President Tatar: “The reaction to the Archbishop shows the extent of the intolerance of the Greek Cypriot and Greek leadership”

President Ersin Tatar said, “We regret the reaction and the inconvenient attacks against the American Archbishop Elpidoforos, who attended the opening ceremony of the Turkish House on Monday 20 September in New York.”

President Tatar evaluated the statements made by the Greek Cypriot and Greek leadership towards the American Archbishop Elpidoforos, who attended the opening ceremony of the Turkish House in New York.

President Tatar expressed “While the participation of representatives of the two biggest monotheistic religions to this meeting, attended by many world leaders as well as the UN Secretary-General upon the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is an act that should be applauded in terms of world peace, the Greek Cypriot-Greek duo reacted to this and it is an exemplary event that the Greek-Greek Cypriot leaders brought to the point of giving up a meeting with the Archbishop.

These political movements show the level of bigotry and intolerance of the Greek Cypriot and Greek sides. It is obvious that such behaviour that will deepen the distrust between the two peoples will harm the aforementioned efforts in such a period when efforts are being made for a reconciliation in Cyprus. We condemn such unacceptable actions and expect the international community to draw the necessary conclusions.”