UNITED
NATIONS, May
20 -- The UN's
envoy on
Cyprus,
Alexander
Downer, also
works for a
"consultancy,"
Bespoke
Approach.
Recently his
public
statements
about a May 29
dinner
involving
Cyprus' new
president
Nicos
Anastasiades
landed him, in
the language
of a Cypriot
headline,
"in the dog
house."
The
Cyprus
Mail
reported that
"Anastasiades
yesterday
accused UN
Special
Adviser
Alexander
Downer and his
team of
undermining
the
president’s
credibility
and the
prospects of
resuming peace
talks
in a letter
sent to UN
Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon.
Anastasiades
threatened to
pull out of
the UN-planned
dinner between
himself and
Turkish
Cypriot leader
Dervis Eroglu
on May 29,
unless the UN
chief
could provide
personal
assurances
that it would
be a 'social
event'
only. The
two-page
letter,
revealed by
state
broadcaster
CyBC last
night, is
dated May 17,
2013."
Since
the letter was
reported by
the state
broadcaster,
it seemed sure
the
UN was aware
of it and
would respond.
At the UN in
New York on
May
20, Inner City
Press asked
Ban's deputy
spokesman
Eduardo Del
Buey, video
here from
Minute 11:37:
Inner
City Press: it
is said that
the President,
new President
of Cyprus
has written to
the
Secretary-General
complaining
about
Alexander
Downer having
either
mis-described
or mis-set up
a dinner with
the
Turkish
Cypriot
leader, Dervis
Eroglu. Are
you aware of
this letter
being
received? It
is reported in
the Cyprus
press and it
says that
they are… they
may both pull
out of the
dinner and out
of talks. So,
it seems
serious.
Deputy
Spokesperson
Del Buey:
Well, Matthew,
as Martin has
said on a
number
of occasions
here, we… the
Secretary-General
gets many
letters
throughout the
day and we are
not privy
often at the
first moment
that these
letters are
received. We
will check to
see and we
will
get back to
you.
And
Del Buey's
office did get
back to Inner
City Press,
just before 5
pm,
with this:
From:
UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Mon, May
20, 2013
at 4:52 PM
Subject:
Regarding your
question on
the letter
from
President
Anastasiades
to the
Secretary-General
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Regarding
your
question today
on the letter
from President
Anastasiades
(Republic of
Cyprus) to the
Secretary-General,
the Department
of
Political
Affairs has
provided the
following
information:
The
letter from
President
Anastasiades
to the
Secretary-General
has not
yet come to
the attention
of the
Secretary-General.
Does
this mean that
a May17 letter
"revealed" on
Cyprus' state
broadcaster
had still not
reached New
York, three
days later? Or
that
it had
arrived, but
that since Ban
Ki-moon is
traveling (and
will be
for another
week), the
Cyprus
president's
letter has not
been brought
to the
attention of
the Secretary
General?
More
substantively,
given the
threat, what
is the UN's
response, a
"mediator"?
What is
Downer's
response?
Watch this
site.
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