Press Releases

During yesterday’s (23/02/22) press briefing at UN Headquarters, the Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Stéphane Dujarric, replied to a question set by the ikypros correspondent, Mr Nicos Antoniades, as follows:

Question: Thank you, Stéphane.The Secretary-General called out Russian President Putin's decision to recognize certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine as independent as "a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine". May I ask why the Secretary-General never issued a similar statement regarding "Turkey's violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Cyprus?" Is this a fair treatment under the UN principles?

Spokesman:  Look, thank you for that question, Nicos. One, I would encourage you to do some research. You are free to look at, to see what the Secretary-General at the time, in the early mid-70s, said about what was going on in Cyprus. Currently, the Cyprus situation is one for which the Secretary-General, I think, has put out a lot of effort, a lot of political capital in order to help the parties resolve the problems on the ground. And whether it’s through his good offices, whether it’s the mission, we continue to work in that way.

Question: Thank you, Stéphane. I will not stop the research, just remind you I’m a refugee as of 1974, so further to my research, I never forget. Thank you.

(MV/ECHR)