President Nicos Anastasiades today referred to the content of his discussion with the President of Turkey on the sidelines of the EU-NATO dinner in Madrid.
In his statements to journalists on the sidelines of the unveiling ceremony of the monument to Glafkos Clerides, and in response to a journalist's remark that the President of Turkey had exerted a lot of pressure on the hosts of the EU-NATO dinner in Madrid, so that the President of the Republic of Cyprus would not participate, President Anastasiades said "why should I discuss or refer to the failures of others?".
In response to a journalist's remark that Erdogan was trying to downplay the brief meeting he had with the President of the Republic by referring to the Turkish Cypriot leader, President Anastasiades said that "there was nothing to downplay. It was a formal, friendly meeting.
I have known him since 2005, Emmanuel Macron played his role and therefore we met, in fact we met twice, one during the reception and another after the dinner, but again the discussions were of a friendly nature with only the intervention that we should at some point, and it is good as long as our friend President Emmanuel Macron intervenes, if he wanted, I am ready, to meet in Paris."
Asked if he suggested this to Erdogan, the President replied in the affirmative, and when asked what the Turkish President's response to this was, President Anastasiades said that "[ERDOGAN] said that we could meet in the north and I said no way."
Asked to comment on reports in the Turkish press that Tayyip Erdogan emerged victorious from Madrid, the President said that "he should project the retreat and why he retreated from the initial objections. I don't want to deal with Turkey's internal affairs."
Asked if he had been informed of the proposals that Mr. Tatar submitted to the UN Assistant Secretary General yesterday afternoon, the President replied "not yet. What I saw in the press some information. Yesterday morning when I had met with the Assistant Secretary-General, he did not have them in mind, after all they were delivered to him in the afternoon. When I receive it, there will be an appropriate response."
(PM/EC)
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