Cyprus ready for five-party meeting, Anastasiades tells Lute

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades shared a phone call on Wednesday with UN special envoy Jane Holl Lute, expressing his readiness to take part in an informal five-party conference with the aim of reaching an agreement on the terms of reference that would allow the resumption of peace talks.

According to a written announcement issued by the Deputy Government Spokesperson, Panayiotis Sentonas, Anastasiades and Lute shared a conversation regarding the Cyprus Problem and the way forward.

Anastasiades also pointed to the continuous Turkish violations of the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus, which are “raising concerns among Greek Cypriots over Turkey’s true intentions” the announcement noted.

Lute assured Anastasiades that she will convey to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres  the intentions and concerns raised by the President.

Lute had also shared a phone call with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci on Tuesday, during which the two made a short evaluation of Guterres' report to the UN Security Council on the renewal of UNFICYP's mandate and the expected resolution.

On Wednesday, the UNSC had reached an agreement on the blueprint of the draft resolution to extend UNFICYP’s mandate which is to be put to a vote during an open session on Thursday.

The draft  resolution notes that the Security Council expresses its full support for UNFICYP, and decides to extend its mandate for a further period ending on 31 July 2020.

There are also references with respect to promoting peace education across the island, such as through further empowering the Technical Committee on Education and through addressing impediments to peace in school materials, including text books, as a contribution to trust-building between the communities.

The resolution also calls on the leaders to improve the public atmosphere for negotiation to secure a settlement, including by preparing the communities for a settlement through public messages on convergences and the way ahead, and delivering more constructive and harmonised messages, and by refraining from actions or rhetoric that detracts from a successful process

After the completion of the trilateral meeting between the two sides and the UN in Berlin in November last year, Guterres said he is committed to exploring with the two leaders and the guarantor powers the possibility of convening an informal five-plus-UN meeting at an appropriate stage.

It is expected that the informal meeting will take place following the presidential elections in the Turkish Cypriot community in April.