United Nations envoy Maria Angela Holguin on Monday described last week’s tripartite meeting she held with President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman as “a very good start” to discussions on the Cyprus problem after Erhurman’s election to office in October.

“The meeting was deep, frank, and extremely open. From my point of view, this was a very good start. For the first time in five years, [last Thursday], the two leaders met face to face and addressed fundamental political issues,” she told newspaper Yeniduzen.

She highlighted the fact that the joint statement issued at the end of last week’s meeting contained an explicit reference to a solution to the Cyprus problem based on political equality as defined by the UN security council, saying that “such a commitment had not been made by the leaders since 2020”, and that “this is no small achievement”.

To this end, she heaped praise on both Christodoulides and Erhurman, saying that “the dialogue took place between two young leaders with a fresh and creative vision for the island”.

“As in many conflict resolution processes, this is a key factor,” she said, before offering Erhurman more praise.

“The new Turkish Cypriot leader is articulate and well-informed. He was able to quickly identify the issues which needed to be addressed before moving on to comprehensive negotiations,” she said.

She had been asked about the length of the tripartite meeting, given that it had initially been planned that it would last around an hour, and it eventually lasted for almost three and a half.

“The length of the meeting was an indication of how detailed the discussion was. I was pleased to see both leaders engage in such detailed discussions,” she said.

However, despite the optimism, she did stress that “while encouraging, the dialogue process is still in its early stages”.

“The two leaders have agreed on some confidence-building measures, and hopefully they can agree on more in the coming weeks and months. More will need to be done to strengthen this fresh momentum and create a genuine atmosphere of trust,” she said.

This trust, she added, will then allow UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to convene an enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem, involving the island’s two sides, its three guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, and the UN, but prior to that, “both sides will need to be encouraged to make progress”.

“While the meeting had many positive aspects, my optimism still hinges on concrete steps and progress towards a full resumption of comprehensive negotiations,” she said.

Asked what her message would be to the Cypriot people at this point, she said they “should actively support these important efforts being made by both leaders”.

“There is no room for complacency. The world is at a turning point, with rapid and often unpredictable changes. During the years without negotiations, the realities on the island also changed considerably. There is now an opportunity to move towards a solution to the longstanding Cyprus issue, and this opportunity should be seized not only by the leaders, but by all Cypriots,” she said.

She then said that Christodoulides and Erhurman will require “creativity, determination, and a sincere desire to understand the needs and expectations of people on both sides”.

“The dialogue between the two leaders must be well-prepared and well-structured, and political will will continue to be needed for progress. Many on the island hope that both leaders can make history. After so many failed attempts, we must be sure this time that the process will fully succeed,” she said.

“This is very important for Cypriots and for the UN. Cyprus and the region cannot afford another negotiation process to end in failure.”