Time to think of the future UN envoy says after meeting leaders (update 3)

The most important thing is to listen, not just to leaders, but to society, the UN secretary general’s personal envoy to Cyprus Maria Angela Holguin said on Tuesday following her first meetings with President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar.

Speaking to reporters in the north following her meeting with Tatar, which came hours after her meeting with Christodoulides, she said that “we must now think of the future.

“What I am going to do is listen to the people, listen to civil society, the needs of the people, what they want,” she said, adding that she learned this after participating in the peace process in Colombia.

“We must listen to the people and civil society. Because leaders must seek common ground,” she said.

“We are going to help. We are here to facilitate and I am very happy to do so,” she added.

Following Holguin’s meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides earlier in the day government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis conveyed the belief that if there is mutual political will from both sides, then negotiations on the Cyprus issue could resume very soon.

“During the meeting, the president reiterated his willingness to resume the talks from the point where they were interrupted, in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council, on the basis of a bi-zonal bi-communal federation,” Letymbiotis said.

He added that a period of mobility for the Cyprus issue has started “with sincere political will” towards the resumption of talks.

The meeting at the presidential palace lasted around one hour, followed by a one-on-one meeting lasting about 20 minutes between Holguin and the president.

During the meeting, Holguin briefed the president on her schedule for the coming period and they exchanged views on the next steps that can be taken, the spokesman added.

“I think I can cooperate and do my best so that there is a good result for Cyprus,” she said.

Asked specifically whether Holguin has been informed about the most recent incidents in the buffer zone, the spokesman said the envoy has been extensively briefed on the matter, both on a UN level and in terms of the negotiations.

Speaking after his two-hour meeting with Holguin, Tatar reiterated his position that there are two states in Cyprus and in order to find common ground, “the sovereign equality of Turkish Cypriots must be accepted”.

He said he told Holguin about the hardships and attacks Turkish Cypriots endured between 1963 and 1974, saying that “true peace came to the island on July 20”.

According to Tatar, efforts for a solution based on a federation are futile, as “if our sovereign equality and equal international status is not accepted, it is not possible to sit at the negotiating table”.

Holguin’s duty, he said, is to establish whether there is common ground or not in Cyprus.

“Of course Turkey wants an agreement,” he said. “After all, the Eastern Mediterranean is one of the most important regions of the world. There is natural wealth here, there is natural gas, there is oil, there are security issues.

“We live in an important area and Turkey is only 60km from here, while Greece is 1,000 km away and the EU is thousands of kilometres away,” he said.

Asked whether Holguin will have a new meeting with Christodoulides, or a joint one with him and Tatar, Letymbiotis said that “the president has said once again that he is willing, he is at Ms Holguin’s disposal, both for a second and a third meeting before leaving Cyprus as well as for a joint meeting with Mr Tatar.

“It is something that the president himself had repeated many times in the past,” he said.

But Tatar shot down a joint meeting, saying that it would give the impression he intended to resume negotiations where they stopped in Crans Montana.

“[This is] an impression that Mr Christodoulides is constantly trying to create. I said that this is a meeting I cannot attend,” he stressed.

“The position of the Turkish Cypriot people is clear and simple. As I said to her, we are the real hostages here”.

Speaking in the evening, President Nikos Christodoulides said that he believes Holguin can help facilitate the restart of Cyprus talks.

“Today I had the opportunity to meet the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy and we had a very constructive discussion. I think that, yes, it can help us in the effort to resume the talks and we are here to work together so that we can achieve this objective.”

Asked to comment on the statements made by Tatar, Christodoulides said: “The best answer to what Mr Tatar mentioned is the UN resolution. The international community, itself, responds to what Mr Tatar mentioned.”

Letymbiotis said the intention is for there to be a permanent presence of Holguin’s associates in Cyprus, but also for her to make regular visits to the island for meetings.

“We have said from the beginning that we believe regular, frequent contact with Ms Holguin will be beneficial in this process,” he said.

He also added that there is no timetable to judge whether these efforts are bearing fruit.

“There is no timetable, there is no time frame,” he said.

The envoy is also set to also meet with a number of active civilians from local actors to women’s and youth groups, so that she can formulate a holistic view and be informed about the public perception of the situation as it is today, he said.

After her contacts in Cyprus, Holguin will meet representatives of the guarantor forces in Brussels, as well as other parties.

Holguin, who arrived on the island on Sunday evening, began her contacts in Cyprus on Monday with a meeting with Colin Stewart, Special Representative and Head of Unficyp in Cyprus.

Meanwhile, the resolution to renew the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (Unficyp) for one year is scheduled for adoption by the US security council in New York.