President Nicos Christodoulides said on Saturday that he was ready to participate in an expanded informal conference on the Cyprus issue before the end of 2025.
He made the statement while attending the annual general Meeting of the Federation of Construction Contractors Associations in Nicosia.
The President stressed that political will from all sides is important. He said that the Greek Cypriot side is fully prepared and hopes for a positive response from other parties.
On December 11, President Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman will visit the laboratory of the Committee on Missing Persons from 3:15 p.m. to 4 p.m. They will then hold a joint meeting in the presence of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General, Maria Angela Olguin, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., after which they will attend the annual UN Christmas event together.
President Christodoulides said that the main purpose of these meetings is to lay the foundation for an informal conference. He stressed that the goal is to resume negotiations from the place where they ended at the Crans—Montana talks in 2017.
“I want to publicly declare that I am ready for this meeting,” he said. — I have conveyed this to the leader of the Turkish Cypriots and will convey it to Mrs. Olguin. We have a meeting on December 6, and I am ready for an informal multilateral conference to take place before the end of the year.”
He confirmed that a preparatory meeting of the two negotiators had taken place on Friday. He said such meetings would continue to ensure a positive outcome on December 11.
Answering a question about Turkey’s application to the EU’s Safe Harbor program, he said that Turkey had actually excluded itself from participation. Any involvement of a third country requires a security agreement approved by all 27 EU member states, including Cyprus.
He reiterated that although he could not speak on behalf of the other parties, the Greek Cypriot side was ready and had the political will.
“Last night, for example, I held an internal meeting on this issue, and we are fully prepared,” he said. “I hope that all sides will respond positively so that this meeting can have a good outcome.”
https://russiancyprus.news/news/society/cyprus-ready-for-peace-talks-ahead-of-year-end-president-says/
