UNSG’s personal envoy, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, continues her contacts in Cyprus. On Saturday, she is to have another meeting with President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, while her scheduled departure from the island is on Sunday, CNA has learnt.
On Friday, Holguin is to hold successive meetings with the Turkish Cypriot football association, the Unite Cyprus Now group, as well as the Beeshparmak think tank in the occupied territories. She is to also have lunch with Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, with whom she also had dinner on Thursday evening on the occasion of Ramadan.
According to the same information, Holguin is departing from the island on Sunday and so far, no exact date has been planned for her return to the island. Her close associate however, will remain in Cyprus to coordinate the next steps.
During her stay in Cyprus this week, Holguin met, among others, with political parties, the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Mayor of Nicosia and civil society groups.
Cyp
rus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results.
The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
In January UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed Holguin as his personal envoy for Cyprus, to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf and search for common ground on the way forward in the Cyprus issue.
Source: Cyprus News Agency