Holguin to meet Christodoulides on Friday, Erhurman on Monday

United Nations Cyprus problem envoy Maria Angela Holguin will meet President Nikos Christodoulides on Friday and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman on Monday, as she begins her latest round of contacts on the island. Erhurman is currently not in Cyprus, having travelled to Ankara on Thursday to attend the Organisation of Turkic States’ leaders’ summit, and as such will meet Holguin on Monday, after he has returned to the island. Towards the end of her stay, Holguin will hold a tripartite meeting with both Christodoulides and Erhurman on November 9. The two leaders most recently met on Tuesday , and said after that meeting that both he and Erhurman had “agreed not to make further statements regarding specific issues” related to the Cyprus problem until, at the very least, when Holguin arrives.

Both men had also met the bicommunal technical committees on cultural heritage and on youth, as well as the civil society steering committee, following their one-on-one meeting. Of those meetings, Christodoulides said that they were “constructive” and that “various views and suggestions were put forward” by committee members. He added that those suggestions will be discussed by himself and Erhurman going forward. Christodoulides insists Varosha proposal is ‘mutually beneficial’ Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, Christodoulides had stressed that his proposal to open and repopulate the fenced-off area of Varosha under the United Nations’ administration and open the port of Famagusta under the European Union’s control is “mutually beneficial”. “I believe this is a mutually beneficial proposal. It creates a positive situation for both sides and serves as a practical test of whether we are truly committed to moving forward, specifically by taking bold confidence-building measures which…