22 February 2017•Update: 23 February 2017
By Murat Demirci
LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Turkish Cypriot president canceled a meeting to discuss the future of island after Greek side failed to annul the controversial Enosis law, said presidential sources.
The sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media, said Akinci decided not to take part in a leaders’ meeting scheduled for Thursday on the island’s buffer zone.
Later, in a statement Akinci said "the Greek Cypriot side continues to accuse us, instead of correcting their mistakes and claims that we made up an excuse because we do not want to negotiate."
Akinci said that the Greek Cypriot side does not want to understand the reaction of the Turkish Cypriot community as a whole over the recent "Enosis" decision.
"The main reason for the progress made in the last 21 months at the negotiating table is the great effort we have made towards a federal solution and the constructive attitude we have shown.
"Unfortunately, we can not see the same approach on the Greek side," he added.
Baris Burcu, spokesperson for the Turkish Cypriot presidency, had confirmed earlier Wednesday the Thursday’s meeting was canceled.
“We hope that the necessary steps will be taken in a short time and a new date [for the meetings] will be set,” Burcu said.
“We expect that concrete steps will be taken both at the political and administrative levels to overrule the decision.
“I hope that the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades will make the necessary contribution to overcoming the problem.” he added.
The reunification talks -- brokered by UN Special Cyprus Envoy Espen Barth Eide -- were launched in May 2015 to discuss a permanent settlement for the divided Mediterranean island.
However, the talks stalled over the Greek Cypriot parliament’s recent vote to introduce a yearly public school commemoration of a 1950 referendum in which Greek Cypriots voted overwhelmingly for Athens to take over the island, an idea known as Enosis (Union).
Akinci has described the idea of Enosis and the events it triggered as being tragic for Cyprus.
The eastern Mediterranean island was divided into a Turkish Cypriot state in the north and a Greek Cypriot administration in the south after an Enosis-inspired 1974 military coup was followed by violence against the island’s Turkish population, and the subsequent intervention of Turkey as a guarantor power.
The Cypriot issue remains unsolved despite a series of discussions which resumed in May 2015.
