Christodoulides and Erhürman to meet again after buffer zone talks as UN track returns to agenda
By Bosphorus News Staff
Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman met on February 24 in Nicosia’s UN controlled buffer zone, keeping the Cyprus problem anchored at leader level and pushing negotiators back to work on crossings and confidence building measures.
Christodoulides framed the meeting as a process check, not a breakthrough. “We had an open and frank discussion,” he said, describing the atmosphere as a “very good climate.” He said the two sides reviewed where confidence building measures have advanced and where they remain stuck, and that they will meet again soon, with negotiators tasked to set the date.
On the UN track, Christodoulides said he has written repeatedly to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres requesting a March meeting, casting it as the next hinge point for restoring momentum. He also restated his objective in explicit terms. “I have a clear goal,” he said. “What I am seeking is the resumption of talks with full safeguarding of the achievements of the negotiations, so that we can achieve the goal of resolving the Cyprus problem.”
Crossing points were again treated as a concrete file rather than a symbolic one. Christodoulides confirmed he raised a proposal for an additional crossing in Nicosia’s walled city area and said the leaders will return to the issue at their next meeting as part of the wider confidence building package.
Erhürman, speaking in remarks carried by Turkish Cypriot media after the meeting, also described an unusually candid exchange and used the occasion to underline the parameters he wants locked in before any new round becomes politically meaningful. In his words, political equality is not a slogan but a method that must translate into decision making. “Effective participation and a rotating presidency must be accepted as a principle,” he said, presenting this as a baseline for any negotiated structure.
No joint statement was issued. The immediate deliverable, as both sides presented it, is continuity: another leader meeting, negotiators instructed to push the operational files forward, and a parallel effort by Christodoulides to bring the UN Secretary General into the calendar in March.