The two Cypriot leaders have agreed to meet for a “social dinner” at the presence of the UN Secretary General. The expectations are low as sides have shown no signs of departure from their respective positions. While the Turkish Cypriot side is adamant on their so called “two states” position, which is vocally and openly supported by the Turkish government, the Greek Cypriot side has been consistent expressing their commirment to a bicommunal, bizonal federation as stipulated by the numerous UN resoutions.
The negative developments in the Middle East is regarded as a distracting factor for the attempts to put the talks back on trace in Cyprus, not only because the international community is focused on the developments there, but also because in a everchanging political context, the regional and international players shift towards reassessing their positions in the region. The elephant in the room is Turkey and how it regards itself vis-a-vis other players with the new developments. Greece is pushing for some progress in the Cyprus problem within the framework of improving its relations with Turkey. However, on the other hand, we see no positive steps by Nicos Christodoulides towards the Turkish Cypriots as he had previously promised. Indeed, this is a dinner that will finally bring the Cypriot sides together with the UN Secretary General but we hardly see any spark for a love affair at this stage.
Apart from the developments in the Cyprus problem, in this episode of Nicosia Uncut, Andromachi Sophocleous and Kemal Baykallı dicuss domestic politics, electricity interconnector and next year’s elections in the north.