The meeting will bring together Menelaos Menelaou, negotiator for the Greek Cypriot side, and Mehmet Dana, representative of the Turkish Cypriot leader, as part of preparations for Thursday’s joint meeting of the two leaders.
Menelaou and Dana are expected to meet on Wednesday morning to coordinate ahead of Thursday’s encounter, which will take place in the presence of the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, María Ángela Holguín. Holguín has been on the island since late Thursday evening and has already held separate meetings with President Christodoulides and Mr Erhürman.
Earlier on Thursday, the two leaders are also scheduled to visit the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP).
President: Thursday’s Meetings Are “Critical”
Speaking on Tuesday, President Christodoulides described Thursday’s meetings as particularly critical.
“The first is the joint visit to the anthropological laboratory, where I want us to send a message together with the Turkish Cypriot leader. From there, we move on to the meeting itself, which will be the first in many years to take place in the presence of the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy,” he said.
He added that he is attending the meeting with a clear objective: “how to create the conditions for the resumption of talks from where they were interrupted at Crans-Montana.”
Ready to Discuss Confidence-Building Measures
President Christodoulides also said he is ready to discuss confidence-building measures (CBMs), particularly the implementation of those already agreed with the UN Secretary-General.
“I am also ready to discuss new ideas – I have quite a few new ideas – alongside the substantive work needed to restart negotiations, because that is the main objective,” he noted.
National Council Meeting on Friday
It is noted that the President has convened a meeting of the National Council for Friday, in order to brief the political leadership on the outcome of the contacts and meetings.