Nicosia considers that Turkey's position will play a crucial role as regards the appointment of a UNSG special envoy for the Cyprus problem and that it will become clear after the meeting between UN Secretary - General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan whether there are prospects for this matter to move forward.
According to diplomatic sources, Guterres is expected to ask Erdogan during their meeting on Tuesday in New York whether he accepts such an appointment or not. Moreover the sources said that if Turkey's position on this is negative then it is important to see how this will be justified, since an envoy would look into the prospects for the resumption of the talks and this appointment does not mean the resumption of the talks.
The diplomatic sources also noted that that Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, who will meet with Guterres on Saturday in New York, will not make any decisions without Turkey's guidance, while they also noted the significance which the meeting between the Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the Turkish President has for the Cyprus problem.
As regards the discussion about the names of personalities that could be appointed by the UNSG for the Cyprus problem, they said that Americans have some ideas which they are discussing with Guterres.
Referring to the energy issues, the diplomatic sources underlined the importance of reaching a conclusion during the discussions with Chevron as regards the way forward concerning the development of the Aphrodite gas field in Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), noting that the US administration is interested in this issue.
Moreover Nicosia and Exxon will look into ways to speed up certain actions that the company needs to take in 2024.
On the transport of natural gas, the diplomatic sources said that it is important for Cyprus to be used for the transport of gas to Europe, however they did not rule out part the natural gas quantities to be transported to Egypt.
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.
Source: Cyprus News Agency