Leaders meet, Christodoulides hopes for positive developments

President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman meet on Tuesday at 11am in Nicosia, with Christodoulides saying he was approaching the meeting with the sole aim of achieving positive developments. On Monday, Christodoulides said the UN had proposed dates for a joint meeting between the leaders of the two communities and the UN secretary-general’s personal envoy Maria Angela Holguin. The Greek Cypriot side, he said, had already responded positively. “I am going to the meeting with one and only one objective: to have positive developments,” Christodoulides said. On whether Tuesday’s meeting could result in an announcement on the opening of four new crossing points, the president said the Greek Cypriot side was ready to proceed, provided there was a positive response from the Turkish Cypriot side. Related Articles • Christodoulides hopeful of positive developments at meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader • Christodoulides, Erhurman to meet on Tuesday • Christodoulides accuses Erhurman of ‘setting preconditions’ on resumption of talks • Christodoulides, Erhurman send ‘message of peace’ at Pyla festival • Confidence-building measures ‘need to be implemented’, Holguin says • EU, Turkey to discuss Cyprus problem at ‘high-level’ talks this month “I hope there will be. We are ready. If there is a response, of course we are ready to proceed with such an announcement,” he said. He added that the Greek Cypriot side was also prepared to move forward on other issues raised by the UN chief, including the substance of negotiations, methodology and confidence-building measures.