Cyprus trilateral meeting fails as UN envoy warns of waning opportunity

Efforts to hold a trilateral meeting in New York between President Nikos Christodoulides, Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres failed during the high-level week of the UN General Assembly. UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin stated that the meeting was not on the original agenda and was rejected by Erhurman, who argued that there was no new basis for progress. Erhurman refused to discuss items outside of the seven confidence-building measures previously set by Guterres, rejecting a separate 19-point proposal submitted by the Greek Cypriot side.

Despite the failure, UN Secretary-General Guterres reaffirmed his commitment to the process until the end of his term. Negotiator Menelaos Menelaou characterized the Turkish Cypriot stance as a pattern of obstruction. Meanwhile, Maria Angela Holguin warned that the window of opportunity for solving the Cyprus problem is gradually closing due to a lack of political will and a confrontational climate. Consequently, President Christodoulides has convened a meeting of the National Council for Wednesday, September 30, to brief political leaders on the New York contacts and discuss the next steps in the effort to resume formal negotiations.