“Anastasiades stepped back from giving a joint message to the UNSG,” President Akıncı states

President Mustafa Akıncı has said that the Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Anastasiades stepped back from an agreement made prior to their New York trip, to give a joint message to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

This was due to the influence of the Greek Cypriot National Council and possible reactions from opposition parties, the President stated.

The statement was intended to pave the way for the five-party meeting.

Speaking to a TAK reporter before leaving New York, Akıncı stated that he held a one-to-one meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and a joint meeting which included Anastasiades.

Akıncı also had meetings with the US Vice President Joe Biden, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu and the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide.

When asked to what extent the three-way meeting met the expectations of the Turkish Cypriot side, Akıncı responded that they had not come to New York expecting miracles, as he previously stated at Ercan airport. “We came here to assess the situation and to determine how best to move forward because it is obvious that we have a tight timetable and the deadline for this timetable is the end of this year’’ Akıncı said.

“The UN Secretary-General is leaving his post at the end of this year and we expect him to take a more active role in the process.”

Finding a settlement before the end of 2016 is both sides’ aim, and the Secretary General will help in this regard, Akıncı said.
According to the President, there are risks in carrying the negotiations into 2017, and Akıncı thus emphasized that it would benefit all parties if a settlement could be reached before the end of this year.