Holguin: ‘I came to ask Christodoulides some questions’

UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin held a brief 30-minute meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides on Tuesday, explaining afterwards that she had “come to ask him some questions”. Speaking to reporters as she left the presidential palace, Holguin said that was why the meeting was short, with the questions she sought being “specific”, and that she “preferred to put them in person instead of by telephone”. She did not expand further as to the nature of such questions, concluding only with that “we hope to have good news”. She is due to meet Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman again on Wednesday lunchtime. The talks come ahead of a planned trilateral meeting with both leaders on November 9. Christodoulides said on Monday that the Greek Cypriot side was awaiting responses to specific proposals it had submitted and to issues raised at his previous meeting with Holguin. He said he was ready to rearrange his schedule for an earlier joint meeting if she thought one necessary. After meeting Erhurman on Monday, Holguin remarked that “I hope I am not the only optimistic person on the island.” She is working towards a possible enlarged 5+1 meeting before the end of the year, involving the two Cypriot sides, Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the UN. She has said it depends on progress on confidence-building measures, the methodology of talks and substantive issues. Christodoulides said on Monday that such a meeting was an “entirely feasible goal”, adding that what was needed was political will. Earlier on Tuesday, Holguin met Turkey’s ‘ambassador’ to the occupied north, Ali Murat Basceri. The two exchanged views on the Cyprus problem. No further details of the discussions were disclosed.