Alexander Downer, UN Secretary General’s Special Advisor on Cyprus, is expected to visit Cyprus at the end of March, to say goodbye to the leaders of the island’s two communities and his associates here, according to reliable sources.
Downer’s proposed trip is likely to coincide with a meeting, the second in a row, between the two leaders, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, scheduled for Monday March 31st. The UN envoy may, if he is still on the island, attend the meeting.
The same sources have told CNA that no agenda has yet been drafted for the March meeting.
“The meetings of the two leaders takes place in the framework of the regular meetings between the two leaders, as announced at the start of the talks in February,” they noted.
During today’s meeting of the two negotiators, Greek Cypriot Andreas Mavroyiannis and Turkish Cypriot Kudret Ozesay evaluated the issues under discussion but, due to lack of sufficient time, their discussion was not completed.
It is expected they will continue their talks at their next meeting on Friday.
Deputy Special Advisor of the UN Secretary General Lisa Buttenheim, who returns to Cyprus tomorrow after a brief absence, is expected to attend Friday’s meeting.
Direct talks between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities resumed in mid February, following an agreement on a Joint Declaration by the leaders of the two communities. The objective is to reunite Cyprus, divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion, under a federal roof.
