Turkish Cyprus pitches new proposal to ‘change dynamics’ of talks

NICOSIA

Turkish Cypriot President Tufan Erhürman met with Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides and U.N. envoy Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar.

Turkish Cypriot President Tufan Erhürman presented a new proposal he said could “completely change the dynamics of the process” during a trilateral meeting hosted by the United Nations on Nov. 9.

Erhürman met with Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides and U.N. envoy Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar as part of renewed efforts to advance the Cyprus peace process.

The two leaders last met face-to-face on Oct. 27, while Holguin held two separate meetings with each leader last week ahead of the trilateral talks.

In a written statement issued by his office shortly before the meeting, Erhürman announced that he would put forward a new proposal that he believed had the potential to alter the course of the process, saying the aim was to secure positive outcomes and pave the way for further steps.

“We will put forward a new proposal of considerable significance and potential, one that could fundamentally change the dynamics of the process and influence the approaches adopted,” he said.

The Turkish Cypriot president did not disclose the detail, adding that a comprehensive briefing will be provided after the meeting.

Erhürman also said Turkish Cyprus also prepared another package of “bridge-building” proposals addressing issues discussed so far while taking into account the Greek Cypriot side’s positions.

Meanwhile, the Greek Cypriot leader said he was approaching the trilateral meeting in a positive frame of mind.

“I am going into today’s trilateral meeting in a very positive frame of mind,” he told reporters ahead of the meeting.

According to the Greek Cypriot news outlet Alphanews, Christodoulides declined to provide further details ahead of the meeting but expressed satisfaction that the issues under discussion, which could potentially be announced, were included in the 19 proposals put forward by his side.

In interviews published over the weekend, Holguin said she hoped the trilateral meeting would yield progress on opening four new crossing points and clearing minefields.

She said the two leaders demonstrated a willingness to advance confidence-building measures, but that the sides had not achieved the degree of convergence she had hoped for on the methodology and procedural framework for resuming formal negotiations.

The Cyprus dispute has remained unresolved for more than half a century despite repeated U.N.-brokered peace initiatives. The latest comprehensive round of negotiations collapsed in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, in 2017 without reaching a settlement.