UN Cyprus initiative ‘already underway’

A renewed United Nations initiative on the Cyprus issue is already in progress, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Monday, indicating that diplomatic efforts to resume negotiations have been ongoing since early March.

Speaking in Nicosia, Christodoulides said the process began following contacts between the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, preceding his own meeting with the UN chief in Brussels.

“The new effort will not start in July, for it has actually already begun” he said, rejecting suggestions that developments would only commence later in the year.

Christodoulides outlined a dual-track approach pursued by the government, operating simultaneously at United Nations and European Union level.

“The necessary preparatory work is being done both at the level of the secretary-general, but also at the level of the personal envoy,” he said, adding that contact is ongoing “so that data can be created” to enable the convening of an expanded conference aimed at resuming talks.

He indicated that such a conference would involve broader participation, in line with previous formats, with the objective of restarting negotiations from where they were interrupted.

Christodoulides also confirmed that efforts are underway to arrange a meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, with proposed dates already exchanged.

“Some dates have been proposed, and an official announcement is expected within the next 24 hours,” he said.

The prospect of renewed talks follows a series of contacts and exchanges in recent months, including meetings between the two leaders under UN auspices, during which discussions have focused on confidence building measures and the conditions required for a return to formal negotiations.

Erhurman has expressed reservations regarding the format of an enlarged meeting, advocating instead for direct engagement between the two communities.

He has also outlined a set of proposals centred on political equality, time-bound negotiations and the preservation of previous agreements, alongside guarantees related to the continuation of talks.

Christodoulides reiterated that the aim remains the resumption of negotiations within the framework of United Nations Security Council resolutions, with the current diplomatic activity focused on creating the necessary conditions for meaningful progress.