Off the wire
• Roundup: Xi stresses economic restructuring in northeast tour  • Scottish gov't to focus on equal opportunity for everyone in Scotland  • Europe's bathing water improved after 40 years of investments: EU report  • LME base metals mostly decrease on Wednesday  • Xi inspects cybersecurity firm in trip to N.E. province  • Ukraine revises down 2017 GDP growth forecast to 3.5 pct  • South African stocks close higher, led by financials  • U.S. State Dept watchdog accuses Hillary of violating gov't rules on emails  • ICMPD opens office in Malta  • Portugal bans junk food retailers in national health service hospitals  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: Cyprus annoyed with UN behavior, demands public explanation

Xinhua, May 26, 2016 Adjust font size:

Cyprus said on Wednesday it was greatly annoyed with the behavior of the UN over a "faux pas" at the Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul and demanded a public explanation by the international organization.

Government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades was greatly annoyed and canceled meetings with a UN official in Cyprus on Thursday and with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci on Friday for talks on a Cyprus solution.

The spokesman implied that the Cyprus peace negotiations will not resume before explanations are given.

He said Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides will travel to New York to talk with the UN secretary-general personally at the beginning of June.

Anastasiades cut short his stay in Istanbul and traveled to Athens on Tuesday night after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan sent a plane to take Akinci to Istanbul to attend a dinner for world leaders taking part in during the summit.

"The United Nations bear the biggest responsibility for the events in Istanbul. We are not satisfied with a statement by the UN Secretary-General's deputy spokesman and we expect a public explanation," Christodoulides told the state radio.

Deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq, in explaining the joint presence of Ban Ki-moon and Akinci at the dinner hosted by Tayyip Erdogan said in New York that the arrangements were not done by the United Nations.

He did not mention Ban's meeting with Akinci.

Turkish authorities released pictures showing Akinci shaking hands with both Erdogan and Ban.

Turkey does not recognize the internationally accepted government of Cyprus, which is a UN and EU member, recognizing instead a breakaway state in the northern part of Cyprus it occupied in 1974, in reaction to a coup by the military rulers of Greece at the time.

Cyprus laid the blame squarely on Espen Barth Eide, UN Secretary-General's special adviser on Cyprus, for misleading Anastasiades and for arranging a meeting between Akinci and Ban.

Christodoulides said the Cypriot government had sought and received assurances both from Eide and the Turkish government that nothing would happen to embarrass Anastasiades during the summit.

Akinci traveled to Istanbul on a plane sent by the Turkish government shortly before the dinner.

He said he withheld his departure until he was informed that a meeting with Ban had been arranged.

Christodoulides said the cancellation of the two meetings by Anastasiades does not mean that negotiations for the reunification of Cyprus are being suspended.

"The President of the Republic sent a message that he would accept neither sly behavior nor efforts to create any fait accompli by anyone," said Christodoulides. Endit