No breakthrough as Christodoulides, Erhurman meet again before New York

Politics Cyprus problemNikos ChristodoulidesTop NewsTufan Erhurman No breakthrough as Christodoulides, Erhurman meet again before New York Por 4 6aa11fb029b6b 1536x1024 Relevant News Driver hits railing in Larnaca, cut free by Fire Service 10 September 2026 No breakthrough as Christodoulides, Erhurman meet again before New York 10 September 2026 Herzog visits Cyprus for third time amid Turkey-Israel strain 10 September 2026 Andreas Bimbishis 10 September 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman will meet once more next week, before flying to New York for talks with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. There is no sign yet of any shift in the two sides’ positions on the Cyprus problem, though a three-way meeting between the two leaders and Guterres has not been ruled out. Christodoulides said yesterday that even under today’s conditions, talks “can resume from where they stopped at Crans-Montana.” That, however, has not been enough to persuade Guterres to take the next step and call a new informal multilateral conference. So far, neither side has delivered on what the UN Secretary-General asked of them, whether on confidence-building measures or on recording the convergences reached so far, a task the United Nations itself took on. Christodoulides added that he was optimistic the convergence document would be ready soon, and that what happens after that would be for the UN to decide. Speaking after his meeting with Erhurman, Christodoulides did not rule out meeting Guterres, or his personal envoy, in New York, and left open the possibility of a negotiators’ meeting even if the leaders themselves do not meet. He also confirmed that Maria Angela Holguín, Guterres’s envoy, will be in New York for the High-Level Week, clarifying that she was not travelling there immediately and would speak with Guterres separately. Returning to the Presidential Palace after yesterday’s session, which lasted only an hour compared with three hours at their previous meeting, Christodoulides told reporters discussion had continued on three fronts, methodology, substance and confidence-building measures, adding that a negotiators’ meeting would take place before he and Erhurman speak again. Asked whether there had been progress on the long-standing disagreements between the two sides, Christodoulides said there was a shared understanding on some points, including the importance of the convergences reached so far, though disagreement and differing approaches remained on others, meaning talks would continue. Pressed on whether that disagreement concerned the specific routing from the Athienou roadblock, he said yesterday’s talks had focused less on confidence-building measures and more on substance and methodology, with no extensive discussion of the CBMs. Asked if he was satisfied with the methodology and substance discussed with the Turkish Cypriot leader, Christodoulides said the two issues were now clear enough to allow talks to resume, repeating that in his personal view, since he could not speak for anyone else, conditions were in place for talks to resume from where they had stopped at Crans-Montana. He added that it would be at the negotiating table itself that everyone, himself included, would be judged on whether there is real political will to resolve the Cyprus problem. Erhurman: climate must come first Erhurman told Christodoulides that moving the process forward requires creating the “favourable climate” Guterres has called for. In a social media post afterwards, he said the hour-long meeting had focused mainly on confidence-building measures and methodology, that the two sides had not agreed on new measures, and that a significant part of the conversation was spent conveying Turkish Cypriot concerns about external and internal actions undermining existing trust. He added that progress requires both new confidence-building measures and avoiding initiatives that damage trust. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Driver hits railing in Larnaca, cut free by Fire Service Herzog visits Cyprus for third time amid Turkey-Israel strain Authorities admit major drainage failures across Engomi as residents report persistent flooding Erini Loucaides on award-winning fiction, diaspora and the ‘wounded’ Cyprus that shapes her work Binge it or skip it: Can This Love Be Translated? – Learning each other’s language Things to do on Thursday, September 10 Temperatures to reach 37 degrees on Thursday Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.