Christodoulides meets Guterres in Dubai

President Nikos Christodoulides met the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the COP28 Summit, taking place in Dubai.

According to government spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis, the two discussed the latest developments around the issue concerning the buffer zone near Ayios Dhometios in Nicosia, following incursions by the Turkish army over the past few days.

“The President raised the need for the appointment of a UN special envoy as soon as possible to explore the prospects for resuming negotiations from where they were interrupted,” Letymbiotis said.

Furthermore, responding to a question regarding a video on social media showing the Christodoulides in discussion with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Letymbiotis stated that the President did “indeed have a conversation with the Turkish President, which lasted a few minutes.”

On Thursday, Christodoulides said that both “visible and invisible” actions would be taken by the state in response to two violations of the buffer zone near Ayios Dhometios.

The first incident on Monday involved an incursion by 40 Turkish troops who installed a camera and a rotating antenna in an abandoned building and shouted at residents. The second, on Wednesday afternoon, involved Turkish soldiers entering the buffer zone on a military vehicle and leaving following verbal direction from Unficyp staff.