By Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk
The United Nations says it has completed its exercise recording previous convergences in the Cyprus talks, but the two sides disagree over when the record should be circulated.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres' Personal Envoy María Ángela Holguín said on September 26 that the exercise had been completed and would be available to the parties "when they start negotiations." She also said the UN would ask both sides for proposals on negotiating methodology and that she would return to Cyprus in October.
The Republic of Cyprus government wants the record circulated before talks resume. After a September 30 National Council meeting, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said the Greek Cypriot side expected it to be given to all parties in advance. The aim, he said, was to establish a common understanding of earlier convergences and use them as the starting point for renewed talks.
Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides outlined the same sequence on September 5. He said the record should be given to the two sides and the three guarantor powers, Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom, followed by an expanded meeting and a return to negotiations. Remaining disagreements would then be taken up at the table.
Guterres has not publicly endorsed that sequence. After meeting Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman in July, he said another 5+1 would be convened only after adequate preparation on confidence-building measures, methodology and substance, taking into account convergences already achieved. The next 5+1 remains tied to progress in those three areas.
Erhürman says earlier convergences should not be reopened. His four-point methodology calls for those reached through the Crans-Montana process to be accepted in principle, alongside political equality, a time-framed process and a safeguard against returning to the current status quo if talks fail through no fault of the Turkish Cypriot side. After the September 17 leaders' meeting, he said the sides had still not agreed even on the first point.
A second dispute concerns what should be on the table before negotiations restart. Christodoulides said on September 17 that he was taking 19 specific points into his meeting with Erhürman, covering confidence-building measures, methodology and substance. The full list has not been made public. The Republic of Cyprus Presidency said the National Council was briefed on the proposals on September 30.
Erhürman said on September 28 that seven confidence-building issues were already on the table and warned that adding 19 new points could push them aside. He listed new crossing points, demining, joint mechanisms for disaster response and irregular migration, sports, European Union citizenship for children of mixed marriages and a civil society consultative body.
The two sides also differ over the origin of that seven-point track. Erhürman presents the seven issues as the existing confidence-building agenda linked to Guterres' July visit. Letymbiotis said on September 30 that Guterres had proposed a compromise on crossing points, while describing the other six as issues raised by Erhürman. The Republic of Cyprus government says it has stated its position publicly on all seven. The same disagreement was visible before New York in the dispute over the seven confidence-building issues.
Formal negotiations have not resumed. The UN says the convergence exercise is complete and will be available when negotiations begin. The Greek Cypriot side wants the record circulated first. Erhürman wants the treatment of previous convergences settled as part of the methodology before substantive talks start.
Sources: United Nations Good Offices Mission in Cyprus, United Nations Secretary-General transcript, Republic of Cyprus Presidency, Turkish Cypriot Presidency, Bosphorus News review and reporting.