Preparations underway for meeting between Christodoulides and Erhurman

President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman are scheduled to meet on August 26 to discuss the Cyprus issue. Ahead of this high-level talk, the respective negotiators, Menelaos Menelaou and Mehmet Dana, are set to meet on Thursday at 11 am to prepare the agenda. The upcoming session marks the first one-on-one meeting between the two leaders following the recent visit of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the island.

Central to the discussions will be the progress on confidence-building measures, specifically the UN proposal for the simultaneous opening of new crossing points at Athienou and Mia Milia. While the government aims for a constructive and substantive dialogue to pave the way for an expanded 5+1 conference, the Turkish Cypriot side has shown previous hesitation regarding the crossing points proposal. The broader goal of these diplomatic efforts is to create the necessary conditions to restart formal negotiations for a Cyprus settlement.

Currently, the UN is working on recording existing convergences, a process expected to conclude in the coming weeks. President Christodoulides is also planning to address these diplomatic developments during the UN General Assembly in New York at the end of September.