Holguin to Meet Greece’s Gerapetritis on Thursday

The Cyprus News Agency reported that Holguin will meet Gerapetritis as part of her ongoing discussions ahead of the next enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem, which is set to take place in July.

Holguin had met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara on Monday, though no public statements were made after that meeting.

She is also due to visit London and Brussels and had said last week that she plans to return to Cyprus before July’s enlarged meeting.

On Saturday, she had said that both Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar and President Nikos Christodoulides “expressed willingness to make progress” towards achieving and implementing the confidence-building measures agreed upon at March’s enlarged meeting.

“I believe that by building genuine trust, we can pave the way for a positive outcome from the informal broader meeting in July,” she said.

Of her own role going forward, she said that “I am here to offer support, to promote dialogue, and to bring everyone closer together, as the leaders seek to fulfil their commitments as outlined in the outcomes of the Geneva meeting”.

“I reiterate my resolve to respectfully carry out this duty … to move forward towards next steps in a spirit of compromise,” she added.

She had met Christodoulides on Friday, with government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis after that meeting stressing that the recent arrests made by the Republic of Cyprus of people accused of selling Greek Cypriot-owned property in the northhad not come about because of political interference.

“We will repeat this for the umpteenth time – the president himself has said it, that in every well-governed state, in every democracy, the executive branch cannot interfere in the judiciary,” he said.

He went on to state that a tripartite meeting with Holguin and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar “would be beneficial and very useful”, though Tatar has this week twice ruled out meeting Christodoulides in light of the circumstances surrounding property.

Tatar had said after his meeting with Holguin last week that it is “not possible to talk about a healthy dialogue” between Cyprus’ two sides in light of the circumstances surrounding the matter of property.

He described the arrests as “a policy of political pressure and intimidation targeting our people through real estate on the part of the Greek Cypriot leadership” and said it has “nothing to do with the law”.

He then added that his reasons for rejecting the idea of a tripartite meeting were “very clear and principled”.

“So long as the Greek Cypriot leader continues to attack us, he will receive a similar response. I never give credence to threats and blackmail,” he said.

Two Hungarian nationals were handed prison sentences over the matter last, with the pair having admitted to promoting and advertising the sale of houses near Kyrenia on the internet.

Meanwhile, the case of a German national who reportedly spoke about selling property in the north to an off-duty police officer during a flight to Larnaca is ongoing, and arrest warrants have been issued for four Turkish nationals in connection with developments in the Famagusta district village of Lefkoniko.

Source: Cyprus Mail