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Spehar holds telephone conversations with leaders

25/02/2019 15:15

UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Cyprus Elizabeth Spehar held telephone conversations with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci over the weekend, in the framework of the preparations for the two leaders’ informal meeting that will take place on Tuesday at Spehar’s residence in Nicosia UN-controlled buffer zone.

Spehar will also speak with the two sides today, a well -informed source has told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA). These discussions concern the expectations that the two sides have, what they want to talk about. She is hearing from them and passing messages between them, the same source added.

It is up to the leaders to decide what the agenda is, how long the meeting will take, whether they are going to issue a joint statement. How the meeting proceeds is totally up to them, the same source said, adding that Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) are expected to be among the issues on the two leaders’ agenda.

UN spokesperson in Cyprus Aleem Siddique had told CNA that “preparations are ongoing for the leaders’ meeting tomorrow and the UN are in constant contact with both sides. The Deputy Special Adviser of the Secretary General Elizabeth Spehar looks forward to hosting the leaders at 1030 tomorrow morning,” he noted.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory.