Daily Times

NICOSIA: A planned meeting between rival Cypriot leaders scheduled for Thursday has been called off as a war of words over a nationalist commemoration in Greek Cypriot schools threatens reunification talks.

There was no immediate statement from the United Nations, which has been hosting the talks, but the Cyprus government said that Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades had been informed on Wednesday that the meeting would not go ahead. The row threatens nearly two years of UN-backed negotiations on ending the island’s decades-old division that many had seen as the best chance for a settlement since Greek Cypriots rejected a UN reunification plan in 2004.

A meeting last Thursday broke up in acrimony with Anastasiades and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Mustafa Akinci accusing each other of walking out. The head of the UN peacekeeping force on the island, Elizabeth Spehar, had shuttled between the two sides to try to broker a compromise, meeting Akinci on Tuesday and Anastasiades on Wednesday but to no avail.

Anastasiades said the meeting’s cancellation was regrettable and that he remained ready to return to the table. “I regret the decision of Mr. Akinci not to attend the meeting tomorrow. I am ready to continue the dialogue at anytime,” he said on Twitter. Akinci’s spokesman also confirmed the cancellation.

Tensions have soared over the February 10 approval by the Cyprus parliament for Greek Cypriot schools to commemorate a 1950 referendum on “Enosis”, or union with Greece. The unofficial referendum — staged before Cyprus won independence from colonial ruler Britain — overwhelmingly approved Enosis but had no legal value. The amendment to schools legislation, sponsored by the far-right Greek nationalist ELAM party, essentially calls for secondary students to mark the anniversary by learning about the referendum and the Enosis cause.

Akinci’s spokesman said he was ready to return to the negotiating table but that steps first needed to be taken to overturn the amendment. “I hope that in the shortest time the necessary steps are taken and a new date is set,” the spokesman said. “We expect concrete steps at a political and administrative level to invalidate this mistaken decision.” In Ankara, a spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the move by the Cyprus parliament was proof that the Turkish Cypriot minority on the island needed to retain the security guarantee of Turkey’s military presence. “This decision (on Enosis) once again confirms how important our attitude is on security and guarantees,” Ibrahim Kalin told a news conference in Ankara. He put the onus on the Greek Cypriots to put the reunification talks back on track. “The side that has to take a step is the Greek side,” he said.

Akinci had warned on Monday that he could not continue the talks without action on an issue he said had caused “public indignation” among Turkish Cypriots.