Cyprus update: Peace talks between Cyprus and TRNC suffer set back as Anastasiades is upset by dinner invite

Talks aimed at reunifying Cyprus and North Cyprus suffered a setback on Tuesday when the Greek Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades called off a meeting with its counterpart, Turkish Cypriot president Mustafa Akinci after he attended a dinner of heads of state at the invitation of Turkey during the World Humanitarian Summit. This led to president Nicos Anastasiades to cut short his visit to Turkey over what he perceived as protocol breach at the UN summit and refused to attend an official dinner hosted by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Spokesman to Greek Cypriot government Nicos Christodoulides said in a brief statement that President Nicos Anastasiades "regretfully" called off the meeting with Mustafa Akinci scheduled for later this week in light of Monday's "unacceptable actions." He further said the invitation of Akinci is aimed to diplomatically upgrade the breakaway north of the island, which only Turkey recognizes as an independent state. In total condemnation of the act by blaming the United Nations for the dissention, Christodoulides said there was "no fertile ground" for Friday's planned meeting with Akinci in Nicosia. North Cyprus president Akinci, on his part, said he was finding the Greek Cypriot president's reaction to his presence at Erdogan's state dinner "unreasonable". "They are being unreasonable by finding our presence hard to digest. Instead of acting on their emotions, they need to move forward using their reason and logic,"  "I attended a dinner hosted by the Turkish president. I was there as a guest like everyone else," he said. "After dinner, I went in to an available room and talked to the UN secretary general. Why should this be interpreted as trying to sabotage the peace process?" "There is no reason for the meeting to be cancelled," said Akinci. "We are going to get ready for that meeting as planned." The island has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup Turkey feared was aimed at unifying the island with Greece.