Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci was invited to the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) contrary to the international views on the Cyprus settlement, spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova has said, according to a post on the ministry’s twitter account.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had invited Akinci to attend a dinner Erdogan hosted for the heads of state and government who participated in the WHS held in Constantinople (Istanbul), something which sparked Nicosia`s reactions, as Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades decided not to attend the dinner.
During his stay in Constantinople Akinci also had a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in the presence of the latter`s Special Adviser on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, something which also caused Nicosia`s reactions.
Following these events, Anastasiades decided to cancel a meeting he was going to have in Nicosia, with Eide, as well as a meeting he would have with Akinci, in the framework of the UN-led talks which aim to solve the problem of Cyprus, divided since the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974.
After a telephone conversation he had with Ban last Friday, Anastasiades expressed his readiness for the continuation and intensification of the talks, provided that there will be mutual respect between the negotiators, but also provided that there will be no similar phenomena by anybody involved in the process that would only succeed in undermining the process that is under way.
Anastasiades announced on Thursday that his meeting with Akinci will resume on 8 June.
CNA/MK/GV/2016
