Northern Cyprus wants Greek side to 'act responsibly'

By Murat Demirci

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

Northern Cyprus on Thursday called on the Greek Cypriot administration to take concrete steps to annul controversial legislation to commemorate the Enosis referendum of 1950.

The Greek Cypriot authorities should act responsibly and take concrete steps to return to the negotiating table, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) presidential spokesman Baris Burcu said on Thursday.

Cyprus reunification talks stalled earlier this week after Northern Cyprus President Mustafa Akinci canceled a leaders’ meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

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 Greek Cypriot parliament recently voted 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’s aide rejected Greek Cypriot claims the TRNC was responsible for the halt in negotiations, adding that the Greek side should leave these kinds of allegations aside and take up their responsibilities.

Burcu also criticized the Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides for his statement claiming Akinci left the talks table in order to join an upcoming Economic Cooperation Organization summit in Pakistan, rather than over any issue with the Enosis commemoration plans.

Our president’s visit to Pakistan was informed to the UN and Greek Cypriot leader Anastasiades before the leaders’ summit in February, Burcu said.

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.