“The most important thing is to listen, not only to the leaders, but also to the people and the civil society,” stated Maria Angela Holguín Cuéllar, the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, on Tuesday.
In statements made in the occupied areas after a two-hour meeting with the Turkish Cypriot leader, Ms. Holguín referred to a “very good meeting” with Ersin Tatar, stating that “now we need to think about the future.”
As reported in the occupied areas, Ms. Holguín reiterated in a brief statement to reporters that this is her first visit to Cyprus since being appointed Personal Envoy by the Secretary-General, and she said that she will try to help restart discussions on common ground.
“What I am going to do is to listen to the people, to listen to civil society, to the needs of the people, what they want. This is what I learned after the peace process in Colombia, where I participated. The most important thing is to listen. Not only the leaders, we must listen to the people and the civil society. Because leaders must seek common ground. We are going to help. We are here to facilitate and I am very happy to do so,” she said.
Ms. Holguín acknowledged all the efforts made in the past “and now we need to think about the future.”
The UN envoy was awaited by a Turkish Cypriot delegation from the T/c Peace Association and the district youth secretary of the Republican Turkish Party in occupied Nicosia, shortly after the Ledra Palace checkpoint, holding banners with slogans such as “We want federation,” “United Federal Cyprus,” “We Turkish Cypriots support a federal solution.”
