Turkish presidential adviser, UN assistant secretary-general discuss Cyprus

By Muhammed Enes Calli

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's chief adviser Akif Cagatay Kilic discussed on Friday a range of issues including Cyprus with UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas Miroslav Jenca in the Turkish capital Ankara.

"We discussed the latest developments and possible steps on Cyprus, the (Black Sea) grain corridor and the UN General Assembly meeting," Kilic said on X after the closed-door meeting at the presidential complex.

Kilic said rights of the Turkish Cypriots must be protected, and the "unjust attitude" to this issue must end.

Jenca, for his part, expressed his gratitude to Türkiye for its efforts on the restoration of the Black Sea grain deal.

Türkiye, together with the UN, brokered the deal in July 2022, allowing Ukraine to resume shipping foodstuffs from three of its Black Sea ports during the war with Russia.

Russia, however, withdrew from the agreement in July, saying the memorandum was not honored and there are restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance on shipments of its own food and fertilizer exports.

Earlier this week, Jenca held talks with Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders "as part of the UN's continued engagement with the parties to explore common ground on the way forward on the Cyprus issue."

His talks in Cyprus came after UN peacekeepers intervened on Aug. 18 in road construction work to link the Turkish Cypriot village of Pile in the buffer zone with the rest of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

Türkiye said that the construction of the Pile-Yigitler road is a humanitarian project aiming to facilitate the direct access of TRNC citizens in the village of Pile to their homeland.

The Greek Cypriot administration and the UN are opposed to the project.