UN envoy returns to Cyprus to revive efforts

NICOSIA

Turkish Cypriot President Tufan Erhürman (L) hosts UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin in Nicosia on Nov. 2 to hold talks to resolve issues on the island. (DHA Photo)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ personal envoy for Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin, met with Turkish Cypriot President Tufan Erhürman on Nov. 2, as she returned to the ethnically-divided island in a renewed effort to revive negotiations.

“I am optimistic. I hope I am not the only one on the island who feels optimistic,” Holguin told reporters following her meeting with Erhürman.

The meeting, held at the presidential office, lasted one hour and 20 minutes.

Holguin described the talks as constructive, saying they covered a range of issues and would serve as preparation for a trilateral meeting scheduled for next week.

She said she intended to continue working towards advancing the process.

Erhürman, meanwhile, did not make a statement to the press following the meeting.

Holguin previously met with Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides on Oct. 30 as part of her separate consultations with the two sides ahead of a trilateral meeting scheduled for Nov. 9 under U.N. auspices.

The forthcoming meeting is expected to address confidence-building measures, the framework and methodology for future negotiations, and ways to sustain communication between the two communities.

The U.N. has said that the two leaders have continued exchanging views on confidence-building initiatives, the negotiating framework and substantive aspects of the decades-long Cyprus dispute.

Holguin’s latest visit follows a U.N.-brokered meeting between Erhürman and Christodoulides on Oct. 27, when the two leaders discussed crossing points, the status of Varosha and the possible framework for renewed negotiations.

Last month, Erhürman rejected a Greek Cypriot proposal linking U.N. administration of Maraş to direct EU trade through Mağusa port under the bloc’s control, saying the arrangement offers no balanced exchange.

Maraş, known internationally as Varosha, was closed off in 1974. Parts of the area reopened to visitors in 2020.