Efforts to resume negotiations for a Cyprus settlement are continuing at the level of the UN secretary-general, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis assured on Tuesday, saying this was a point that stood out in UN announcements.
Speaking to CyBC radio, Letymbiotis said coordination has already begun at UN headquarters to set a date for a new tripartite meeting, with nothing to announce yet regarding a date and place.
Referring to the two crossing points on which an agreement was reached, Letymbiotis said planning was under way for the technical works and setting timeframes.
The spokesman said that discussions on opening further crossing points were continuing, pointing out however that confidence building measures were not the aim, but part of the broader effort that included the methodology and substance of the Cyprus problem.
He reiterated the government’s aim to resume negotiations from where they broke off in 2017, with a prospect to reach a final settlement.
President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman on Monday agreed that two new crossing points, south of the village of Louroujina, near Larnaca, and south of the village of Karavostasi, west of Lefka, will open simultaneously, at a tripartite meeting of the pair and United Nations envoy Maria Angela Holguin.
The agreement was announced by UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (Unficyp) spokesman Aleem Siddique, who also announced that both leaders will hold a tripartite meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “in the coming weeks”, with that meeting likely the pair’s last with Guterres before his term concludes at the end of next month.
Click here to change your cookie preferences