By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, May 12 -- As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was returning from Istanbul and the Least Developed Countries meeting there, Inner City Press asked Ban's acting deputy spokesman Farhan Haq about one of Ban's encounters there with
Inner City Press: Andry Rajoelina, the disputed leader of Madagascar, who is not recognized by the African Union... There is a lot of wonders why the Secretary-General would meet with this… why he was in Istanbul, although that’s not your concern, but did Ban Ki-moon meet with him? If so, why, and can we get a readout of this controversial meeting?
Some hours later, Ban's Spokesperson's Office sent this denial:
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Wed, May 11, 2011 at 3:47 PM
Subject: Your question on Andry Rajoelina
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com
Regarding your question at the noon briefing, I can inform you that the Secretary-General did not meet Andry Rajoelina in Istanbul.
This turns on the meaning of the word “meet.” As Inner City Press asked Ban's lead spokesman Martin Nesirky at the May 12 UN noon briefing, multiple photos exist of Ban shaking hands with and greeting Rajoelina, and sitting at the same table with Rajoelina for a dinner.
After Nesirky said that Inner City Press' question had been answered the previous day, he said that the Istanbul meeting was “multilateral diplomacy,” and that the invitations were made by Turkey's president Gul.
That may explain it -- alongside the greeting and dinner with Ban and Gul, Rajoelina made a deal with Turkey for an expensive dam:
Turkey plans to develop a 300- megawatt hydropower plant in Madagascar, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said. The facility will be built at Mahavola, 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of the capital, Antananarivo, Gul said in a statement e-mailed by Madagascar’s presidency yesterday. Gul met Madagascar’s president, Andry Rajoelina, at a conference in Istanbul yesterday, it said.
Multilateral, indeed. Watch this site.