The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, described the discussions between the President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, in New York on Thursday 17 July as “constructive”.
According to Mr Guterres, four of the six confidence-building initiatives agreed in March have been implemented: - the creation of a technical committee on youth; - initiatives on the environment and climate change, in particular the impact on mining areas; - the restoration of cemeteries; - an agreement on mine clearance, to be concluded once the final technical details have been defined.
Discussions will continue on the other two initiatives: - solar energy in the buffer zone; - the opening of four crossing points. According to Mr Guterres, while there is agreement on the crossing points themselves, the question of the route for one of them requires further discussion.
The Secretary General also explained that the leaders had reached a “common understanding” on the creation of a consultative body for the participation of civil society, the exchange of cultural objects, an initiative on air quality monitoring and the fight against pollution by microplastics.
“It is critical to implement these initiatives – all of them – as soon as possible for the benefit of all Cypriots”, stressed Mr Guterres.
A further meeting is scheduled to take place during the week of high-level meetings of the UN General Assembly in September. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)