President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades departs for Geneva on the morning of April 26, where he will participate in the informal conference on Cyprus, convened by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and which will take place between April 27 – 29. The President of the Republic will be accompanied by members of the negotiating team as well as the political leaders.
As CNA learns, the program of meetings in the context of the informal conference, begins on April 27 noon, with bilateral meetings of the UN Secretary General with President Anastasiades (19.00 Cyprus time/GMT +3) and earlier with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar. Later, the UN Secretary General will host a reception for the participants of the informal conference, with 1 plus 2 participants from each side.
On 28 April, the program begins at 11.00am (Cyprus time) with a plenary meeting of the participating parties and inaugural speeches by the UN Secretary General, the leaders of the two communities and the Foreign Ministers of the three guarantor powers. Bilateral meetings of the UN Secretary-General with stakeholders will follow at the UN building in Geneva.
Specifically, with a participation of 1 plus 5, the UN Secretary General will have a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at 15.00 (Cyprus time) and an hour later will have a bilateral meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.
At 17.00 (Cyprus time), the UN Secretary-General will meet with UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and an hour later with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar. At 19.00 the UN Secretary General will have a meeting with President Anastasiades. A meeting of the plenary session of the conference will follow, at 20.00 (Cyprus time) and then participants will attend a dinner.
On April 29, at 10.00am (Cyprus time), the UN Secretary General will have a bilateral meeting with Tatar and then with President Anastasiades. Tripartite consultations will follow between the UN Secretary General, the President of the Republic and the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community. At 13:00 (Cyprus time) there will be a plenary meeting of the parties with participation of 1 plus 5.
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 UN Secretary-General invited all parties involved to attend an informal five-plus-one meeting on the Cyprus issue in Geneva, Switzerland, from 27 to 29 April 2021.
