Christodoulides and Erhurman to meet ahead of Holguin visit

President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman are set to meet again on Tuesday, ahead of a visit to Cyprus by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ personal envoy, Maria Angela Holguin. The meeting is scheduled for 11am at the offices of the UN Good Offices Mission. As part of their meeting, the two leaders will also meet jointly with members of the Technical Committees on Youth and Cultural Heritage, as well as the Civil Society Advisory Body. The meeting follows talks on Monday between Christodoulides and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (Unficyp), Khassim Diagne. During those discussions, Christodoulides reiterated the government’s growing concern over violations or attempted violations of the status quo in the buffer zone by the Turkish Cypriot side, stressing its desire for such incidents to cease. Christodoulides is also scheduled to meet Holguin on Friday, while a joint meeting involving the president, Erhurman and the UN envoy has already been arranged. The government on Monday called for detailed discussions on how to make its Varosha proposal acceptable to the Turkish Cypriot side, rather than focusing on reasons for rejecting it, ahead of Tuesday ‘s meeting between President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman. Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said the proposal could deliver immediate, tangible benefits to both communities, while also confirming that Christodoulides had raised concerns over the status quo in the buffer zone during a meeting with the United Nations. Christodoulides had earlier on Monday reiterated that his Varosha proposal remained on the table and differed from an earlier initiative dating back to 2005.