María Ángela Holguín, the United Nations Secretary-General's personal envoy on Cyprus, arrived at the Presidential Palace shortly after 9.30am on Monday, where she was received by President Nikos Christodoulides.
The meeting marks the beginning of a crucial week of diplomatic contacts on the Cyprus issue, which will culminate with the arrival in Cyprus of UN Secretary-General António Guterres later on Monday.
Speaking after the meeting, Holguín said the purpose of Guterres' visit is to encourage both Cypriots and their leaders to prepare for negotiations.
"We are preparing the visit of the Secretary-General," she said.
"The mission of the Secretary-General is to facilitate, to encourage the people and the leaders to move towards negotiations."
Holguín said Guterres has been supporting efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue for almost a decade and is visiting the island with the same objective.
"He comes with this purpose and I hope that we will be able to make some progress," she said.
The envoy added that she had just returned from a lengthy round of meetings in Brussels and Ankara.
"We had good meetings and discussed all the necessary issues that need to move forward in order for progress to be achieved," she said.
She also expressed her pleasure at welcoming the UN chief to Cyprus later in the day.
Holguín is scheduled to meet Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman at 11am.
Critical week for Cyprus diplomacy
The meeting between Christodoulides and Holguín marks the start of an important week of intensive diplomatic activity in Nicosia.
The key question remains whether the renewed momentum can help create conditions for the resumption of substantive negotiations on the Cyprus issue or whether it will amount to another unsuccessful attempt to bridge the gap between the two sides.
Holguín's arrival follows a final round of consultations in Ankara and Brussels, where she sought to assess the prospects for convergence ahead of this week's meetings.
According to reports, she is expected to brief Christodoulides on positions conveyed by the Turkish side through Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who is said not to reject a return to dialogue outright but links any progress to broader issues concerning EU-Turkey relations.
Ankara's broader agenda
According to information circulating on the diplomatic sidelines, Ankara continues to raise issues including:
- Turkey's participation in the European defence programme SAFE
- Visa liberalisation for Turkish citizens
- Modernisation of the EU-Turkey Customs Union
The approach is viewed as part of Turkey's broader strategy of placing the Cyprus issue within a wider framework of negotiations with the European Union.
Update: This story has been updated to include statements by María Ángela Holguín following her meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides.
