expected visit of the President of the European Council, António Costa on September 4 and the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, María Ángela Olguín, next week.
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Despite the fact that the climate has not seemed favorable recently—following a series of incidents, such as the various festivals in the occupied territories and calls for their cancellation, or the statements from the Turkish Cypriot side regarding land grabs and other issues, today’s discussion is considered to have been positive. “The prevailing atmosphere suggested that we were heading toward a dead-end meeting”; nevertheless, it appears that this one was productive and substantive, according to CNA.
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Furthermore, the following are viewed positively: “the fact that this step was taken today, the fact that the two leaders spoke for so long on their own, the fact that they finalized their schedule of meetings on a weekly basis, as well as the existence of the natural timeline marked by the UN General Assembly in New York.”
Nicosia’s goal, the same sources noted, is for intensive contacts to continue until the UN General Assembly in New York, without, however, overlooking Turkey’s role.
READ ALSO: President of the Republic offers a positive outlook: Convergences, methodology, the Joint Committee, and roadblocks were discussed with Erhurman
Source: CNA
