President Erhürman to travel to New York

President Tufan Erhürman will travel to New York tomorrow (23 September), to hold a series of meetings on the margins of the High-Level Week of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

During his visit, President Erhürman is expected to hold a number of bilateral meetings, including with UN Secretary-General António Guterres on 26 September and the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Cyprus, María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar, on 24 September.

The President is expected to arrive back at Ercan Airport at 7.55pm on 27 September following the conclusion of his meetings in New York. 

President Erhürman issued the following written statement ahead of his visit to New York:

“Tomorrow, we will travel to New York.

We have meetings scheduled with Ms Holguín and Mr Guterres.

This will be my third meeting with the Secretary-General during my 11 months in office. The Secretary-General has undertaken a number of initiatives and made several assessments during this period.
 
Following his visit to the island in July, the Secretary-General indicated that he wished to convene a new “5+1” meeting and that, to this end, he expected adequate preparations to be achieved on Confidence-Building Measures, Methodology and Substance.
With regard to Confidence-Building Measures, he proposed measures relating to crossing points and demining, the establishment of joint mechanisms on disasters and irregular migration, sports, EU citizenship for children born of mixed marriages, and the establishment of a consultative body on civil society.
At a recent press conference, in response to a question, the Secretary-General stated that there was still much work to be done before a 5+1 meeting could be convened and stressed that we cannot repeat the mistakes of the past.

As we have consistently stated, following so many inconclusive experiences, we do not consider it appropriate to hold a 5+1 meeting simply for the sake of holding one, nor to enter into negotiations simply for the sake of negotiating. What we seek is a 5+1 meeting for which the prospect of delivering results is secured in advance through meetings held in Nicosia, and a negotiation process which, in line with the will of our people for a solution, will this time lead us to a settlement.

For this reason, as the Secretary-General himself stated following Crans-Montana, this time must be different, and as he remarked at his most recent press conference, we cannot repeat the mistakes of the past. We therefore attach importance to making progress on Confidence-Building Measures and Methodology, both of which have also been referred to by the Secretary-General.

In summary, we are aligned with the approach of the Secretary-General. As we have done to date, we will continue to support the Secretary-General in his efforts within the framework of these approaches during the remainder of his term in office.”