Agreement Document Could Be Presented to Parties in New York Next Week

The UN is considering delivering the document through UN Secretary-General António Guterres or his Personal Envoy for Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin, while contacts are continuing to arrange possible meetings between President Tufan Erhürman and Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides and Guterres and Holguin.

Fileleftheros, in a report headlined “Agreement Document Could Be Delivered – Behind-the-Scenes Talks Underway to Arrange Meetings Between Two Leaders, UN Secretary-General and Holguin,” said there was no clear information on the current stage of preparations for the document, the recording of which began during the summer.

The newspaper said “diplomatic sources” had told it that the UN was keeping its cards close to its chest regarding the document, which it claimed was being prepared under the close supervision of Holguin.

Given the importance attached to the document, the newspaper said the level at which the UN would choose to deliver it should be comparable. It added that the possibility of the document being handed to the relevant parties by Holguin or personally by the UN Secretary-General had not been ruled out.

According to the newspaper, the “same sources” indicated that, if the document on the areas of agreement is completed, it could be presented to the relevant parties during the contacts to be held in New York next week.

The newspaper also reported that, apart from a meeting between Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides and UN Secretary-General António Guterres scheduled for September 24 in New York, no other meetings had yet been arranged. It said the Christodoulides-Guterres meeting was part of the UN Secretary-General’s customary meetings with heads of state and government attending the UN General Assembly.

The newspaper added that consultations were continuing on possible meetings between Guterres, President Tufan Erhürman and Christodoulides towards the end of the week of high-level meetings in New York. It also said the possibility of Holguin meeting either the two leaders or the negotiators of the two sides had not been ruled out.

The newspaper claimed that the Greek Cypriot side had informed the UN that both Christodoulides and Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaos Menelaou were ready for a meeting in any format, while the Turkish Cypriot side had so far not been seen to have given the same response.

The report also quoted remarks made by President Erhürman in an interview with Kanal Sim regarding the Cyprus problem, as reported by the Kıbrıs Postası website.

FITTO NOT TO VISIT ATHENS OR ANKARA

Meanwhile, the newspaper, citing comments by a European Commission representative to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), reported that European Commission Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms Raffaele Fitto had no scheduled meetings in Athens or Ankara.

The newspaper recalled that the European Commission had appointed Fitto as its special representative for Cyprus, adding that, according to the Commission, his planned engagements consisted of a series of meetings and visits in Portugal and Italy