Letimbiotis: We Hope Talks Will Resume

Letimbiotis made the remarks in statements to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) following reports published by Fileleftheros under the headline “Invitation from Guterres to Erhürman – A Meeting of Acquaintance – Attention Focused on What Will Be Said About the Process.”

He said they hope the meeting will open the way for the resumption of negotiations in line with the framework agreed upon and in accordance with the will personally expressed by the UN Secretary-General to continue the process from the point at which it was suspended.

Noting that this will be the first contact between Erhürman and Guterres, Letimbiotis said that every engagement at the level of the UN Secretary-General is positive and potentially constructive.

He added that at a time when systematic efforts are being made to create the necessary conditions for the resumption of negotiations, they hope this meeting will serve as a step toward restarting the talks.

Letimbiotis stressed that the Greek Cypriot side is ready for negotiations to resume from where they were left off, recalling that Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides has reiterated this position on many occasions, including during his most recent meeting with President Erhürman in the presence of the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Cyprus, María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar.

Concluding his remarks, Letimbiotis said their position remains unchanged that holding an expanded meeting under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General is of vital importance for achieving substantive progress and strengthening overall efforts.

Fileleftheros also reported that the UN Secretary-General invited President Tufan Erhürman to a meeting to become acquainted and to discuss the current state of the Cyprus issue. The newspaper noted that the Greek Cypriot side was surprised by Erhürman’s social media post on the matter made yesterday.

The paper added that Guterres’ invitation to Erhürman was not regarded by the Greek Cypriot side as an action that could create problems in the process. It said this was a traditional meeting held by the UN Secretary-General with every leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, and that attention is focused on what will be said during the meeting regarding the continuation of efforts on the Cyprus issue.