February dates proposed for leaders’ talks
President Nikos Christodoulides has conveyed three potential dates for meetings with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis confirmed on Saturday.
The dates in question being Monday, February 16, Wednesday, February 18, and Tuesday, February 24.
The dates were communicated to Erhurman through Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaos Menelaou and Erhurman’s undersecretary Mehmet Dana.
The meetings would be hosted by UN special representative Khassim Diagne if they take place.
Letymbiotis said there has been “no response from the Turkish Cypriot side” so far.
Following last Wednesday’s tripartite meeting with Erhurman and UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin, Christodoulides said discussions would continue and that Erhurman had “expressed his readiness to meet without Holguin being present if she is not in Cyprus”.
Holguin confirmed the meeting concluded without agreements and said no enlarged meeting will be arranged until progress is made on confidence-building measures.
She said “constant and direct dialogue is essential” during the pre-negotiation phase and that both sides must continue efforts on trust-building initiatives before substantive negotiations begin.