We will go to the joint meeting in New York with the Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, and the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, in a constructive mood, with sincere political will, always within the agreed framework, with the aim of resuming the negotiations from the point where they have been interrupted, Government Spokesman, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, said on Monday, after a session of the National Council, presided by President Nikos Christodoulides.
He also noted that Cyprus President, Nikos Christodoulides, will go to this joint meeting ‘reinforced’ precisely because ‘this positive development’ was recognised as such by the country’s political leaders who attended the National Council meeting at the Presidential Palace.
Letymbiotis, in his statements after an almost two-hour session of the National Council, said that President Christodoulides briefed the entire political leadership ‘about the very important contacts’ he held in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
‘The role
of our country is internationally recognised and upgraded’, a role it serves in terms of the humanitarian aspect of the developments of the crisis in the region, he noted.
Cyprus, he added, ‘as a pillar of security and stability in the wider region, has a leading role in this humanitarian aspect, especially through the full activation of the ESTIA plan last week’.
According to the Spokesman, President Christodoulides briefed the political leadership regarding the forthcoming joint meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar in the presence of the UN Secretary-General on October 15, in New York.
He said that President Christodoulides will go to this meeting ‘reinforced, precisely because this positive development is recognised’, noting that it was ‘the result of our own long-standing positions, the result of undertaking initiatives on the part of the Republic of Cyprus, of persistence, consistency and continuity in the efforts we make’.
‘We are going to this joint meeting in a constructive mood, with
sincere political will, always within the agreed framework, with the aim of resuming the negotiations from the point where they have been interrupted, always ensuring the acquis of the previous negotiation process’, he said, expressing hope that the other side would show ‘the same sincere political will’, and that this joint meeting would lead to the resumption of negotiations.
Asked by a journalist if the Greek Cypriot side has ensured that this meeting will remain within the solution framework, the Spokesman said that this meeting was convened by the UN Secretary-General, whose mandate derives from the resolutions of the UN Security Council, which clearly state but also each time repeat the agreed framework. ‘A commitment which was repeated to us by all five permanent members of the UN Security Council at the dinner hosted by President Christodoulides’, when he was in New York for the UN General Assembly.
He recalled that this joint meeting was something the Greek Cypriot side has been seeking from the be
ginning. ‘We consider’, he added, that dialogue is the first step, ‘and this dialogue that we seek, that we desire, precisely because we have absolute confidence in the correctness of our positions, but also in the benefits that can arise from the resolution of the Cyprus issue, always based on the agreed framework, that of the bizonal bicommunal federation with political equality,’ he noted.
Replying to another question, the Spokesman said that the report of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on the Cyprus issue, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, has been completed, as is known, and has been delivered to the Secretary-General himself ‘and it is based on this report that the Secretary-General will also present his own views on the next steps’.
‘You realise that the importance, or value, of a joint meeting in the presence of the Secretary-General of the United Nations can neither be downplayed nor be considered negligible’, he noted.
President Christodoulides departs for New York on October 14
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According to information CNA has obtained, the President of the Republic leaves for New York on October 14 from London, where he will meet with the British Prime Minister, while the dinner on the 15th is scheduled for 19.00 local time (02.00 Cyprus time) at the UN headquarters. According to the information so far, the President of the Republic, Tatar and the UN Secretary-General will attend the dinner.
Sources have said that Tatar seems to be trying to downplay the meeting, but what matters is not only what the UN Secretary-General will hear but also what he will say. The same sources noted that the UNSG knows the Cyprus issue very well and that he would not have convened a meeting if he did not believe there could be some sort of positive outcome.
The same sources expressed the assessment that the participation of the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, in the informal EU Foreign Ministers council in August played a role in Tatar’s acceptance as regards the New York meeting. They noted t
hat the Turkish Foreign Minister had tried at the informal Council to disconnect the Cyprus issue from the EU-Turkey relations, but there was reaction from EU Ministers who told him that this could not be done.
President Christodoulides is to brief the EU leaders about the dinner in New York during the forthcoming European Council, the same sources said. The European Council will take place in Brussels on October 17-18.
Regarding the Estia national plan for the reception and repatriation of foreign citizens from an area in crisis, the same sources said that Turkey was lobbying for countries to use its own territory for the repatriation of their nationals after their evacuation from Lebanon. They noted the importance of seeing which countries use Cyprus for this purpose, noting that this demonstrates the trust they show in the Republic of Cyprus.
Cyprus 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. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar of Columbia 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