President Nikos Christodoulides said on Sunday that only a resumption of negotiations would show in practice who genuinely wants a solution to the Cyprus problem, as Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman pressed him to accept a rotating presidency first.
Christodoulides is pointing both Erhurman and Maria Angela Holguin, the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy, to the negotiating table. Erhurman wants the rotating presidency accepted before anything else, while Holguin is admonishing the two sides to agree on confidence-building measures (CBMs).
Christodoulides was asked about an interview Erhurman gave to the newspaper Politis, in which he called on the president to clarify whether he accepts a rotating presidency in reunification talks.
The president described the interview as particularly revealing. He said it was clear that the Turkish side was setting terms and preconditions for resuming talks, namely that the Greek Cypriot side accept in advance specific positions of interest to the Turkish Cypriot community. There was no willingness at all to discuss or accept Greek Cypriot positions on other important aspects of the Cyprus problem, he added, saying he had briefed the National Council on this.
Asked about Erhurman’s statement that he had not received a document setting out the president’s 19 proposals on the Cyprus problem, Christodoulides said: “I never said the proposals were submitted in writing. They were submitted orally.”
Erhurman knows the 19 very specific proposals and has taken a position on some of them but not yet on others, the president said. The National Council is fully aware of the proposals and discussed Erhurman’s interview on Saturday night, he said, adding that the issues had been conveyed to Erhurman orally rather than in writing.
He said he did not want to get drawn into a blame game, which he did not believe helped efforts to restart talks in any way. He said he could state publicly that the fenced-off town of Varosha was among the issues he had raised specifically. He had also discussed it with the UN Secretary-General in New York recently, and it was included in the letter he sent him.
On the Turkish side’s position against open-ended talks, Christodoulides said everything depended on where negotiations started. If they resumed from where they left off at Crans-Montana, the points of disagreement and the issues to be discussed were well known, and less time would be needed. If anyone wanted to start from scratch, nobody could set a timeframe, he said.
Guterres letter to Erhurman
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told Erhurman that actions that hinder confidence-building, including the cancellation of events, run counter to efforts to create a favourable climate on the Cyprus problem, Turkish Cypriot online media reported.
The letter, dated October 16, 2026, replies to a letter from Erhurman of August 28 in which he claimed the Greek Cypriot side was obstructing Turkish Cypriot cultural, sports, political and diplomatic activities.
Guterres reportedly said he had carefully considered the concerns Erhurman raised, describing such developments as discouraging and contrary to his repeated calls for initiatives that strengthen mutual trust. He also stressed that the two sides needed to continue their contacts and cooperation, to create the conditions for a process leading to a lasting settlement.
Memorial speech
Speaking at the national memorial service for Nikos Karantonis and Giannis Styllis, heroes of occupied Trikomo, at the Church of Agios Neofytos in Polemidia, Christodoulides said Cyprus was once again at a critical turning point in its history.
He said developments in the wider region were continuous and largely unpredictable. “As a state, we are doing everything humanly possible,” he said, not only to restart negotiations on the Cyprus problem but also to raise the country’s international profile.
The government had set high goals from the start and had proved that the Republic of Cyprus could take initiatives, set strategies, be at the centre of developments and be part of the solution, he said. Alongside its daily efforts to solve the Cyprus problem, it was working to strengthen every element of the country’s power.
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