Today marks the eleventh meeting between President of the Republic Nicos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman since last October, as part of efforts to resume talks on a solution to the Cyprus problem and ahead of the crucial UN General Assembly in New York.
As he was leaving the Presidential Palace to go to the UNFICYP Good Offices Office in the Nicosia airport area, President Christodoulides revealed that he is taking with him a “portfolio” containing nineteen points that focus on the substance, methodology, and confidence-building measures, and expressed his hope “that there will be positive results.”
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Ahead of his trip to New York, President Christodoulides described the coming week as “critical” and announced that this morning he had a telephone conversation with the EU Special Representative for the Cyprus Issue, Raffaele Fito, with whom he discussed recent developments and the agenda for his meetings in New York. Mr. Christodoulides will arrive at UN headquarters at midnight on Saturday, and during the first few days of his stay, he will meet with António Guterres’s Personal Envoy for theCyprus issue, María Ángela Olguín.
“We are fully prepared, if the Secretary-General deems it appropriate—beyond the bilateral meeting—for me to participate, to attend, and to discuss matters at the trilateral level and in an expanded conference. So, I am going with a positive attitude, with specific ideas and views, and I hope there will be results.”
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When asked whether the EU Special Envoy for Cyprus, Mr. Fito, would take any initiatives, the President of the Republic said that “Mr. Fito has already taken initiatives in the direction for which he was appointed; specifically, I am referring to Euro-Turkish relations.”
When asked whether he and Mr. Erhurman would discuss mixed marriages today, the President of the Republic said that “first of all, it is not a confidence-building measure. Beyond that, the Republic of Cyprus has regulations that apply to all those interested in acquiring Cypriot citizenship, and that is what we are doing. We are a state governed by the rule of law, a state that is monitored daily by the EU, and within this framework—and on this specific issue—we are doing what is required for all those who express an interest in acquiring citizenship of the Republic of Cyprus.”.
When asked whether the fact that the UN Secretary-General ruled out the possibility of holding a trilateral or expanded conference in New York during the UN General Assembly, the President of the Republic replied “No, because during the official week of the General Assembly—that is, from Monday through Friday—the Secretary-General, if my memory serves me correctly, has 186 bilateral meetings with the heads of the delegations of UN member states, and after Saturday, once he has completed all those meetings, he holds some other meetings. It’s not a matter of time; if we need to stay in New York, we’ll stay on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and then return in October to go to Geneva. The key is that the necessary political will exists. And on our part, if the Secretary-General decides this week, next week, or whenever he deems it appropriate, we are fully prepared; we believe the necessary groundwork is in place to move forward with an expanded conference. What is missing, I believe, is the political will.”
READ ALSO: There will be no 3+1 or 5+1 meeting on the Cyprus issue during the UN General Assembly, Antonio Guterres clarified
