Cyprus Issue: Christodoulides Expresses Cautious Optimism After Dinner with Guterres and Erhurman

"There is no alternative to resolving the Cyprus issue," said the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Christodoulides, on Tuesday evening after dinner with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and Turkish Cypriot leaderTurkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, noting that he hopes to hear about positive developments on Wednesday.

He expressed satisfaction with the discussion that took place and with the fact that the UN Secretary-General «is so deeply committed to this effort.».

In remarks to reporters after returning to the Presidential Palace from a dinner with the UN Secretary-General and the Turkish Cypriot leader, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, when asked if the discussion at dinner had been as productive as his morning discussion with Mr. Guterres, said that «It was a discussion that covered all the issues—substance, methodology, areas of convergence, the broader context, confidence-building measures—all of that.» «The discussion will continue tomorrow morning, and we hope there will be specific announcements. We are working toward that goal. It was a good, open, and frank discussion,» he added.

Nikos Christodoulides expressed his satisfaction «that the Secretary-General—as he reiterated again tonight—is politically committed to this effort. »We discussed everything—I told you specifically which aspects—and this discussion will continue tomorrow.”.

When asked whether his reference to a frank discussion this meant that the disagreements between the two sides had been raised again and that the entire discussion provided an indication of what to expect from the UN Secretary-General’s announcement tomorrow, the President of the Republic of Cyprus said that «there were also issues where there were different approaches—this is nothing new—but there was a frank discussion with arguments, counterarguments, and—I repeat—it was significant that it covered the substance, the points of convergence, the methodology, the expanded Confidence-Building Measures, and addressed all the issues.».

He also said that «it was a wide-ranging discussion, which was also focused at the same time, because we want the Secretary-General to make specific announcements, and tomorrow we will continue at 10 a.m. with the goal I mentioned earlier—to have specific announcements made.’.

«With that goal in mind, we’re going to the meeting—we went tonight, and we’ll go tomorrow as well—and I want to be optimistic that there will be announcements,» he said, noting that the Secretary-General’s intentions «are clear.» «We support this initiative. As I’ve said many times, after a lot of hard work, they see the European Union and the role it can play; Mr. Fito will be in Cyprus in the coming days. So, we’re seeing an international initiative—both from the United Nations and from the European Union—which, is indeed moving us forward—and I wish it could move even faster, if you ask me— I’m ready for everything we discussed to begin as early as tomorrow—toward the ultimate goal, which is the resumption of talks from where they were suspended in 2017,» he added.

When asked if the outcome was positive, the President of the Republic of Cyprus said, «We’ll see tomorrow. If you ask me right now, I’m satisfied with the discussion that took place.» He reiterated that it was a «good discussion, and I’m glad that the Secretary-General is so committed, politically committed to this effort, and we will continue—I repeat—until we achieve our goal.».

Mr. Christodoulides said that he often thinks «about where we started in March 2023 and where we are today—both in terms of international interest and in terms of what we’re discussing, and so on.» «We will continue this major effort,» he assured. «For us—as I said tonight—there is no alternative to resolving the Cyprus issue. We know what we want, we know where we want to end up, and we know the methods we’re using, which are yielding results. And I hope to hear about positive developments and positive results from the Secretary-General tomorrow,» he added.

«The discussion will continue at 10 a.m., and we’ll be here to comment on it again,» he noted.