President Ersin Tatar and leader of the Greek Cypriot Administration Nicos Anastasiades attended the “New Year” reception hosted by the United Nations at the Ledra Palace Hotel in the buffer zone in Lefkoşa on Wednesday night.

The two leaders met at an informal meeting after nearly eight months.

President Ersin Tatar and Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades came together at an informal “End-of-Year Reception” held at the Ledra Palace Hotel on Wednesday evening.

The reception was hosted by the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General in Cyprus and the Chief of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus Colin Stewart.

It was the first time the two leaders met in nearly eight months. President Tatar’s Special Representative Ergün Olgun, Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaos Menelaou and the accompanying negotiation team members, technical committee co-chairs as well as diplomats, UN officials and representatives of some non-governmental organizations from both sides also attended the reception.

The two leaders had last met in April at the launch event of the action plan on women’s participation in the resolution process of the Cyprus problem in the buffer zone, hosted by Colin Stewart.

Delivering a short speech at the reception, the Canadian diplomat Colin Stewart thanked the two leaders who attended the reception. Stating that the end-of-year reception event was an opportunity to thank everyone, Colin Stewart thanked the co-chairs and coordinators of technical committees from both sides, as well as President Tatar’s Special Representative Ergün Olgun and the Greek Cypriot Negotiator Menelaos Menelaou, for their dedication to the efforts to find common ground over the past year.