President Nikos Christodoulides has proposed three dates to Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman for their next meeting, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Monday.
He told the Cyprus News Agency that all three of the proposed dates are within the month of February, and that the proposed dates were conveyed to Erhurman via contacts between Greek Cypriot chief negotiator Menelaos Menelaou and Erhurman’s undersecretary Mehmet Dana.
The meeting, he added, will be hosted by United Nations special representative Khassim Diagne if it takes place, though he said there has thus far been “no response from the Turkish Cypriot side”.
The Cyprus Mail contacted Erhurman’s office but has thus far received no response.
Christodoulides had said after Wednesday’s tripartite meeting with Erhurman and UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin that “the discussion will continue”, and that Erhurman had “expressed his readiness to meet without Holguin being present if she is not in Cyprus”.
“We will not wait for her to return,” he said.
Erhurman had later on Wednesday evening said that he and Christodoulides should “meet when Maria Angela is not here”.
Wednesday’s meeting had ended without any agreements being reached, with Holguin confirming afterwards that no enlarged meeting would be arranged as a result.
“For the time being, there will be no new enlarged meeting,” she told journalists after the meeting’s conclusion, saying that for such a meeting to be arranged, “we need results on the confidence-building measures”.
She added that “I am waiting for something more”, before responding to a question over whether Christodoulides and Erhurman had responded to the demand for more progress she had made on Tuesday by saying “I think they might. Not yet”.
Earlier, the UN had released a statement announcing the conclusion of the meeting, saying that Holguin had “noted that such direct dialogue is essential in order to express views, concerns, and hopes”.
“This is particularly important as we are currently in a pre-negotiation phase. Constant and direct dialogue is essential,” it said, before adding that Christodoulides and Erhurman had “shared their proposals to chart a way forward to start substantive negotiations”.
It went on to say that the pair “reviewed the work on the list of the trust-building initiatives previously put on the table and noted some of the advances achieved between both sides”.
“They will now continue efforts to reach agreements on the various trust-building initiatives that are on the table as well as towards the start of substantive negotiations,” it said.
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