Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman said Tuesday that he wants any renewed negotiations over the divided island to be geared toward reaching a settlement, as he prepares for talks with senior U.N. officials in New York.
Erhürman is due to travel to New York on Wednesday for separate meetings with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his Personal Envoy for Cyprus, María Ángela Holguín. The meetings are expected to focus on the next steps in efforts to revive negotiations over the long-running Cyprus dispute.
“We do not believe in holding a 5+1 meeting simply for the sake of holding one, nor negotiations simply for the sake of negotiations,” Erhürman noted.
“We want a 5+1 whose prospects of producing results have been secured in advance through meetings in Nicosia, and negotiations that, in line with our people’s will for a settlement, will lead us to a solution this time.”
The 5+1 format brings together the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides, guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and Britain, and the United Nations.
Erhürman said meaningful progress would first be needed in three areas identified by Guterres; confidence-building measures, the methodology for negotiations and substantive issues.
Proposals under discussion include opening new crossing points between the two sides, demining, cooperation on disaster response and irregular migration, and establishing joint mechanisms involving sports and civil society.
The president noted the sides should make progress on such issues in Nicosia (Lefkoşa) before convening another expanded meeting, arguing that previous rounds of negotiations had failed to produce a settlement.
Guterres has also said more work is needed before another expanded meeting can be held and has cautioned against repeating mistakes made in previous efforts. Erhürman said the Turkish Cypriot side shares the U.N. chief’s emphasis on ensuring that any renewed process is structured differently.
No trilateral meeting involving Erhürman, Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides and Guterres, or a new 5+1 meeting, is currently scheduled during the U.N. General Assembly period.
