UN SG envoy’s arrival marks new movement

The arrival of UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres’ personal envoy, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, has the government confident that a new period of mobility on the Cyprus problem is beginning, in which it is entering with sincere political will, according to a senior administration official.

In a written statement, Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis said that, “we are entering a new period, a period of mobility in the Cyprus issue which is what we sought from the very beginning.”

Holguin is being briefed by UN Special Representative Colin Stewart on Monday, before holding separate meetings with President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader and Ersin Tatar on Tuesday.

“This marks a significant milestone. We embark on this new phase with genuine political determination, aiming to actively contribute to establishing the necessary conditions for the resumption of negotiations, picking up from where they were paused, in alignmenMariat with the pertinent resolutions of the UN Security Council,” said Letymbiotis.

On Friday, Christodoulides announced a set of confidence building measures aimed at “improving the daily lives” of Turkish Cypriots, chief among them being to grant citizenship to the children of a Turkish Cypriot and a Turkish parent, as well as enhancing the ‘Green Line Trade’ facility.

Making minor changes to a list that was initially revealed last summer, the measures could address a certain scepticism to date about Christodoulides’ declarations that he is serious about wanting to solve the Cyprus problem.

Meanwhile, Ersin Tatar met with Turkish Cypriot political leaders and other officials on Sunday in anticipation of Olguin’s visit to the island.

This marks Holguin’s first visit to the island since her mandate was announced in early January.

Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar previously served as the foreign minister of Colombia from 2010 to 2018 and held positions such as the head of the Colombian mission to the UN and ambassador to Venezuela.