North Cyprus leader Talat visited Buzek at his office in Brussels on Thursday evening. Members of the media were asked to leave the office at the beginning of the meeting and were later invited in the room when Buzek, Talat and the accompanying delegations took their seats.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Talat downplayed the incident, as he said that Buzek shook his hand in a very frank attitude and added that he was not aware of the fact that the media members left the office during the handshake, the Anatolia news agency reported.

“I don’t know if this has any particular meaning,” Talat told reporters when asked of the “handshakes-closed-to press” after his meeting with Oomen-Ruijten. “I mean, all in all, we met and you saw that we met. You are also reporting about it. Whether we have a photograph while shaking hands or not, I don’t believe that it has importance. One should not be formalist. Such formalism is done by Greek Cypriots, and we laugh at them. I believe we should not be engaging in the same kind of formalism.”

TODAY’S ZAMAN  ANKARA