Recent developments in the efforts for resumption of Cyprus reunification talks will be the focus of a National Council meeting which is convened this evening, at the Presidential Palace.
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, who will chair the meeting of the country’s top advisory body comprised of parliamentary political party leaders, is expected to brief the National Council about his recent informal tripartite meeting in Berlin with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.
The meeting is set to take place at 18:30 hours local time (1630 GMT).
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
After the meeting, in Berlin, on November 25, Guterres issued a statement saying that he has “agreed to extend my efforts to achieve terms of reference to serve as a consensus starting point for phased, meaningful, and results-oriented negotiations at the earliest feasible opportunity.”
In this regard, the UN SG added in his statement, “I committed to explore with the Turkish Cypriot leader and the Greek Cypriot leader and with the Guarantor powers the possibility to convene an informal five-plus-UN meeting at an appropriate stage.”
CNA