Next informal meeting expected in autumn, Turkish Cypriot media says

The next informal meeting on the Cyprus problem is expected to take place in September or October, Turkish Cypriot media reported on Friday.

According to Kibris Postasi newspaper, the Greek Cypriot side was aiming for another informal meeting before July 20, which will be difficult to arrange as preparations will not be completed by that time.

The latest informal five-party summit, held in Geneva at the end of April, ended without finding enough common ground between the two sides to restart the negotiations. Next week the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy Jane Holl Lute will visit Ankara and Athens. Lute will then meet with the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders.

The Cyprus issue and the outcome of the informal Geneva meeting are also on the agenda for a meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Greek counterpart in Athens this Monday.

Other issues expected to be discussed are the Aegean dispute with conflicts concerning the EEZ in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, and the country’s practices against immigrants including deportations, as well as issues about the Turkish minority of Western Thrace, and Turkey’s proposal for an international conference on the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkish daily newspaper Sabah reported.

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar has sent a letter to the UN Secretary General explaining his side’s approach involving the ‘bottom-up’ concept, which provides for two sovereign states existing side by side.

A bizonal bicommunal federation, promoted by the Greek Cypriot side and UN resolutions, has been described as “outdated” by Cavusoglu.