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President: Patience has its limits

22/02/2017 09:46
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has said that patience has its limits and if the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci wants a settlement of the Cyprus problem, he should not use any excuses to justify his stance at the Cyprus talks.

The President's comments were in response to statements by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Akinci who had asked him to “correct the parliament`s mistake” and insisted on maintaining a system of guarantees in a reunited Cyprus.

The “mistake” according to Akinci and Cavusoglu refers to a decision by the Cyprus House of Representatives to commemorate in schools, by way of a brief reference and a reading of a leaflet, the 1950 referendum in favour of union with Greece. Anastasiades described the House decision “wrong.”

Anastasiades said he wished Akinci had the same courage to call on parties who support either secession, or the illegal Turkish Cypriot regime in Turkish occupied Cyprus and generally the unacceptable positions which they advocate, and at long last be able to create a climate that embeds trust to the Greek Cypriot side.

“Patience has its limits,” the President said, adding that Akinci must realize that he himself will attend their scheduled meeting on Thursday, in the framework of the UN-led negotiations on the Cyprus problem.

Quoting a Cypriot proverb which says that a person who does not want to get something done adopts delaying tactics, Anastasiades expressed hope that there is corresponding proverb in Turkish as well.

This, the President pointed out, “will be the first time in the history of the negotiations that the dialogue is being interrupted on the pretext of an insignificant and a minor event and some people insist in a selfish way to think that they can humiliate their interlocutors.”

Akinci walked away last week from a meeting with Anastasiades, in the framework of the settlement talks, shortly after it began. It was announced that the two leaders had elaborated earlier on their positions as regards a decision taken by the Cypriot Parliament to commemorate in schools the 1950 referendum, favouring “enosis”, union with Greece.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Anastasiades and Akinci have been engaged in UN-led talks since May 2015 with a view to reunite the island under a federal roof.