Anastasaides ready to return to negotiating table ‘tomorrow’, ball in Akinci’s court

President Nicos Anastasiades is ready to return to the negotiating table ‘tomorrow’, deputy government spokesman Victoras Papadopoulos said on Monday.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event in Limassol, Papadopoulos said the president did not want the progress made over the last 20 months to be in vain and “is ready even tomorrow to resume talks, to resume meetings with Mr Akinci”.

The talks fell by the wayside last week after tensions mounted over a vote in the House on commemorating a 1950 referendum on Enosis – union with Greece – in schools. Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci says he will not return to the talks until it has been rescinded.

Each side is blaming the other for the fact the meetings came to a standstill.

Asked whether Anastasiades had sent the letter he promised to the UN Secretary-General, Papadopoulos said not yet but he intended to. It was reported last week that Anastasiades would probably send the letter on Tuesday.

“The president is taking all actions to ensure everyone knows the realities surrounding the latest developments, namely that Mr Akinci walked away from the negotiating table and has not returned,” the deputy spokesman said.

Asked whether the letter would merely inform the UN Secretary-General or ask for his intervention, Papadopoulos said the text had not yet been decided on. He repeated that the Greek Cypriot side was ready to talk.

“If now the Turkish Cypriot side is looking for excuses to leave the negotiating table, it will be patently clear,” he said. He mentioned another example of the Turkish side trying to scupper the process by demanding that Turkish nationals would receive the same four freedoms as EU citizens after a solution, that is, freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital.

“This was a requirement that clearly showed the mood of the Turkish side in this round of talks,” Papadopoulos said.

Asked whether the provocative actions and statements by the Turkish side against both Cyprus and Greece were for internal consumption in Turkey ahead of a referendum there in April, Papadopoulos said it was evident that with the start of the election campaign for the referendum in Turkey, Turkish domestic issues had affected developments at the negotiating table.

The Turkish side in turn accused Anastasiades of being more focused on the presidential elections in 2018.

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