It's time for diplomacy, says Christodoulides

It is time for diplomacy to play its role as it has already started working to bring about what we have discussed during our meetings in Brussels, in view of the elections in Turkey, Cyprus President, Nikos Christodoulides said on Tuesday.

In statements to the media on the sidelines of an event in Ayia Napa, and invited to comment on an interview by the British High Commissioner to Cyprus, Irfan Siddiq, to "Phileleftheros" newspaper, and his suggestions on the Cyprus problem, the President said that "we have a concrete approach on how to break the deadlock and for the resumption of negotiations on the Cyprus problem, through a leading role for the EU."

Referring to his recent meetings in Brussels, which took place on the sidelines of the recent EU Summit, where he presented and elaborated on his proposal, Christodoulides said that now it is time for diplomacy to play its role, "as it has already started working to bring about what we have discussed during our meetings in Brussels, in view of the elections in Turkey."

Among other things, Siddiq said in his interview that "within the agreed framework, there is still space for new ideas. At least on the U.K. side, we’re not talking about anything other than the agreed framework. But if the agreed framework, as it has been interpreted, hasn’t yet delivered the outcomes, then of course, we should have new ways of looking at it to deliver the outcomes that we want."

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.