Greek Cyprus: Dialogue with Türkiye essential to resolve disputes

PARIS

Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides has underscored the significance of a gradual resumption of dialogue with the Turkish government, emphasizing its necessity in addressing longstanding disputes.

"We engaged in a more in-depth dialogue with Türkiye’s vice president regarding regional developments," Christodoulides stated in a written statement following his meeting with Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the sidelines of the Ukraine summit in Paris on March 27.

"What has been unequivocally articulated by all parties is the imperative of dialogue — an indispensable mechanism to resolve both extant and emerging divergences," he asserted.

"Without dialogue, without diplomacy, the challenges we face will remain intractable," the Greek Cypriot leader stressed.

"I firmly believe that initiating a phased engagement with the Turkish government is of paramount importance. Even within the context of such summits in the past, achieving this has proven to be an arduous task, which is why I regard the mere fact of holding these discussions as consequential," he added.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres this month spearheaded a two-day expanded Cyprus informal meeting, convening representatives from both sides of the island alongside the three guarantor states, Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom.

Guterres disclosed that Turkish and Greek Cypriots have consented to another meeting in late July under the same 5+1 format, underscoring that the Geneva discussions yielded "substantive progress."

The Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders, Ersin Tatar and Christodoulides, reached consensus on a number of confidence-building measures, Guterres revealed, while recalling that no tangible progress had been recorded since the 2017 Crans-Montana negotiations.

The U.N. chief further announced his intent to appoint a new special envoy to facilitate preparations for the upcoming 5+1 meeting in July.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement.