UN-hosted Cyprus Talks Uncertain as One Side Says it Wasn't Invited

FILE PHOTO: Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, walk during a visit to the CMP Anthropological Laboratory in the buffer zone of Nicosia airport, Cyprus, July 28, 2023. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, walk during a visit to the CMP Anthropological Laboratory in the buffer zone of Nicosia airport, Cyprus, July 28, 2023. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo
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UN-hosted Cyprus Talks Uncertain as One Side Says it Wasn't Invited

FILE PHOTO: Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, walk during a visit to the CMP Anthropological Laboratory in the buffer zone of Nicosia airport, Cyprus, July 28, 2023. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, walk during a visit to the CMP Anthropological Laboratory in the buffer zone of Nicosia airport, Cyprus, July 28, 2023. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo

Tentative UN plans to convene the leaders of Cyprus's divided communities for talks as early as next week were uncertain on Monday as one side said it had not received an invitation.
The United Nations has been trying to find common ground for the resumption of long-stalled talks between rival Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities in a conflict spanning decades, a major source of tension between Greece and Türkiye, Reuters said.
Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides told an audience late Saturday that he had been "sounded out" for talks hosted by the United Nations in New York on Aug. 13 with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar.
"My response was positive and I hope - we haven't been informed yet - for the same response from the Turkish side and the meeting to lead to positive results," Christodoulides said.
Tatar said he had not received an invitation and accused Christodoulides of trying to muddy the waters with his comment.
"There is no invitation from the UN Secretary-General ... for a tripartite meeting. In any case, under the current conditions, we would not approve a tripartite meeting. There is no basis for such a meeting," he said in a statement.
Christodoulides said any possible refusal from Tatar to meet would be a "disservice" to Turkish Cypriots.
A UN spokesperson in Cyprus referred queries to UN headquarters in New York, where there was no immediate response to a Reuters request for comment.
Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek-inspired coup. The seeds of division were sown earlier when a power-sharing administration crumbled and violence prompted the dispatch of a peacekeeping force.
Peace talks have been on hold since 2017. The Turkish Cypriot side, which administers a breakaway state in the north of Cyprus recognized only by Ankara, now says a resumption of talks can only occur if its equal sovereignty with the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot government is accepted.



Lebanese Govt. to Seek New IMF Program, Policy Statement Says

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas//File Photo
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas//File Photo
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Lebanese Govt. to Seek New IMF Program, Policy Statement Says

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas//File Photo
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas//File Photo

Lebanon's new government will negotiate with the International Monetary Fund for a new program and will work to deal with the country's financial default and public debt, according to a policy statement approved by the cabinet late on Monday.

The statement, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, said the government would work for an economical revival that could only be achieved through restructuring the banking sector.

Lebanon has been in deep economic crisis since 2019, when its financial system collapsed under the weight of massive state debts, prompting a sovereign default in 2020 and freezing ordinary depositors out of their savings in the banking system.

Beirut reached a draft funding deal with IMF in 2022 - contingent on reforms that authorities failed to deliver.

Finance Minister Yassine Jaber, who took office as part of a new government agreed earlier this month, told Reuters an IMF mission is expected to visit Lebanon in March.

Jaber said he had met the IMF's resident representative in Lebanon, Frederico Lima, and confirmed that the government plans to move ahead with reforms.

Lebanon's political landscape has been turned on its head since the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, long a dominant player in Lebanese politics, was badly pummelled in last year's war with Israel.

Reflecting the shift in the power balance, the government policy statement did not include language used in previous years that was seen to legitimize a role for Hezbollah in defending Lebanon, saying instead "we want a state that has the decision of war and peace".

The statement said it was required to adopt a national security strategy and a foreign policy that works to 'neutralize' Lebanon from conflicts.

In the field of energy, the Lebanese government will seek to resume work in oil and gas exploration, according to the cabinet statement. It said the government planned to establish a Ministry of Technology and Artificial Intelligence.

With a new administration in neighboring Syria, the statement said the Lebanese government believed it has an opportunity to start a serious dialogue aimed at controlling and demarcating the borders and working to resolve the issue of displaced Syrians in Lebanon.