The parties, participating in the bi-communal dialogue under the auspices of the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Nicosia, met for their regular meeting today, at the Ledra Palace.

A Joint Communiqué says that leaders and representatives of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot political parties expressed opinions on the topic proposed by the hosting party – Democratic Party (DIKO):

“The historic task of our times should not be to keep our communities peacefully apart, but to bring them actively together. In doing so, it is critical to be aware of the security dilemma that lies at the heart of the Cyprus issue, in which actions taken by the one community, in order to increase its own security cause reactions from the other, which in turn leads to a decrease rather than an increase in the original community’s security.”

Delegates exchanged ideas on the issue proposed, recognizing that the security aspect of the Cyprus issue is one of vital importance for both communities and consequently action should be taken by both sides in order to ensure that, as a first step, the security concerns of each community are recognised by the other, the joint communique reads.

It adds that the delegates “reaffirmed their position that the present status quo and the lack of negotiations are not acceptable and expressed willingness for cultivating a positive climate for a swift resumption of talks under the UN auspices with special emphasis on security issues including concerns of both communities.”

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 28 June 2023 with Turkish Cypriot Democratic Party (DP) as hosting party.

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.