A written statement of the Foreign Ministry said that the meeting which was held for the first time in Istanbul in February 2002, was to be held for a second time in Istanbul in October.
The statement said that Turkey spent intensive efforts for the organization of the meeting for months , however, "The EU Presidency notified us that it will not attend this forum because of the status of TRNC which has been declared the "Turkish Cypriot State" by the OIC and called on other member countries to follow suit. The Greek Cypriot Government appears to have spent intensive efforts to influence the other EU countries on the issue.
"The EU Presidency has turned down our call to make a statement that this initiative would not mean to recognize TRNC under this status. The decision of the EU Term Presidency not to attend the forum and its call to the other member countries, has resulted in cancelling this unofficial foreign ministers meeting which had no political ambitions and which aimed at discussing political, economic and cultural mechanisms, stemming from the need of establishing harmory between cultures and religions.
"We are saddened by the prevention of this important initiative which aimed at contributing to the dialogue between the civilizations and cultures and to the world peace."
