Leaders meet with Holguin in effort to break Cyprus deadlock

President Nikos Christodoulides, Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman and UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin meet on Monday morning, with the latter saying in an interview with the Cyprus Mail that the first issue the leaders should address in an effort to break the deadlock was whether a post-solution Cyprus should have a rotating presidency.

The meeting will take place at 11am at the chief of mission residency in the buffer zone.

Last week, presidential press office director Victor Papadopoulos said talks aimed at bringing about a resumption of negotiations in earnest towards the solution of the Cyprus problem were at a “crucially critical point”.

He said the Greek Cypriot side believes that a list of proposals made by Christodoulides to Erhurman “provide a way out for all three issues which the UN secretary-general requested to be discussed”, with those matters being confidence-building measures, the methodology of the talks and the substance of the Cyprus problem itself.

The first step towards the resumption of talks and a solution beyond may come in the form of new crossing points being opened, with it being widely reported that four new crossing points may be opened following Monday’s meeting.

According to those reports, the crossing points which are currently on the table are in the eastern Nicosia suburb of Mia Milia, the village of Louroujina, which is the southernmost inhabited Turkish Cypriot village, a transit road linking Athienou and the Nicosia suburb of Aglandjia, and between Kambos Kykkou and Karavostasi, west of Lefka.

On Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan paid a visit to Cyprus, meeting Erhurman, Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel and Turkish Cypriot ‘foreign minister’ Tahsin Ertugruloglu. No statements were made after any of those three meetings.

The visit was condemned by Cyprus’ foreign ministry, which said it constituted “yet another provocation, adding to Turkey’s ongoing violations of the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus”.