President Nikos Christodoulides said on Friday he is hoping for a good result for both sides from a scheduled meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar later this month to discuss opening more crossing points.

After proposing January 20 or 21, Christodoulides said he was told late on Thursday that the meeting had been confirmed for January 20.

The meeting will take place at the residence of Unficyp chief and Deputy Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Cyprus Colin Stewart.

Asked about the expectations of the Greek Cypriot side from the meeting, given that Tatar insists only on opening a crossing point in Mia Milia, the president said “if we are really interested in making progress, we should not make public statements every day.”

He said it was perfectly understandable there were expectations on Tatar’s part, adding “there are expectations on our part as well.

“I will go with the spirit to find common ground and reach results that will satisfy all Cypriot people,” he said, adding that he did not want to say anything more.

He noted that our side also has red lines, sensitivities and more.

Tatar and Christodoulides are yet to see eye to eye on the matter of crossing points and where they should be opened, with Tatar having criticised the Greek Cypriot side’s approach on the matter in recent weeks.

He said that while his aim is to open new crossing points linking the Republic and the north, he believes it is the Greek Cypriot side’s aim to open what would effectively be transit roads connecting the Republic with other parts of the Republic.

“We wanted a crossing point at Mia Milia, while the Greek Cypriot side wanted to transit through the Turkish military areas near Athienou and Kokkina. This is unacceptable,” he said.

A crossing point near Athienou, for example, would cut journey times for people from Cyprus’ southeast to Nicosia if connected to another crossing point on the western side of the part of territory held by the north which juts southwards to encompass the village of Louroujina.

Meanwhile, while a crossing point near the Kokkina exclave would make life easier for the residents of the surrounding Greek Cypriot villages, the exclave itself has a civilian population of zero.