Christodoulides: Trilateral Meeting to Be Held With Holguín

The Phileleftheros newspaper reported that, speaking to journalists after an event yesterday evening, Christodoulides said he hoped to make an announcement on the opening of a new crossing point following his meeting with President Tufan Erhürman today.

According to the report, Christodoulides said discussions were continuing and that several dates had been proposed for Holguín’s arrival and a joint meeting with the leaders.

Expressing hope for a positive outcome from the talks, Christodoulides said they had responded positively to the dates proposed for the trilateral meeting. He added that he believed Erhürman had also responded positively and said he hoped to achieve a positive outcome from today’s meeting.

Asked whether an announcement would be made today regarding the opening of four new crossing points, Christodoulides replied: “I hope so. If there is a reciprocal response, we are ready, and we are prepared to make an announcement on this issue, as well as on many other issues raised by the UN Secretary-General.”

Stating that he did not wish to speak on behalf of the Turkish Cypriot side regarding its willingness to take a positive approach, Christodoulides said Erhürman had made his views public and that he had also commented on Erhürman’s interview. He added that he would be able to comment further after seeing how today’s meeting went.

The Alithia newspaper, meanwhile, reported that almost three months after UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited the island, the preliminary work required for the next step had still not been carried out.

The newspaper noted that the contacts risked ending in endless conversations, while the Presidency continued to advocate the oral presentation of the 19 proposals in question.

The newspaper reported that Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis confirmed during a television programme yesterday that the 19 proposals had been conveyed orally and said Guterres had also presented his own proposals verbally. The newspaper noted that, until now, the Greek Cypriot government had rejected the argument that Guterres had put forward proposals, while Erhürman had publicly insisted on discussing Guterres’s seven proposals.

The newspaper stated that Guterres was mediating to help the leaders reach an agreement, while Christodoulides was one of the parties required to make decisions by working through the disagreements. It added that the mediator’s presentation of verbal proposals did not mean that the Presidency’s initiative had been effective.

According to the report, Letymbiotis said that reaching an agreement on confidence-building measures and opening new crossing points would not be sufficient to resume negotiations without the desired stance being demonstrated by Turkey.

The newspaper also reported that Viktoras Papadopoulos, Director of the Press Office of the Presidency, said it would be more appropriate for Holguín to remain in Cyprus to attend the meetings between Christodoulides and Erhürman and help achieve the goal of resuming negotiations.

According to the report, Papadopoulos said Holguín did not need to attend every meeting to see that no agreement had been reached on opening a new crossing point. He added that statements regarding political will and confidence-building measures had already brought the problem of the lack of progress on crossing points to the fore.

Papadopoulos said Holguín was expected to visit Cyprus at the end of October, although no definitive date had been set. He stressed, however, that the absence of a confirmed date did not mean that time was not running out.

Pointing out that Guterres was nearing the end of his term, Papadopoulos also stressed that lost time could not be recovered simply by reaffirming that efforts would continue.