By Bopshorus News Geopolitics Desk
In a message dated September 26 and published by UN Cyprus on September 27, United Nations Personal Envoy for Cyprus María Ángela Holguín said the UN had completed its exercise to record the convergences reached in the Cyprus talks and would make the document available to the two sides when negotiations begin.
The UN will also invite both sides to submit proposals on methodology for a new process. Holguín plans to return to Cyprus in October and continue her facilitation through the end of December.
Her message followed separate meetings in New York with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman and Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo and the two negotiators were also involved in the week's contacts.
Holguín said she and DiCarlo met the negotiators to review the confidence-building measures (CBMs) the two sides had agreed to develop. Guterres again urged the leaders to implement them.
She also addressed the trilateral meeting that did not take place. According to Holguín, it had not initially been planned. Christodoulides proposed one during the General Assembly week, while Erhürman did not consider a meeting appropriate at that stage.
Different accounts of the New York sequence
Christodoulides said on September 24 that Guterres was considering a trilateral meeting and that the Greek Cypriot side had presented 19 new initiatives covering substantive issues, methodology and CBMs. The Republic of Cyprus presidency said the initiatives had been received favorably by the secretary-general.
Two days later, the presidency attributed the failure to hold the meeting to what it described as the Turkish side's refusal.
Christodoulides also said that after meeting the five Permanent Representatives of the UN Security Council's permanent members, he had received assurances that the negotiating acquis and the established basis for a Cyprus settlement would remain unchanged even after a future change of secretary-general.
Erhürman's account centered on the preparation required before another 5+1. Speaking live on BRT 1 on September 26 after meeting Guterres, he said another expanded meeting should follow progress on CBMs, methodology and substantive issues.
He said a 2+1 meeting could have taken place if the preceding discussions had produced a basis for results. Those discussions ended without agreement on the confidence-building measures under consideration.
Erhürman also said the Turkish Cypriot side had accepted six of seven measures raised by Guterres, with crossing points still unresolved. He referred separately to the 19 proposals put forward by the Greek Cypriot side.
The lack of a common methodology was already evident before the New York meetings. By September 18, 27 leader and negotiator contacts had failed to produce agreed rules for the next stage. The process entered New York without an agreed method for reopening negotiations.
The seven measures remain disputed
The disagreement over the CBMs was public before the General Assembly week. The Republic of Cyprus government said it had accepted all seven points associated with Guterres' July initiative, while Erhürman said the Turkish Cypriot side had accepted six, with new crossing points still unresolved.
Erhürman said the seven measures cover new crossing points, demining, a joint mechanism for natural disasters, cooperation on irregular migration, sport, European Union citizenship for children of mixed marriages and a civil society mechanism.
The September 17 leaders' meeting produced no announced agreement on the remaining CBM dispute. The UN said the leaders discussed confidence-building measures, methodology and substance.
UN convergences record is ready
Holguín said the UN has compiled the areas where previous talks converged and will provide the record to the sides when negotiations begin.
No date has been set for a new round of talks.
Guterres had already tied another 5+1 to adequate preparation on confidence-building measures, methodology and substance, with previous convergences taken into account. He also said no deadline had been set for the meeting.
After meeting Guterres on September 26, Erhürman also said progress in those three areas should precede another expanded meeting.
The Greek Cypriot side has submitted 19 new initiatives. The Turkish Cypriot side says progress is still needed on the seven CBMs, methodology and substantive issues before another 5+1.
Holguín returns in October
Holguín plans to return to Cyprus in October and continue working with both sides. Her facilitation mandate runs through the end of December.
No new 5+1 has been scheduled. Holguín's October visit is the next announced UN engagement.
The UN now has its record of earlier convergences, while implementation of the CBMs and a common methodology remain unresolved.
Sources: UN Cyprus, UN Secretary-General's Good Offices Mission in Cyprus, Presidency of the Republic of Cyprus, Turkish Cypriot Presidency, BRT 1, Bosphorus News review and reporting.