The Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaos Menelaou and the special representative of the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mehmet Dana, had a “substantive meeting” on Monday afternoon, the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) learns.
According to reliable sources, during their meeting, Menelaou and Dana covered substantive issues, methodology, and means of building trust.
This meeting was preparatory in nature, ahead of the meeting between President Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman, which will take place on Thursday, September 17, at 11 a.m.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
UN Secretary-General Antoni Guterres, whose term nears its end, announced he would convene another meeting in broader format, after adequate preparation, but gave no timeline. He secured to that end the consensus of both sides and of the guarantor powers. María Angela Holguín, Guterres’ Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is tasked to engage with the parties. Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto acts as the European Commission’s Special Representative for Cyprus, succeeding EU special envoy Johannes Hahn.
