The Greek Orthodox Archbishopric of America is to try το arrange an appointment with President Nicos Anastasiades after the latter called off a meeting with Archbishop Elpidoforos because he attended an event where the Turkish Cypriot leader was also present, reports said on Thursday.

According to state broadcaster CyBC, the archbishopric would try to mend fences by trying to arrange an appointment within the coming days.

Anastasiades called off a meeting with Elpidoforos, scheduled for Wednesday, citing heavy schedule but credible reports said it was because the archbishop had attended the opening in New York on Monday of the Turkish House (Turkevi Center), by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the presence of Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar.

Elpidoforos and Tatar are seen in a photo as among the people cutting a ribbon for the opening of the building that will house the Turkish permanent mission to the UN and the Turkish Consulate. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was also among them.

The archbishop’s move angered the Federation of Cypriot American Organisations that said in a statement it was disappointing and provoking while it was “not in line with the interests, principles and values of the Greek Cypriot community and Cyprus”.

“The church has always been on the side of the struggling inhabitants of the martyred island and it is not wise to provoke with such moves,” the statement said.

Greek media report that circles close to the archbishop said that had he known Tatar would be there, he would not have accepted the invitation.

They also said Elpidoforos accepted the invitation as part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s policy to be present in fora attended by the political leadership for national reasons. Protecting the institutional role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate was another reason such invitations are accepted, the same circles said.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate is based in Istanbul and some justified Elpidoforos’ stance arguing that such diplomatic moves were necessary.

Though initial reports said Greek Prime Minister Kyriacos Mitsotakis would too call off his meeting with Elpidoforos, it was later announced that the archbishop would give the premier a tour of the Greek Orthodox church of Ayios Nicolaos located at Ground Zero. The church was destroyed during the September 11 attacks while works for its reconstruction were completed recently. The fact that Mitsotakis will not have a private meeting with Elpidoforos at the offices of the archbishopric as was the initial arrangement, is a sign for some that in this way Athens is also showing its dissatisfaction over the archbishop’s actions.

In the meantime, Tatar condemned the reactions against Elpidoforos saying that these politically motivated actions “show the level of fanaticism and intolerance of the Greek Cypriot and Greek sides”.

Tatar said that such attitudes will further deepen the lack of trust between the two communities while they will also affect efforts for an agreement on the Cyprus issue.