Cyprus problem convergences document to be ready ‘in a matter of days’

President believes sides are ready to resume talks from where they left off in Crans-Montana A document listing the convergences reached in talks on the Cyprus problem up to now will be ready in “a matter of days”, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Wednesday, following his meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman. “According to the information we have, it is in the very final stage. It is a matter of days for it to be completed, and we will see how the United Nations will manage it,” he said. He said that pursuant to the document being ready, “I imagine that, according to some information we have, though it is not a given, there may be a joint meeting in New York, either with the [UN] secretary-general or his personal envoy, either at the level of leaders or at the level of negotiators, we will see”. Related Articles • Leaders’ meeting ends without joint statement • Holguin cancels New York trip due to illness • Christodoulides: I truly believe that Erhurman also wants a solution • Christodoulides hopes for more meetings with Erhurman before New York Regarding the day’s meeting, he said that it was “short but substantial on the issues discussed”. “The discussion continued on the three issues – methodology, substance and confidence-building measures. On some issues, there is progress, in the sense that there is a common understanding. On some, however, there continue to be disagreements, different approaches,” he said. He added that there will be another leaders’ meeting next week, most likely next Wednesday or next Friday, which will be preceded by another meeting of Greek Cypriot chief negotiator Menelaos Menelaou and Erhurman’s undersecretary Mehmet Dana. Additionally, he confirmed that UN Cyprus problem envoy Maria Angela Holguin will hold a telephone conversation with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres later on Wednesday, with Holguin having been unable to travel to either Cyprus or to New York this week due to health issues. He also stressed that the ongoing meetings between himself and Erhurman are “not just one meeting, but a continuation of the previous meetings which have taken place”. ‘We will all be judged at the negotiating table’ “It is a continuation of the meetings which the negotiators have, too. So, we are not starting from scratch in the next meeting. The issues before us are very specific. On some, there is a common understanding. On others, there is a disagreement, a different approach, and on those, the discussion will continue,” he said. Asked whether he is “satisfied” with the discussions being held on the methodology of talks and the substance of the Cyprus problem itself, he said that “I believe that the issues of both methodology and substance are clear on how we can move forward, how the conditions can be created for the resumption of talks”. “My personal opinion, because I cannot speak on behalf of anyone else is that we are, as things stand, ready for the talks to resume from where they were interrupted in Crans-Montana,” he said, in reference to the collapse of the most recent round of negotiations in earnest at the Swiss ski resort in 2017. Then asked whether the issue of initiatives being taken, both in the field of defence and in political campaigns aimed at cancelling international events in the north, which Erhurman said “erode” confidence between the island’s two sides, was discussed, he answered in the affirmative. “We discussed the issue as well. I expressed my opinion. Erhurman expressed his. We discuss all issues,” he said. Asked whether Erhurman’s comments “affected the atmosphere” of the day’s meeting, he said that “I am not influenced by posts or statements and I am not affected because I have a clear goal”. “I know where I want to go, where we want to go, and what we want to achieve. For us, there is no alternative to resolving the Cyprus problem and reunifying my homeland. Therefore, I do not let anything distract me from this goal or seek to get involved in blame games or anything else which may distract us from the essence of the Cyprus problem,” he said.