The United Nations-brokered peace talks scheduled to be held on June 21
to find a solution to the decades-long conflict on the Mediterranean
island of Cyprus were delayed amid ongoing forest fires in the Greek Cypriot administration.
The United Nations’ Good Offices announced on June 21 that Greek
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades had requested to postpone the
leaders’ meeting scheduled to take place on the same day in Nicosia.
“The
Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akıncı, expressed his full
understanding and support,” read a part of the statement, adding that
the next meeting would take place on June 23.
In a separate
statement issued on June 21 by his office, Akıncı expressed his
condolences for the loss of two firefighters trying to tackle the
ongoing forest fires in the Troodos Mountains on the Greek Cypriot side of the island.
“On
behalf of my nation and myself, I express my condolences to the
families and loved ones of the people who have lost their lives,” said
Akıncı.
“I share the grief of Greek Cyprus,” he added.
Two
firefighters died in hospital on June 20 from injuries suffered when
the truck they were in plunged 40 meters down a cliff in the Solea
valley, in the northern foothills of the Troodos Mountains, police
stated, according to AFP.
Another man was injured in the accident
near Evrychou, where the fire has destroyed at least 15 square
kilometers of scenic countryside and forced the evacuation of parts of
the village.
The two sides of Cyprus have been holding extensive
peace talks since May 2015, with the leaders of both expressing hope for
a solution in 2016.
The blaze on the Mediterranean island began
on June 19, just one day after firefighters managed to extinguish
another huge fire at Argaka on the island’s northwest coast.
Police
said they had arrested two people suspected of starting the earlier
fire. They said a 12-year-old boy was suspected of starting the Evrychou
blaze while playing with a lighter.
Five foreign governments deployed aircraft to Greek Cyprus on June 21 to help battle the island’s worst forest fires in years.
France
and Italy were the latest countries to send planes to assist more than
300 firefighters attempting to put out the blazes which have ran amok as
the island swelters under temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.
Two British, four Greek
and six Israeli aircraft were already helping to tackle the second
massive wild fire to hit the Mediterranean holiday island in less than a
week.
Akıncı’s presidential spokesperson Barış Burcu said June
20 that Akıncı had called Anastasiades on June 19 and offered to supply Greek
Cyprus with aircrafts to put the fire out, according to a statement
issued on the presidential office’s website on June 20. Burcu said
Anastasiades thanked Akıncı and said that he would reconsider the offer
if attempts to put the fire out where inadequate.
