Cyprus talks: Anastasiades prioritising elections over Cyprus reunification talks - Akinci

Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı on Wednesday expressed his thought on the ongoing Cyprus reunification talks claiming that the Greek Cypriot president, Nicos Anastasiades was moving further away from the talks as the elections get closer in South Cyprus.

According to a report by North Cyprus media, BRT, president Akinci in a written statement issued on Wednesday said that despite Mr. Anastasiades’ hope breaking behaviour, the Turkish Cypriot side will participate in the leaders’ meetings which are scheduled in May.

According to Akıncı, Anastasiades is not respecting the efforts of opposition party AKEL and ruling party DISY to restart the negotiations after amending the controversial Enosis day bill that left the talks suspended for a long time.

Last week, Anastasiades referred the new law to the Greek Cypriot Supreme Court to rule whether it is constitutional.

“In the same manner he showed disrespect to the sensitivities of the Turkish Cypriot community, this behaviour does not correspond to the spirit of the negotiations and the conviction of the Greek Cypriot community,” he said.

The statement went further to say that it was with disappointment that Turkish Cypriots view Anastasiades behaving in a manner which shows his intentions both as far as the Enosis day issue and the negotiations are concerned.

“It is becoming clear that as the elections in the south are drawing nearer, Anastasiades is pulling away from a solution”.

“As always, we will continue to work with all our good intentions, focusing on getting a result and we will continue to be constructive. However, it is not enough to have good will from just the one side,” the statement concluded.

BRT