Eide: “The two leaders have almost reached an agreement regarding the regional issues”

Following his meeting with the Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias at the Greek Foreign Ministry, the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide made a statement to the press in which he stated that all parties to the Cyprus negotiations have been having detailed and positive discussions on important chapters in the negotiations such as the issues of security and guarantees.

Regarding the territory issue on Cyprus negotiations, Eide said: “We are going well, the two leaders have almost reached an agreement regarding regional issues.”

Eide noted that the meeting held between President Mustafa Akıncı and the Greek Cypriot Leader Nikos Anastasiades took place following some difficulties. However, Eide also expressed that he is content with the progress made by the Cypriot negotiating teams, who will meet in Geneva on 9 January 2017 and on 12 January 2017 for an international conference.

Eide said: “It was very touching. As the Leaders’ partnership is so strong, we think that the rest of the outstanding problems will be solved.

Turkey and Greece have different opinions on the issues of security and guarantees, Eide noted. “I think that if we look at the negotiations’ situation, there is still a length to go, but now there is a better understanding (of what is involved) and potential compromises can be found. I will be much more informed in this regard when I go to Ankara. We will focus our efforts on this issue, but we need to solve this problem for the reunification of our Cypriot friends.”

Upon a question concerning a bilateral meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Eide said that he strongly supports the idea of the highest level meeting between Greece and Turkey, particularly on this issue (security and guarantees). It is important that the two guarantor powers are in direct contact at high political level he said.