Negotiations focus only on technical committees

Cyprus problem negotiations cannot start without the necessary common ground, Turkish Cypriot leader’s Special Representative Ergyun Olgun said on Saturday.

Olgun said that the weekly online meetings with Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaos Menelaou are being held at the invitation and with the participation of the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (Unficyp) Colin Stewart.

Discussions are exclusively “on the work of the technical committees to improve the daily life of the two peoples”, he added.

There are 12 bi-communal technical committees established on the island under the auspices of the United Nations to address issues that affect the day-to-day life of people.

As reported by Kipris Postasi, Olgun claimed that phrases such as “efforts to start talks” used in related publications may lead to misunderstandings as the new round of meetings is not about the negotiation process itself.

It is not possible to start formal negotiations, Olgun said, without the necessary common ground.