Patience has its limits, and if Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci honestly wants a solution to the Cyprus problem, he should not be making excuses, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Tuesday.
He was responding to comments made earlier by Akinci and Turkish Foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in a joint news conference, in which they persistently called on him to “correct the parliament’s mistake”.
“I hope Mr Akinci is bold enough to ask the [Turkish Cypriot] parties that support either secession or the breakaway regime, and the unacceptable views they voice, so that a climate of trust can at last be fostered within the Greek Cypriot side,” Anastasiades said.
“Patience has its limits, and he ought to understand this: I will be [at the next leaders’ meeting] on Thursday. If he truly desires a solution to the Cyprus problem, he should abandon the excuses. In the [Greek] Cypriot language there is a saying – and I hope there is a similar one in the Turkish Cypriot language – that ‘he who doesn’t want to go to the mill, sifts the wheat for five days’.”
The saying refers to people who come up with excuses so they can put off tasks they don’t want to carry out.
This would be the first time in the history of the talks that they are interrupted over a meaningless, minor event, he added, and “some selfishly insist on thinking they can humiliate their interlocutors”.
Earlier, Akinci had claimed that Anastasiades has acknowledged rotating presidency at their tete-a-tetes but not yet publicly, adding that Thursday’s meeting between the two remains in the air, although a meeting with the United Nations’ Special Representative later on Tuesday may clear things up.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Turkish Foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, in which developments in the ongoing talks for a settlement of the Cyprus problem were the main item on the agenda, Akinci accused Anastasiades of not “preparing his community that a Turkish Cypriot may serve as president” of reunified Cyprus.
“I am preparing my community even about the most difficult issues,” he said.
“I said in my July 20 speech that even though we call it a ‘peace operation’, this intervention caused pain for Greek Cypriots. During my term, July 20 celebrations did not involve war planes, tanks or weapons. We changed our history books and removed parts that could offend Greek Cypriots. Should the response to these steps of good will be the Enosis decision?”
As “president of the TRNC”, he added, he has repeatedly said that failure to agree on a solution will see the breakaway regime “continue its path”.
“Seizing this opportunity in the coming months is vital,” Akinci said.
Turkish FM Cavusoglu also attacked Greek Cypriots for the “Enosis decision”, saying it revealed their “real aim”.
“It showed that they haven’t woken up from old dreams,” he said.
He added that no solution can be found in Cyprus until the Greek Cypriots accept that the Turkish Cypriot community is an “equal side in Cyprus”.
“The Enosis decision has proven how rightful our insistence on security and guarantees is,” Cavusoglu said.
“The Greek Cypriot side should correct this mistake and return to the table decently.”
Turkey, he said, has been patient in not taking any steps against Cyprus’ energy policies, and added that it has been holding back for the sake of the negotiations.
Referring to the Turkish side’s demand for no-visa entry to post-solution Cyprus – the ‘four freedoms’ – for Turkish citizens, the Turkish FM said Anastasiades “lied” to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker by claiming that 80 million Turks will invade Europe.
“Did the millions of Turkish tourists going to the Greek islands every year invade Europe?” he asked.
Both Cavusoglu and Akinci insisted that Anastasiades publicly denounce parliament’s Enosis vote, effectively setting it as a precondition for the resumption of talks.
“Thursday’s meeting depends on the steps taken by the Greek Cypriot side to correct the Enosis decision,” Akinci said, acknowledging that Anastasiades can’t directly reverse a parliamentary vote but insisting that “the two parties” – ruling Disy and main opposition Akel – can remedy the situation.
“We will be watching.”
Asked whether he plans to attend Thursday’s scheduled meeting with Anastasiades, Akinci referred to his afternoon meeting with UN Special Representative to Cyprus Elizabeth Spehar, at which he would be briefed on the Greek Cypriot side’s action in the direction of solving the problem.
He said he would decide whether to attend or not after the meeting.
After seeing Akinci for an hour, Spehar said she would be in a position to say whether Thursday’s meeting will go ahead after she has talked to Anastasiades, too.
She is scheduled to meet with him on Wednesday morning.
