UNSC ‘paying attention to developments in Cyprus’ (update 3)

The United Nations Assistant Secretary General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas Miroslav Jenča met President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Monday in separate meetings.

Jenča will be on the island until Tuesday, beginning his visit to the presidential palace where he met Christodoulides for about an hour and a half.

The UN official told reporters that “the most important thing that I would mention is that the UN Secretary General is paying utmost attention to the situation on the island”.

He said he had discussed with Christodoulides ways to resume talks. “This is something that is of importance to see the big picture and definitely the SG will use all his good offices in order to help this process to find a solution to the Cyprus issue”.

The government spokesperson Constantinos Letymbiotis said Jenca hailed the responsible stance maintained by the new government.

Letymbiotis again reiterated that the government is ready to begin negotiations within the agreed UN framework from the point at which they were last left, in Crans-Montana in 2017.

Asked whether Jenca had any proposals for the Pyla road construction, the spokesperson said that it was not discussed. Instead, Letymbiotis said that the key aim of the visit is to explore ways in which negotiations can restart.

Later in the day Jenca had a “very fruitful discussion” with Tatar, in a meeting across the divide, in which the UN official reiterated the UN secretary general’s continued dedication on the Cyprus issue.

In statements after the meeting, Jenca said he had a “very fruitful discussion… we covered many issues of common interest”.

He added: “We hope that in the future there will be common ground for the resumption of peace talks for the benefit of all people.”

“Let’s hope for the best,” Jenca concluded.

He later posted on X (formerly Twitter), that he was pleased with the detailed discussions he had with both leaders where he reaffirmed “the UN’s unwavering commitment to peace on the island.”

Earlier on Monday, Jenca visited the photo exhibition ‘Inclusive Diplomacy: Women’s participation in the Cyprus Talks’, located outside Ledra Palace Hotel in UN bufferzone, in support of women’s participation in peacemaking, as UN in Cyprus noted in a post in X (Twitter).

Pleased to have a detailed discussion with @Christodulides and @ErsinrTatar today regarding the #Cyprus issue, where I reaffirmed the @UN‘s unwavering commitment to peace on the island. #UNCyprusTalks 🇺🇳 pic.twitter.com/SLdlgbBShq

— Miroslav Jenča (@JencaMiroslav) August 28, 2023

 

Later in the evening, Christodoulides told reporters on the way to an anti-occupation event that he was satisfied with the meeting.

“I expressed the hope, the optimism that there will be a joint meeting with the Secretary-General at the end of the first official week of the United Nations General Assembly.”

“I repeated my proposal, if it were possible to have a joint meeting even tonight. Unfortunately, the message I received in the afternoon was once again negative,” he noted

Christodoulides noted that the meeting with the UN official was very constructive. “I am very happy from what I have heard from Mr. Jenca, first and foremost that he recognises the readiness of our side to resume the talks from where they left off,” he noted.

The president added he considers it important that there will be meetings in the next few days also abroad which “will be decisive on how the whole effort to restart the talks will develop,” he concluded.

For his part, Tatar said that the controversial move to build a road in Pyla had been discussed.

“I conveyed to [Jenca] that the completion of the roads would be beneficial to both sides and that the road [project] should continue, and he looked upon it positively. Our foreign minister Tahsin Ertugruloglu told Jenca some progress has been made on where a crossing point can be placed on the Pyla plain,” Tatar was quoted as saying.

“This is a humanitarian issue on behalf of the people of Pyla … for years out of necessity. There is a situation that violates human rights there … It is also known that [Unficyp] has not interfered with roads, constructions, even universities or shopping malls in other buffer zone areas in similar situations.”

Christodoulides, asked on Sunday about the UN assistant general secretary’s visit, said that it was a significant move. “You understand that he is coming on behalf of the UN Secretary-General on the occasion of the UN General Assembly, so that he can specifically explore the prospects of resuming talks,” the president said.

“I consider his presence important, it is also an indication of the importance given by the general secretary himself. Of course, what is more important is that there should be results,” the president added.

Jenča will also meet the UN peacekeepers who were attacked by Turkish Cypriot police in the buffer zone in Pyla.

The UN assistant secretary-general is expected to meet in the morning with UNSG Special Representative and head of the Unficyp, Colin Stewart, and with the team of the good services mission to be informed about the latest developments.