Cypriot leader to hold 1st meeting after Guterres visit

NICOSIA

Turkish Cypriot President Tufan Erhürman and Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides will meet in the island’s buffer zone on Aug. 26 to discuss preparations for a possible meeting with the three guarantor powers, Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom.

The meeting will be the leaders’ first bilateral encounter since United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ historic visit to Cyprus, during which he sought to revive efforts to resolve the long-running dispute on the divided island.

“I have the consensus of both sides and the guarantors to move into a 5+1 meeting but with adequate preparation,” Guterres said, referring to a format that would bring together the Turkish Cypriot and
Greek Cypriot leaders with representatives from Türkiye, Greece and the U.K..

Guterres’ visit marked the first trip to Cyprus by a sitting U.N. secretary-general in 16 and a half years. The last serving U.N. chief to visit the island was Ban Ki-moon, who traveled to Cyprus in early 2010.

According to reports from the island, Erhürman and Christodoulides are expected to assess the possibility of holding a meeting in the 5+1 format.