Nikos Christodoulides, a former foreign minister and apprentice of NIcos Anastasiades, is elected president in February as an independent with the backing of the smaller hard-line parties but not his political home of Disy, causing a major rift in the party founded by Glafcos Clerides and led by Anastasiades prior to 2013. Despite his dovish claims to want a settlement, he was often seen as a bit of a hawk during his years at the foreign ministry but has made all the right noises since his election.
He spent the entire first year in office calling on the UNSG to appoint a new envoy for Cyprus and the first half trying to secure an EU envoy but failed miserably in the latter.
Cyprus proposal for an EU envoy had little traction in Brussels
In March, UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo paid a flying visit on behalf of the UNSG to gauge the mood by meeting separately with the two leaders.
In May, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was re-elected setting the stage for some election stability as far as any negotiations might be concerned as the interlocuters were now firmly in place but the Turkish side spent the year repeating that a bi-zonal, bi-communal solution was no longer their objective, which was not promising at all.
‘Step by step’ moves to annexation of north
In his July report, the UNSG said “any opportunities” must be seized. This was followed by a meeting between Christodoulides and Tatar at the anthropological laboratory of the committee of missing persons (CMP) later in the month, which was hailed as “a positive first step”.
A second step was attempted in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York where hopes were high that the two leaders would meet jointly with the UNSG. However, the Turkish side backed out and it never happened.
They did however both attend on a social basis, the UN’s end-of-year dinner at the Ledra Palace and where everyone was full of good wishes for the new year.