President says he hopes UN envoy will meet Erdogan on Cyprus issue

President Nikos Christodoulides said he hoped UN Secretary-General personal envoy Maria Holguin would soon be able to meet with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the Cyprus problem.

Speaking to journalists on Sunday after a memorial service, Christodoulides commented on remarks by Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, who said nothing positive came out of Holguin’s first round of contacts.

“I didn’t expect to hear anything difference from Mr Tatar. It is what he has always been saying during this time,” he said.

Christodoulides added that the government is looking forward to the second round of contacts, and that he will have an initial meeting with Holguin on March 11.

“We have been informed that on March 7 she will be in London for contacts, and I am sure that after Cyprus, possibly before, there will be another visit to Turkey and Brussels,” he said.

Regardless of what is said, he added that the government will all be judged by the outcome.

“From our side we know what we want, we have clear objectives, clear expectations from this mission and we will do everything possible to ensure that it has a positive outcome.”

Asked if there is any thought of something that could arouse the interest of the Turkish side and be promoted by the Greek Cypriot side, the president said: “There are many thoughts, many ideas that are being worked on by the Republic of Cyprus, especially taking into account the dimension of Euro-Turkish relations.”

“There cannot be any thought and, by extension, any idea that refers to the satisfaction of a demand, and I refer to sovereign equality, which is not even a matter for discussion.”

He added that the government is working on ideas, motives, data that can create a positive perspective, especially taking into account the context of Euro-Turkish relations.

Asked if there are signs of more active involvement of the guarantor powers, and particularly Britain, in efforts to return to the talks, President Christodoulides said: “The one that needs to be more involved is Turkey. It is for this reason that the visit to Ankara took place. We hope that it will be possible to have contacts at a higher level, even at the level of Mr Erdogan.

Beyond that, the role of the international community is important in a problem like the Cyprus problem, especially at this stage when we are trying to resume the talks from where they were interrupted in Crans Montana.”

Asked whether, in relation to energy, after the meeting of the Presidents of Turkey and Egypt, any message reached the Republic of Cyprus, Christodoulides replied in the negative, while recalling that “before Mr Erdogan’s visit to Egypt, there was a visit of the Foreign Minister of Egypt to Cyprus, with one of the main issues discussed being the visit of Mr Erdogan.

There is not any issue in relation to energy. At this moment, certainly, the resolution of the Cyprus problem, the creation of data towards the resolution of the Cyprus problem on the basis of the agreed framework, will also strengthen this perspective. But as we speak there is nothing.”

To a reporter’s remark that there have been new legal entities linked to Cyprus in the new US and UK sanctions package against Russia, asked what stage the issue of the Sanctions Monitoring Mechanism is at, the president said “We are at the final stage, there will be a cabinet briefing very soon.