Paris, France. President Nikos Christodoulides said he held a brief discussion with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan during Bastille Day celebrations, rejecting reports that no conversation had taken place between them.
He said video and photographic evidence showed the two officials speaking and described the exchange as a brief discussion rather than formal talks.
Disputed account of meeting
Christodoulides said he had stated that there were no talks, but that there had been a discussion. He said the exchange was visible in video footage and photographs and was not fabricated.
He said the discussion included an exchange of views on developments, actions and movements involving United Nations Secretary-General and European Union initiatives.
His remarks followed a report by Turkish news website GDH, which cited Turkish diplomatic sources as denying that a discussion had taken place.
The sources were quoted as saying that Christodoulides approached Fidan in a manner visible to cameras during the Paris meeting and attempted to engage him in conversation. They said similar attempts had occurred at other meetings.
According to the report, the sources said they understood that Christodoulides wanted to raise matters from his own agenda, while Fidan had indicated that he did not wish to speak with the Greek Cypriot leader.
Cyprus problem developments
Separately, Christodoulides said there were several developments concerning the Cyprus problem and that further news in the coming days would demonstrate continued activity.
He said efforts were continuing to turn this activity into concrete results, namely the resumption of talks from where they had been interrupted, toward a solution fully compatible with European Union principles, values and laws.
Asked whether a date had been set for an enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem, he said announcements would be made by the relevant protagonists.
Christodoulides also said he was pleased by the European Union’s interest in the Cyprus problem following the appointment of Raffaele Fitto as envoy.