Christodoulides to address UN on Cyprus issue and regional cooperation

President Nikos Christodoulides will give clear answers on Wednesday to the positions which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed in his speech before the UN General Assembly overnight in New York.

According to the Cyprus News Agency, Christodoulides’ 12-page speech will focus on six topics, though the greater part of his speech will address the Cyprus problem and efforts towards a resumption of negotiations from where they left off in Crans Montana.

Christodoulides is expected to send the message to Erdogan that geographic realities cannot be changed, therefore, Cyprus and Turkey will always be neighbouring countries, and that a Cyprus settlement would enhance and upgrade the region.

Moreover, he will call on Erdogan to accept the resumption of negotiations in view of the fact that settlement of the Cyprus problem can lead to a mutually beneficial state of affairs.

As regards the appointment of a UN envoy, Christodoulides will highlight the importance of such a move as it was underlined by the UN security council in a unanimous statement after the recent incident in the buffer zone in Pyla.

The president will also note EU support for the move from positions conveyed to him by presidents of EU institutions during talks held at the start of the week.

Christodoulides will underscore the fact that he is the first president of the Republic who belongs to the post-1974-war generation. He is expected to make the case that this is of meaningful value, as this generation had to grow up in an occupied country and did not experience the invasion.

Christodoulides is expected to also send a message to the new generation of Greek- and Turkish Cypriots through his speech, recalling that all Cypriots lived peacefully together in the past and that such circumstances need to be created again through settlement.

He will also convey the support from many messages that he received from Turkish Cypriots after an interview he gave recently to a Turkish Cypriot journalist. The messages expressed a will for a settlement, support for his commitment to the agreed solution framework and for his initiatives, and acknowledgement of his efforts to create a positive climate, the president will note.

Christodoulides will moreover refer to the historic mission and role of the UN, and that the difficulties Cyprus has faced for 49 years as a result of invasion and occupation, are an issue related to the principles of the UN Charter.

The president is expected to address the UN General Assembly at 9.30am local time for about 15 minutes.

At 4pm local time, Christodoulides will meet with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who, earlier, at 11am will have a meeting with the Turkish president.

Mitsotakis is expected to brief the president about his discussion with Erdogan.

After his speech at the UN General Assembly Christodoulides will receive the Chevron International Chairman.

Following his meeting with Mitsotakis he will have a meeting with Archbishop Elpidophoros of America.