The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has expressed sorrow over the cancellation of the second joint meeting between the OIC and the EU, scheduled to be held in Istanbul on Oct 4-5, 2004. A statement issued by the OIC today said the cancellation of the meeting was for a marginal reason which had nothing to do with the topics due to be discussed at the meeting. It is worth mentioning that the EU objected to granting Turkish cypriots the status of 'Turkish Cypriot State' for participation in the joint meeting. This status to Turkish cypriots was endorsed by the OIC at the 31st meeting of the Islamic foreign ministers, held last June in Istanbul. In a related development, The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement: "Turkey is saddened by the fact that such an important initiative that aims to contribute to world peace through dialogue between civilizations and cultures has been blocked because of an unrelated issue."
