Cyprus Topic

Akinci turns down

Russian FM Lavrov´s Offer

President Mustafa Akinci has turned down an offer to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the UN buffer zone during the top diplomat’s visit to South Cyprus on December 1-2, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

“We offered a compromise option of meeting Lavrov on the ‘green line’ to the Turkish Cypriot leader. The proposal would have taken account of the interests of both communities residing on the island but it was turned down,” Zakharova told the Russian media.

She said that if Lavrov had accepted to meet with Akıncı at the Presidency this would imply recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which Zakharova added, was why they had turned down the invitation.

Commenting on the issue earlier yesterday, President Mustafa Akıncı had expressed his desire to meet with the Russian Foreign Minister but drew attention to the importance of being given equal footing with his Greek Cypriot counterpart Nicos Anastasiadis.

“The Russian Foreign Minister is coming to Cyprus but whoever wants to contribute to the Cyprus Problem should meet with and have contacts with representatives of both communities on the island. Such a communication is only possible by listening to the positions of both sides. We would like to establish the same relations with Russia that we have with other countries” he said.

Earlier this month President Mustafa Akıncı had refused to attend a reception hosted in honour of the visiting German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeir on grounds that his request that the two sides be represented at the event on an equal footing was not met satisfactorily.

Source: BRT World News