Christodoulides takes five-point plan to trilateral talks
President Nikos Christodoulides took a five-point plan with him to Wednesday’s trilateral meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman and UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin, which aims at restarting substantive negotiations on the Cyprus problem while advancing confidence-building measures.
The meeting began at around 11.15am at the residence of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Cyprus Khassim Diagne, located in the buffer zone near the old Nicosia airport.
Christodoulides was accompanied by negotiator Menelaos Menelaou and Erhurman likewise brought his undersecretary Mehmet Dana.
Both leaders were received by Holguin and Diagne, who departed once the meeting commenced.
Speaking before departing the Presidential palace, Christodoulides said his proposal addresses the core of the Cyprus issue while also incorporating confidence-building measures, adding that “if there is political will and it is accepted, we can resume substantive talks from where they were interrupted in Crans Montana”.
He said the proposal responds fully to the four methodological points raised by Erhurman as preconditions for talks, stressing that these had been answered “from the very beginning”.
On the substance of negotiations, Christodoulides reiterated the Republic’s position that talks should resume from the point they left off, preserving the convergences already achieved.
“If these convergences are accepted, 70 to 80 per cent of the Cyprus problem is resolved,” he said, arguing that this also addresses questions over timetables. “If we start from scratch, how can we talk about timelines?”
He rejected the notion of predetermined consequences, saying such an approach is not accepted by the international community, and referred to United Nations resolutions that remain unimplemented.
On political equality, Christodoulides said the matter had been settled following the written joint statement issued after the leaders’ previous meeting.
“These four issues no longer exist. They are resolved,” he said.
The talks are taking place amid cautions from Holguin that progress on confidence-building measures remains limited.
After holding separate meetings with both leaders on Tuesday, she warned that without tangible movement it would be “very difficult” to convene a broader conference involving the guarantor powers.
“I am trying to push for more progress on confidence-building measures,” Holguin said. “So far there has not been that much progress.”
“If there is no progress, it is very difficult to organise a 5+1 meeting,” she said.
Christodoulides on Tuesday said he was approaching the meeting “in a very positive mood”, expressing hope for a constructive response from the Turkish Cypriot side.