President Nikos Christodoulides described the results of Monday’s tripartite meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman and United Nations envoy Maria Angela Holguin as a “positive step” towards the “ultimate goal” of solving the Cyprus problem, after the meeting ended with an agreement to open two crossing points.

“An important step has been taken, which I hope will lead us towards the ultimate goal. We have not yet reached the ultimate goal, but we are working step-by-step to achieve it. Today, an important step was taken,” he said.

He said the day’s meeting, which lasted more than three and a half hours, was “productive”, and added that its results “paved the way” for a planned meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, which, he said, is set to take place “in the coming weeks”.

“The UN secretary general was kept informed throughout the discussions and regarding the final outcomes. Consequently, the agreement to hold a tripartite meeting in the coming weeks was included in the announcement,” he said.

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He added that “in addition to what has already been made public, progress was achieved on other matters”, and said that to this end, “discussions will continue with the secretary general, with the objective of announcing further results”.

“At the same time, however, the primary objective of that tripartite meeting will be to announce an enlarged meeting, to take place before the end of the secretary general’s term, which will lead to the resumption of negotiations,” he said.

Were an enlarged meeting, involving the island’s two sides, its three guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, to be organised, it would be the first of its kind since all parties met in July last year.

Crossing points will open ‘once preparatory work has been completed’

Christodoulides then declared that “the issues mentioned” in the UN’s announcement at the end of Monday’s meeting were “proposals put forward by the Greek Cypriot side”, while saying that he had also for the first time provided written copies of his 19 points for discussion to both Erhurman and Holguin.

This, he said, had been done “so that there could be no ambiguity”.

Returning to the matter at large, he said that “I believe that the current outcomes have paved the way for this positive development, the tripartite meeting, and I repeat that we are continuing our efforts, which are aimed solely at the resumption of negotiations”.

Asked when the two new crossing points, south of Louroujina, near Larnaca, and south of Karavostasi, west of Lefka, may open, he said that “they will open once the necessary preparatory work has been completed”, and that “they will both open on the same day”.

Then asked about the new “bridge-building” proposals with which Erhurman said he would arrive at Monday’s meeting, he said that “everything Erhurman mentioned was already known to us, with the exception of one new proposal, which could not be accepted”.

He then insisted that the prospect of a transit road through the Turkish Cypriot Kokkina enclave “remains on the table”, despite Holguin and Erhurman both saying that it is not.

Fidan’s visit had ‘neither negative, nor positive’ impact

Later, he was asked whether statements made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the Cyprus problem during the meeting, and statements made by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan following a visit to Cyprus last week “influenced” proceedings, as both had expressed support for a two-state solution on the island.

He answered in the affirmative, but said that Fidan’s presence on the island last week could be characterised “neither as negative, nor positive”.

“Today’s outcomes could have been better, more substantial. In any case, I heard Erdogan’s statements. I am not downplaying them or underestimating them, but I am not going to be diverted from our own objective,” he said.

He also said that the matter of demining was “never” discussed during the course of Monday’s meeting, before refusing to rule out later making public his 19 points.

Then asked about whether he may meet Guterres at the Cop31 climate summit in the Turkish Mediterranean city of Antalya this week, he said that no meeting has yet been scheduled, but that “we may speak on the sidelines of the conference”.