President Mustafa Akinci flew to Istanbul on Monday to attend a dinner hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan within the framework of the UN World Humanitarian Summit, in Istanbul.
Akinci, who flew last night to Istanbul by private plane sent by Turkey, after the surprise invitation, was received in Istanbul by the EU Minister and negotiator Volkan Bozkir.
Meanwhile, Akinci also met with the UNSG Ban Ki-moon in Istanbul at around 10pm. They evaluated the latest phase of the Cyprus talks and the next seven months. Special Representative Espen Barth Eide also participated in the meeting.
Furthermore, the paper writes that the participation of Akinci at the dinner triggered a diplomatic protocol incident. Reportedly, South Cyprus President Anastasiades reacted to the participation of Akinci in an official dinner, hosted by Erdogan, by not attending the dinner.
Akinci’s visit to Istanbul was announced at the last minute via the presidency’s Twitter account which read as follows: “President Akinci went to Istanbul as Erdogan’s guest to participate in the dinner which Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will host within the framework of the World Humanitarian Summit”. Bozkir published in his Twitter account 3 photos with the statement “I welcome TRNC President esteemed Mustafa Akinci who came to Istanbul for the World Humanitarian Summit”.
Akinci was accompanied by his undersecretary Cenk Gurcag. They returned to the TRNC on Tuesday.
Kibris Gazetesi
