Bahrain Mirror: Cyprus strongly protested the appearance of the Turkish flag of Northern Cyprus during the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) conference held in Manama a few days ago, and sent a letter of protest to Bahrain over the incident that almost caused a crisis between the two countries.

Annita Demetriou, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Cyprus, said that the parliament had sent a letter of protest to the head of the parliament in Bahrain Ahmed bin Salman Al Musalam on March 13, Cyprus Mail newspaper reported, adding that Cyprus received a letter of apology from Manama and the Bahraini Parliament explaining that it was not done on purpose.

Demetriou said that raising the flag of an illegal, separatist and subservient entity to Turkey, as a result of the Turkish invasion and continued occupation of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus, is against international law and Security Council and the UN resolutions.

A meeting between Turkish Cypriot ‘MPs' and Greek Cypriot MPs was organized by the Facilitators' Group for Cyprus on behalf of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

The dispute over the Mediterranean island of Cyprus continues between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, and between their States, the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus, controlled by Greek Cypriots, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, controlled by Turkish Cypriots, and recognized only by Turkey.

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