By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 26 --
Ten days after
Inner City
Press asked
the UN
Spokesman to
respond to
Cypriot
President
Nicos
Anastasiades
being “angry
because UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon failed
to take a
stance
over
violations of
Cyprus'
exclusive
economic
zone," it was
able to put
the same question
to envoy Espen
Barthe Eide
and UN mission
chief Lisa
Buttenheim.
It was Buttenheim
who answered,
saying that
the UN does
not want to
inflame things
with language
in its report.
Then Espen
Barth Eide was
asked
directly, by a
Greek
journalists,
why do you not
blame Turkey?
He answered
that it all
depends from
how far back
you look at a
problem.
He spoke next
to what at the
UN is called
teh Turkish
Lounge, an
area just
outside the
Security
Council where
journalists
used to be allowed
to work, but
no longer.
This is the
trend at the
UN, now
opposed by the
new Free
UN Coalition
for Access.
Back
on January 16,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric about
Anastasiades'
critique.
Dujarric
replied, "In
many cases
reports of the
Secretary
General elicit
reactions from
one side or
another, there
is no reason
for us to
comment on the
reactions the
the Secretary
General's
report." Video
here.
Back during
the September
2014 UN
General
Debate, Inner
City Press
asked by Greek
Cypriot leader
Nicos Anastasiades
and Turkish
Cypriot leader
Dervis Eroglu
if
hydrocarbons
could help or
hurt their
negotiations.
Anastasiades
was upbeat
about the
chances, when
he answered
Inner City
Press. Video
here.
Then
on
Saturday,
September 30
at the General
Assembly
stakeout while
UN official
Herve Ladsous
created
a circus next
to the
stakeout,
Vine here, Inner
City Press
asked Eroglu
the same
question about
hydrocarbons.
He was
downbeat,
saying that
they might
make Greek
Cypriots more
intransigent.
Video
here.
Now,
a
development.
While Italy's
ENI started
drilling, the
Greek Cypriot
were informed
of competing
seismic tests
in the same
area, at least
until the end
of the year.
Now
the
Greek Cypriot
side has
pulled out of
talks that
were to take
place October
9 between
Anastasiades
and Eroglu.
One question
is, whose to
blame? Another
is, why didn't
the UN and its
new envoy
Epsen Barth
Eide see this
coming? What
will they do
now? We'll
have more on
this.
, 
