Erhürman and Christodoulides to meet on 9 September in the buffer zone

TRNC President Tufan Erhürman and President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides will meet on 9 September at 10:30 in the buffer zone. This will be their first meeting after an almost two-week pause in the negotiation process.

The previous round was scheduled for 2 September but was postponed following the crash of the Filo Jet ferry near Kyrenia. The parties will discuss confidence-building measures, the methodology of the negotiations and substantive issues related to the Cyprus settlement.

A preparatory meeting was held by TRNC presidential aide Mehmet Dana and the Republic of Cyprus negotiator Menelaos Menelaou. The visit of UN Secretary-General António Guterres's Personal Envoy Maria Angela Holguín Cuéllar has been postponed due to her health.

At their meeting on 26 August, Erhürman and Christodoulides agreed to step up contacts and meet at least once a week. Possible areas of cooperation identified by the parties included demining, opening new crossing points, the civil rights of children from mixed marriages, sports, irregular migration and disaster-response mechanisms.

The leaders are planning to hold several more meetings by the end of September, before travelling to New York for the UN General Assembly.