President Nikos Christodoulides is ready to meet with the newly elected Turkish Cypriot leader, provided the effort remains within the agreed framework for negotiations, Deputy Government Spokesman Yiannis Antoniou said on Sunday in Thessaloniki.

Speaking at the annual memorial service for Kyriakos Matsis, EOKA fighter and founder of the National Student Union of Cypriots in Thessaloniki, Antoniou said the government is awaiting the arrival of UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy María Ángela Holguín to prepare for the next informal expanded meeting on the Cyprus issue.

“President Christodoulides is ready to meet and talk with the new Turkish Cypriot leader, without terms or preconditions, as long as the effort does not deviate from the agreed framework,” he said.

Antoniou added that the mandate of the Cypriot people is clear: “to work for the liberation of our homeland from the illegal Turkish occupation that continues for 51 years, and to reunite it.”

For the past two and a half years, he said, Christodoulides has been “at the forefront” of efforts to create conditions for the resumption of negotiations based on the agreed framework, the UN negotiating acquis, and the principles and values of the European Union. “This is our top priority, our greatest obligation and our noblest ambition,” he added.

Despite what he added as the Turkish side’s negative stance, Antoniou said that “several small but substantive steps” have been taken, allowing for cautious optimism that the current unacceptable status quo will not determine the country’s future.

He said that, despite regional instability and “two ongoing wars,” the UN Secretary-General has appointed a personal envoy and convened two informal expanded meetings. At the same time, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has appointed former commissioner Johannes Hahn as her personal envoy on the Cyprus issue.

Antoniou also underlined Cyprus’ growing international role, saying the country has become a hub of stability, a transit point for the evacuation of civilians, and a corridor for humanitarian aid in the Eastern Mediterranean and wider Middle East.

Looking ahead, he added that in fewer than 50 days Cyprus will assume the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the second time. “This is a national mission that Cyprus will successfully carry out,” he said, adding that the presidency offers an important opportunity to showcase the country’s active and significant role during a period of major challenges.