Deputy UN Spokesman Farhan Haq has said that the meeting that took place between the UNSG and the Turkish Cypriot leader in Turkey this week was neither scheduled nor formal.
“There was not a formal meeting with Mr. Akinci. I believe he showed up for an event that the Secretary-General was also at, so they saw each other briefly in the context of that event, but there was not a scheduled meeting by any means”, he said.
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, who was also present in Istanbul where the World Humanitarian Summit took place, stressed yesterday that he will not accept, in any way, a downgrading of the Republic of Cyprus and that what happened in Constantinople (Istanbul) was bad handling on the part of the UN, stressing at the same time that such bad handling shall not be tolerated.
The Republic of Cyprus was not informed in advance about Akinci`s presence in Istanbul nor about his meeting with the UNSG Ban Ki-moon. Nicosia and the EU had received UN assurances before the summit there would be no efforts to try to downgrade the Republic of Cyprus in some way or upgrade the internationally unrecognized self-styled Turkish Cypriot regime in the occupied northern part of Cyprus, during the summit.
Following this development, President Anastasiades cancelled his meeting this week both with UNSG`s Special Advisor for Cyprus Espen Barth Eide and with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.
Akinci is the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, in the northern areas of Cyprus, which are occupied by Turkish troops since the Turkish invasion in 1974. Ankara occupies 37% of Cyprus` territory. The Turkish Cypriots set up their own regime in November 1983, which no state, barring Turkey, recognises. UN Security Council resolution 550 calls on all states not to regonise the self-styled regime and not to facilitate it in any way.
Asked if the UNSG intends to proceed to any actions to ease the tension and if he believes that a solution is within reach in 2016, the UN Deputy Spokesman said that `this is what the leaders themselves have said, and we have lauded them for their work together. What the Secretary‑General has made clear in the last couple of days is that the two leaders have already demonstrated great courage and great perseverance in the process`.
`They`ve achieved quite a bit. And what he`s doing is he`s encouraging them to redouble their efforts in the months to come. He believes that that will ultimately be to the benefit of all the people of Cyprus. So we`re working with them. Mr. Eide continues his work with the parties, and we hope that that will bear fruit` he added.
The Deputy Spokesman said that the UN haven`t received any official communications regarding the cancellation of any meetings.
“We are working with the parties, and we will continue to work to bring them together. And we certainly hope, given the investment that the leaders have already made in this, that they will continue with this” he added.
The leaders of the two communities in Cyprus, President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci have been engaged in UN-backed peace negotiations since last year with the aim to reunite the island divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion.
