Christodoulides to address UN general assembly on September 23

President Nikos Christodoulides will make his annual speech at the United Nations general assembly in New York on September 23, according to a provisional list of speakers published by the UN. He will be the 14th of 21 speakers during that day’s morning session, which is set to begin at 9pm local time (4pm Cyprus time) and end at 2.45pm local time (9.45pm Cyprus time. A representative of every UN member state typically makes a speech at some point during the week. Other noteworthy speeches with regard to Cyprus will come from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, from British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, and from Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who Related Articles • Christodoulides ready to meet Erhurman ‘every day’ until UN general assembly • Christodoulides hits back at Turkey at UN • Erdogan: Cyprus solution cannot be built on federal model • ‘International law is not a la carte’: Christodoulides takes swipe at Erdogan • Mitsotakis says two-state solution in Cyprus cannot happen Erdogan will be the fourth speaker overall and address the morning session on September 22, while Burnham will speak during the afternoon session of the same day, and Mitsotakis will speak during the afternoon session on September 24. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will be the general assembly’s first speaker, while the United States’ Donald Trump is second on the list. France’s Emmanuel Macron will be the penultimate speaker of the September 22 morning session, while Christodoulides will be preceded the following morning by high-profile international figures including Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa and Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian, while Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy will speak later during the same day. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be the final speaker of the morning session on September 24, while European Council President Antonio Costa and Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin are set to speak on the same day, with Ireland the current holder of the Council of the EU’s rotating presidency. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng will be the first of the speakers on September 26, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar speaking on the same day. The final speaker will be a representative of New Zealand on the morning of September 28. Christodoulides, Erdogan, Mitsotakis all spoke on Cyprus problem last year At last year’s general assembly, Erdogan had again been among the first speakers, and said that a solution to the Cyprus problem “cannot be built on the federal model”, because attempts to find a federal solution to the Cyprus problem have “failed due to the intransigent stance of the Greek Cypriot side”. “On this occasion, I would like to emphasise that projects which exclude Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean will not succeed,” he said, in an apparent reference to the Great Sea Interconnector project. That speech came just weeks ahead of a Turkish Cypriot leadership election which was won by pro-federation candidate Tufan Erhurman, with Turkey’s stance on Cyprus having somewhat softened since then and a two-state solution now expressed as a preference rather than as a demand by Ankara. Christodoulides had responded to at his speech to the general assembly last September, lambasting him for “preaching to the world on peace and accountability” and “pointing the finger at others for crimes Turkey itself commits every single day”. “That is selective sensitivity and hypocrisy of the highest form. Illegality cannot yield legality. Illegality stemming from the use of force cannot be recognised, no matter who the perpetrator is, no matter who the victim is,” he said. He then called on Erdogan to “join the path of responsibility” and “end the occupation, through negotiations for a comprehensive settlement that will reunify Cyprus in a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality”. “I am ready for this moment of responsibility, ready to deliver on the call of history and reunify Cyprus, to reunify my people, Greek and Turkish Cypriots,” he said. Mitsotakis, too, spoke on the Cyprus problem, saying that “for 51 years, Cyprus has endured the consequences of Turkey’s illegal invasion and continued military occupation”. “It is a blatant violation of international law and a constant strain to regional peace and security. Our commitment to Cyprus’ sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the solution of one state based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation is steadfast,” he said. This, he added, is “a matter of credibility and determination to defend the core values and principles upon which the United Nations are based”.