Today and tomorrow in Geneva, another attempt will be made to break the deadlock in which the Cyprus problem has been mired since the summer of 2017, with the breakdown of the negotiations in Crans-Montana.

This effort is not aimed at negotiating a solution but at negotiating…for the negotiations!
The Turkish side has been refusing for 8 years to take part in a process for a solution to the problem, unless its demand for a change in the UN framework for the form of the Cyprus settlement is first accepted. It demands sovereign equality for the Turkish Cypriots and abandonment of the basis for seeking a solution of a bizonal bicommunal federation with political equality as provided for by UN resolutions.

The meeting in Geneva will be attended by the UN Secretary General and the delegations of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides together with the guarantor powers (Greece – Turkey – Britain). The EU will also be represented as an observer.

The Cypriot delegation arrived in Geneva last night. President Christodoulides is accompanied by members of the National Council, namely the former President of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, the leaders of the parliamentary parties DISY, AKEL, DIKO, EDEK and DIPA and the Vice President of the Ecologists’ Movement.

Later this morning, a meeting of the National Council will be held under President Christodoulides to discuss tactical issues and for the leaders of the parties to express their views.

The work of the conference will begin at 8 pm, with a dinner hosted by the UN Secretary General to welcome the heads of delegations.

After the dinner, which is expected to conclude at 10 pm, President Christodoulides will again brief the National Council.

Tomorrow, the UN Secretary General will hold bilateral meetings with each side in the morning, followed by an all-party meeting at the Palais des Nations, the UN headquarters from 12 to 3 pm.

The United Nations is represented at the informal meeting by the UN Secretary-General, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Peacebuilding, Rosemary Di Carlo, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprus, Colin Stewart.

On the Greek Cypriot side, led by President Christodoulides, the delegation includes, among others, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, Deputy Minister for European Affairs Marilena Raouna, the Director of the President’s Diplomatic Office, Doros Venezis, Negotiator Menelaos Menelaou, Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letibiotis, National Security Advisor Tasos Tzionis, and a legal team led by Cyprus’ Attorney General George Savvidis.

The Turkish Cypriot delegation is headed by Ersin Tatar, accompanied by Special Representative Gounes Onar, Legal Affairs Advisor, Sioulen Karabatziak, Coordinator of the “Bilateral Technical Committees”, Seniha Birad Chinar, and Hussein Isiksal, Special Advisor for International Relations and Diplomacy. Also in Geneva is the so-called “foreign minister” of the pseudo-state, Tahsin Ertugruloglu.

The delegation is accompanied by representatives of Turkish Cypriot parties, including the chairman of the Republican Turkish Party (RTK), Toufan Erhiurman, and the chairman of the People’s Party, Kudret Ozersai.

The Greek delegation will be headed by Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis, while Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandra Papadopoulou will also participate.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will lead the Turkish delegation.

The UK delegation will be led by the UK Minister of State for Europe, Stephen Dowty, who was in Cyprus in early March for contacts with the two leaders. The delegation will also include the British High Commissioner to Cyprus, Michael Tatham.

The European Union has also confirmed that it will be represented, but it has not been announced with whom or at what level.

Cypriot President Nicos Christodoulides has said that the Greek Cypriot side is ready for all scenarios and that it is going to Geneva with one specific goal, the resumption of negotiations from where they left off in Crans-Montana in 2017.

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said after a meeting in Ankara with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz ahead of the informal five-party talks that he will express to his interlocutors in Geneva that an agreement can be reached in Cyprus with the cooperation of the “two states” on the basis of sovereign equality and equal international status.