The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Rosemary DiCarlo, continues her contacts in Nicosia with meetings with the staff of the Good Offices Mission and representatives of the Oslo Peace Research Institute in Cyprus, PRIO.
Di Carlo will depart later today for Athens, where she will meet with Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis.
On Wednesday she will visit Ankara. However, the Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan cited other obligations in his busy schedule, and Ms. Di Carlo will be met by a Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister.
As reported by Famagusta Gazette earlier, Di Carlo met separately with Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders on Monday, inviting them to an expanded meeting aimed at reviving stalled Cyprus peace negotiations in March.
Di Carlo said discussions focused on preparations for the upcoming extended meeting in Geneva, with a formal announcement expected soon. “I assured the President of the UN Secretary-General’s commitment to assisting both sides in moving forward.”
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said the informal meeting may take place on March 17-18 in Geneva and confirmed his positive response to the invitation. However, he again rejected UN-backed proposals for a federal Cyprus with power-sharing and equal political rights, reaffirming his call for a two-state solution that would grant formal recognition to a sovereign Turkish Cypriot state. The self-declared Turkish Cypriot state is recognized only by Türkiye.
Peace talks have been stalled since the collapse of a similar conference in Switzerland in July 2017.
Since then, Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriots have hardened their stance, advocating permanent partition and international recognition of a breakaway state established by Türkiye in 1983.