Letimbiotis: We Desire Direct Dialogue with Turkey

In an interview with Cyprus Radio, Letimbiotis highlighted that President Nikos Christodoulides' meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan demonstrated the Greek Cypriot administration's willingness for direct dialogue with Ankara.

Letimbiotis emphasized that, alongside Turkey's focus on its ties with the EU, efforts to "link Turkey-EU relations to the Cyprus issue" served as a catalyst in the UN Secretary-General's efforts. He also revealed that the Greek Cypriot side hoped for an informal, expanded meeting on the Cyprus issue to take place before the end of the year.

The spokesman added that, so far, no date had been set for the visit of UN Deputy Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo to the region, or for her preparatory visits to Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, and the UK ahead of the expanded talks.

Letimbiotis also noted that no date had been established yet for a potential meeting between President Ersin Tatar and President Nikos Christodoulides to discuss possible new crossing points.

Kombos Meets Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Bayramov

In another development, the radio reported that Cyprus Foreign Minister Konstantinos Kombos met Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov for the first time yesterday evening, on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Summit.

Letimbiotis stated that the meeting between Bayramov and Kombos provided an opportunity for an initial exchange of views on areas of mutual interest and highlighted differences in their approaches to certain issues, particularly with Cyprus set to assume the EU Council presidency in the first half of 2026.

Acknowledging the absence of formal diplomatic relations between Cyprus and Azerbaijan, Letimbiotis stressed the importance of this contact and any dialogue channels, calling them "useful and significant."