President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman held their first meeting in almost a month on Tuesday in a “positive atmosphere”, according to a UN statement.
The meeting at the UN Protected Area lasted around an hour and a half, resulting in agreement to attend together the upcoming bicommunal festival in the mixed village of Pyla this Saturday, 17 October.
They also agreed to jointly attend upcoming meetings of the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage, the Technical Committee on Youth and the Steering Committee of the Civil Society Consultative Body.
The two leaders said they looked forward to the forthcoming visit to Cyprus of UN Personal Envoy María Ángela Holguín. They also agreed to meet next week to continue their discussions.
The UN envoy has said she will return to Cyprus in October and has called on the sides to move forward on previously agreed confidence-building measures (CBMs) as well as prepare proposals on methodology.
Improved climate
After a month of contradictory public statements, the two found practical ways during Tuesday’s meeting to improve the climate, not only through a more light-hearted joint visit to a cultural event but also by potentially offering political support in practice to those undertaking bicommunal work.
Beyond a reception at the UN Protected Area, the Pyla festival will mark the first time Christodoulides and Erhürman meet in a more relaxed environment since the latter came to office a year ago.
Compared to the more frequent social and cultural meetings of Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akıncı during the early period of their negotiations, it is just a first step. But from an optics perspective, it can provide an alternative to the more recent negative headlines.
While there was no breakthrough on CBMs, methodology or issues of substance during the meeting, there was a good discussion on some CBMs, said one informed source. Asked if these related to CBMs already in play or to “new ideas” tabled by Christodoulides on 17 September, the source replied it was mostly on existing CBMs.
‘Good meeting’
Speaking on his return from the buffer zone, Christodoulides said the two had a “good meeting” and exchanged views on methodology, substance and CBMs.
Asked whether he received a response from Erhürman on his 19 “new ideas”, the president said he received some positive and some negative responses on different points, while for others, the Turkish Cypriot leader asked for more time to study the issues.
On crossing points, Christodoulides said the issue remains pending, adding that Erhürman wants to see more data on some of the new proposals submitted.
The president noted that one proposal among the 19 “new ideas” relates to the work of the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage.
He said the meeting started with a discussion on António Guterres’ term in office coming to an end. Both leaders were in full agreement that whoever takes over as UN Secretary-General will receive their mandate from the UN Security Council, said Christodoulides. At the same time, convening an expanded meeting before Guterres leaves office has not been ruled out, he said, adding the aim of any such meeting is to announce the resumption of talks.
Asked if he planned to attend the COP31 in Turkey, the president said he would.
A month of low vibes
The meeting was the first between the two leaders since 17 September, with the intervening period marked by an increasingly acrimonious exchange over the lack of developments in New York. Erhürman also hinted on his return that the president had leaked information on a proposal to open Varosha in exchange for putting Famagusta Port under EU supervision.
For his part, Christodoulides argued that he tabled 19 “new ideas” because he wanted to find areas of agreement rather than focus on issues which the other side has rejected.
On Monday, Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis suggested the leaders’ meeting would provide an opportunity for the Turkish Cypriot leader to give his views on the 19 “new ideas”.
Tuesday morning, Erhürman posted on social media, saying the agenda would be the seven CBMs proposed by the UN chief in late July.
“As is known, we have already accepted six of the seven proposals,” he said, in contradiction to Letymbiotis’ earlier comments that the Turkish Cypriot side had yet to respond or agree to proposals on demining and ‘natural disasters’.
