Cyprus Reconciliation Talks Break-Down Even Before They Start

Cyprus' President Nicos Anastasiades speaks during a news conference at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus April 7, 2016. REUTERS/YIANNIS KOURTOGLOU

Reuters: Cyprus president cuts short Turkey trip after protocol row

Cyprus's president canceled scheduled peace talks and cut short a visit to Turkey on Tuesday, his spokesman said, after a United Nations summit treated the rival Turkish Cypriot leader as a head of state.

The protocol row underscored the sensitivity and complexity of the Cyprus conflict, a decades-old conundrum that generations of diplomats and an army of peacemakers have failed to crack.

It was also an unexpected hiccup in an otherwise positive progression of peace talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

President Nicos Anastasiades was in Turkey attending a U.N. humanitarian summit but refused to attend a banquet for heads of state on Monday evening because Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, who represents breakaway north Cyprus, was also invited.

Turkey is the only country that recognizes the breakaway North Cyprus statelet.

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Update #1: Cyprus leader calls off peace meeting after snub (AFP)
Update #2: Cyprus peace talks: Anastasiades upset by dinner invite (Al Jazeera)

WNU Editor: Someone screwed up big-time in the UN .... or was pressured to invite the Turkish Cypriot leader to this state dinner. Being a former diplomat who has worked at the UN I can tell you that such things do happen ... but rarely .... the protocols are very strict and the UN abides by them as closely as possible. My guess .... and it is just a guess .... is that someone in the UN was pressured by the Turkish government to do this, and they did so without thinking of the consequences.