Greek Cyprus ‘outraged’ as Cyprus meet coincides with anniversary of Istanbul conquest

NICOSIA - Hürriyet

Greek Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades. AFP Photo

Greek Cyprus was “outraged” to learn that a meeting between President Nicos Anastasiades and his Turkish counterpart scheduled for on May 29 coincides with the 560th anniversary of the conquest of the city of Istanbul.

The United Nations has offered to postpone the meeting to the day after Anastasiades insisted on the issue.

Turkish Cypriot President Derviş Eroğlu and Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Anastasiadis were due to hold a meeting on May 29 under U.N. supervision to resume the stalled reunification talks.

The Greek Cypriot administration initially approved the date during the visit of U.N. Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alexander Downer, to the island last month. However, the Greek Cypriot media has criticized that the date coincides with the 560th anniversary of the conquest of Istanbul.

Anastasiades then penned a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon complaining about Downer and saying he would not attend the dinner until he received a guarantee from the U.N. chief that the meeting would be a “social meeting.”