The Informal Meeting on Cyprus in a broader format, begins today in Geneva, under the UN auspices, with the aim of discussing the way forward as regards the Cyprus issue. The Cypriot delegation arrived in Geneva on the evening of Sunday, 16 March.
As reported in the morning on Protoselido by the DIAS Media Group’s correspondent in Geneva, Giannis Selinopoulos, everyone is waiting to see what kind of roadmap the UN Secretary-General has in mind.
Today, Mr Guterres’ intentions will become clearer, while a National Council meeting is scheduled for midday, which will be repeated tonight after the dinner hosted by the UN Secretary-General, attended by the heads of the delegations.
President Nikos Christodoulides has said that the Greek Cypriot side was fully prepared for all scenarios and that he was going to Geneva with one goal, the resumption of negotiations from where they left off in Crans Montana in 2017.
Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, said last week after a meeting in Ankara with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, that he would tell his interlocutors in Geneva that an agreement could be reached in Cyprus based on cooperation between “two states” based on sovereign equality and equal international status.
The Cypriot delegation arrived in Geneva on Sunday evening. President Christodoulides is accompanied to Geneva by members of the National Council, namely former President Nicos Anastasiades, the leaders of parliamentary parties DISY, AKEL, DIKO, EDEK and DEPA, and Greens’ Vice-President, Kyriakos Tsimillis.
On Monday morning, at around 11 am, a National Council meeting will be held under President Christodoulides.
The Informal Meeting will begin at 1900 (local time, 2000 Cyprus time) with a dinner hosted by the UN Secretary-General to welcome the heads of delegations.
After the dinner, which is to end at 2200 (Cyprus time), President Christodoulides is expected to brief the National Council.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, the UN Secretary-General will hold bilateral meetings with each side between 09:00 and 10:45, followed by a plenary session at the Palais des Nations, the UN headquarters in Geneva, between 12:00 and 15:00.
The Greek Cypriot and Greek delegations, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, are staying at the same hotel, the InterContinental, where the dinner and bilateral meetings are to take place.
The United Nations will be represented at the Informal Meeting by the UN Secretary-General, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprus, Colin Stewart.
The Greek Cypriot delegation, led by President Christodoulides, includes, among others, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, Deputy Minister for European Affairs Marilena Raouna, the Director of the Diplomatic Office of the President, Doros Venezis, the negotiator Menelaos Menelaou, the Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis, and a legal team.
The Turkish Cypriot delegation is headed by Tatar, who is accompanied by Special Representative Gunes Onar, Legal Affairs Advisor Suleyman Karabacak, Coordinator of the “Bilateral Technical Committees”, Seniha Birat Çınar, and Huseyin Isiksal, Special Advisor for International Relations and Diplomacy.
The delegation is also accompanied by representatives of Turkish Cypriot parties, including the President of the Republican Turkish Party (RTK), Tufan Erhurman, and the President of the People’s Party, Kudret Ozersay.
The Greek delegation will be headed by Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis, and the Turkish delegation by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
The UK delegation will be led by Minister of State for Europe Stephen Doughty, who was in Cyprus early March for meetings with the two leaders. The British High Commissioner to Cyprus, Michael Tatham, is also a member of the delegation.
The European Union has also confirmed that it will be represented.
Geneva hosted the previous informal meeting on the Cyprus issue on April 27-29, 2021, with then President Nicos Anastasiades and Tatar as interlocutors – and with the participation of the Foreign Ministers of guarantor powers Greece, Turkey and the UK – which ended without any result, after the Turkish side submitted its position for sovereign equality and equal international status.
Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced an expanded meeting, in Geneva, on March 17 and 18, to exchange views with the Cyprus President and the Turkish Cypriot leader on ways of achieving progress on the Cyprus issue, following their informal dinner on October 15, 2024, in New York. Representatives from Greece, Turkey and the UK are also expected to attend the meeting.
Also read: UN releases informal schedule for Geneva meeting on Cyprus
Source: CNA
