The Greek Cypriot side believes, that although the decision is up to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the appointment of a UN envoy for Cyprus would ensure better preparation for future negotiations, Government Spokesman Marios Pelekanos said on Sunday.

Referring to the visit last month by UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas, Miroslav Jenca. Pelekanos said” “It is good that we have the involvement of senior UN officials such as Mr Jenca. But, yes, we believe that if he [Guterres] goes ahead with the appointment [of an envoy] then a better preparation of the ground could be done.”

The issue of an envoy was brought up by President Nicos Anastasiades with Guterres in September 2021 but there were no subsequent developments. The UN later conceded to send an envoy in the autumn of 2022 and it was announced in September this year that UN official Rosemary DiCarlo would visit Cyprus to assess prospects for talks.

However, in between then and November, the government was informed that Miroslav Jenca would be coming instead, as he had also come in July. Both he and DiCarlo hold equal standing on the UN hierarchy.
Pelekanos said the government feels it is important to use the remaining period until the elections in Turkey next year to prepare the right ground “so that we can take the next step immediately after.” And, it has been communicated by Guterres himself in September 2021 that an envoy would be appointed.

Anastasiades last week expressed hopes for the appointment of a special envoy, and for an EU initiative to ensure cooperation with the UN and avoid new faits accomplis sought by Turkey. This was hours before he briefly met Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar at a UN social event that evening. The Cyprus issue was not discussed.

He did say that Jenca had assured that the interest of the UN Secretary-General remains active, “so that the necessary conditions for the resumption of the dialogue can be created”. However, he also said that during the current period no one expects any development, given that there are elections in Cyprus, Greece and Turkey.

“What should be taken into account is, on the one hand, the will of the Secretary-General, which I want to hope will be manifested in the appointment of a special envoy as he proposed;” the president said.

Pelekanos, in his statements on Sunday, also said that Cyprus was taking all the necessary measures, diplomatic and otherwise, to try and put an end to Turkish provocations, including the additional opening of the fenced-off area of Varosha.

Unal Ustel, the Turkish Cyoriot ‘prime minister’, said last week the north would move to reopen the entirety of Varosha after local ‘elections’ in December.

“Through diplomatic channels we are taking all the necessary actions and steps in order to prevent any illegal action,” said Pelekanos.

The spokesman was commenting to journalists on the sidelines of a ‘Cyprus Tomorrow’ information campaign for the public at the Nicosia Mall on Sunday.

“It is a fact that in this period there is a stagnation in the Cyprus issue due to the ongoing and open Turkish intransigence. We see a new revisionist behaviour much more aggressive than before on the part of Turkey, which is not only manifested in the case of Cyprus, but we also see provocations happening in the Aegean and in Libya and in Iraq and in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Pelekanos said.

“We are called, as Cyprus, and this is what we are doing, to act proactively with the aim of preventing the creation of any new fait accompli, but at the same time to work in such a way as to create the conditions to return to the dialogue.”

However, he added, the Turkish Cypriot side under Ersin Tatar’s leadership continues to demand that equal sovereign rights be recognised before accepting any new step on the Cyprus issue.

“Such a thing will not be accepted,” Pelekanos said.

“We will continue to work and intensify our efforts with the aim of returning to the dialogue within the framework defined by the Security Council resolutions,” he added.