British Minister of State for Europe and North America, Stephen Doughty, is in the country for a series of meetings on Friday, ahead of the informal expanded meeting on the Cyprus issue set to take place in Geneva on March 17 and 18.

Doughty will hold separate meetings with President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace, and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar in the north.

Doughty will also meet with Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, Deputy Minister for European Affairs Marilena Raouna, House President and Disy party President Annita Demetriou, and Akel’s General Secretary Stefanos Stefanou. He is also expected to meet the leader of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), Tufan Erhurman.

UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres had announced the expanded meeting to take place in Geneva, for an exchange views between Christodoulides and Tatar on ways of achieving progress on the Cyprus issue. Representatives from Greece, Turkey and the UK are to attend.

The meeting comes following an informal dinner meeting of the two leaders on October 15, 2024 in New York.