MAIN opposition Akel said on Thursday it was “saddened and alarmed” at the apparent crisis in reunification talks which flared up after parliament’s decision last week to commemorate the 1950 enosis (union with Greece) referendum.
The development has led to a chilling of relations between the leaders of the two communities amid efforts to reach further convergences and inch toward a new international summit on Cyprus.
Depending on which reports one chooses to believe, either president Nicos Anastasiades or Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci walked out of a meeting on Thursday due to a dispute over the affair.
Taking the moral high ground, having voted against parliament’s controversial decision, Akel said commemorating the enosis referendum in public schools was “at the very least, political schizophrenia” when for the past four decades the Greek Cypriot side has agreed to a bi-zonal, bi-communal federal solution.
Noting that the Turkish Cypriot side’s reaction has been excessive, Akel nevertheless lambasted Anastasiades for his handling of the tensions in the wake of the decision by parliament.
Anastasiades failed to outright denounce the decision from the outset, which would have allayed Turkish Cypriot concerns, Akel said.
Unfortunately, the president opted to play the blame game, “while members of the Disy party are parading on television asserting that Akinci’s walkout from the talks was an already made decision.”
What is paramount now, Akel added, is the resumption of talks, which is the only way to determine whether the Turkish side is sincere about a settlement.
Party leader Andros Kyprianou entreated the two leaders to stop trying to score points against each other and return to the negotiations as soon as possible.
“It is a cry of anguish,” he said.
And in a loaded comment, the Akel boss said political considerations ahead of presidential elections in 2018 should be set aside.
The other parties glommed onto the view that Akinci was cynically using parliament’s decision as a pretext to either slow down the negotiations or extract concessions.
The parties’ comments came before a scheduled second meeting of the leaders later in the day brokered by UN special adviser Espen Barth Eide.
Ruling Disy called on the Turkish Cypriot leader to return to the negotiating table.
Socialists Edek said Akinci’s conduct proved what the party had been saying all along – that the Turkish Cypriot leader is a proxy for Ankara.
For its part, Diko described Akinci’s demand to annul the parliamentary decision as “unwarranted and ludicrous” and said it was indicative of his overall intransigent stance.
Likewise denouncing Akinci, the Citizens Alliance opined that this was an opportunity for the Greek Cypriot side to undertake “a campaign to inform the international community on the real reasons for the deadlock in the talks.”
Greens MP George Perdikis blasted Akinci for his “unacceptable and provocative behaviour.”
Noting that the Turkish Cypriot leader was making a mountain out of a molehill, the MP urged the United Nations and the European Union to “take the proper action to restrain Akinci and the Turkish Cypriot leadership.”
The far-right Elam party, which had tabled the controversial commemoration regulation to parliament, said Akinci’s reaction should come as no surprise.
“To those who are panicking because the occupation leader walked out, we pose the question: are they willing to accept and bow to the diktats of Mustafa, who wants to interfere with our education?
“If today he is making threats and demands to interfere with the decisions of the legitimate House of Representatives, what will happen tomorrow, gentlemen?”
