Akinci says Greek Cypriot side lacks determination for talks

Verbal appeals to restart reunification talks have no meaning, Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said on Thursday, accusing the Greek Cypriot side of lacking the necessary determination.

In a message to mark the festival of Eid el-Adha, Akinci said the Greek Cypriot side was constantly repeating that it was ready to resume the talks within the framework of the UN Secretary General’s parameters, whose content they had failed to meet during the failed conference on Cyprus two months ago.

At this stage, Akinci was quoted as saying by the Cyprus News Agency, verbal appeals had no meaning as the Greek Cypriot side lacked the necessary determination. He added that similar procedures would only yield the same results, so the open-ended procedure could not continue.

He said the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot side had realised the historic responsibility they had and they acted with determination.

“It is a shame we cannot say the same about the Greek Cypriot side,” he said. “Instead of arriving at an agreement inside a logical framework they sought to assign blame. It emerged during the conference that domestic concerns were more important and unfortunately a historic opportunity was lost due to this stance.”

He reiterated that as time passed, it solidified the existence of two separate states no matter how one saw it.

“The reality is there are two separate states in Cyprus. The TRNC, even if it is not recognised, is a reality,” he said.

He blamed this on the Greek Cypriot side’s struggle for union with Greece, saying Turkish Cypriots were ousted from the common state in 1963.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.