Interview: Cypriot president blames Turkey on delayed Cyprus solution

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said on Monday that he believes Turkey is using a domestic vote to delay a solution of the Cyprus problem.

Turkey will hold a constitutional referendum on April 16, which will bring drastic changes to the country's political system, including a shift to an executive presidential system from the current parliamentary system.

The president of Turkey will be granted sweeping powers if the constitutional amendments proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) are accepted in the referendum. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched a Yes campaign.

"The vote is nothing else than a pretext to cover problems President Erdogan may be facing in his bid to pass his constitutional amendments," Anastasiades told Xinhua in an interview.

"He would not like to lose votes by making decisions that would displease nationalist voters," Anastasiades said.

Anastasiades said the decision of Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci to pull out of the negotiations cannot be explained by a Cypriot parliamentary vote he described as immaterial.

On Feb. 16, Akinci pulled out of a meeting with Anastasiades in the context of the negotiations for a deal reunifying Cyprus.

Akinci had said ahead of the meeting that he would talk only on the issue of a vote in the Cypriot parliament last Friday on an bill amendment instructing teachers in school to make a brief mention of a referendum 67 years ago in which Greek Cypriots almost unanimously voted in favour of Cyprus uniting with Greece.

During voting, ruling party DISY abstained while the leftist opposition AKEL party voted against the motion.

In doing so, the two parties which have supported Anastasiades in his quest for a solution gave the opportunity to the neo-Nazi ELAM party, with just two seats in parliament, to pass its amendment by appealing to other dissent parties.

"It was an unfortunate and untimely decision by parliament and at the same time an immaterial one," said Anastasiades.

But the so-called "enosis (union) referendum" had provoked a strong reaction by the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey.

Akinci said he would in turn discontinue his participation in the peace negotiations.

Anastasiades said that Turkey aimed to buy time so as to avoid making any decisions on Cyprus that would drive away nationalist votes.

He pointed out that since February 2014, the two sides have been negotiating a solution that would exclude both "enosis" and the secession of the occupied part of Cyprus.

Anastasiades said that all parliamentary parties except ELAM have reaffirmed this basic provision only last week. He added that Greek Cypriots have annually been celebrating the anniversary of the start of an armed struggle in the mid-1950s for "enosis" without any objections by the Turkish side.

"So, all this exaggerated reaction was unwarranted," said Anastasiades.

He said that if the Turkish side is not using the vote as a pretext to delay a solution, Akinci should return without any further delay to the negotiations.

Anastasiades dismissed a claim by Akinci that he is in two minds -- one preoccupied with a solution to the Cyprus problem and one with presidential elections in February 2018.

"What I have is one divided country and not a divided personality. I do not even think of the elections and my mind is constantly and exclusively preoccupied with finding a solution which will reunify Cyprus in a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation," said Anastasiades.

Akinci was non-committal when he was asked whether he would attend a scheduled meeting with Anastasiades on Thursday, which will be presided over by a United Nations official.

A Cypriot government official told Xinhua on the condition of anonymity that Akinci may opt to stay away from Thursday's meeting, despite moves by the Cypriot parliament to negate its "enosis" vote as demanded by the Turkish Cypriot leader.

"We may get to know his intentions after talks he will have on Tuesday with Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu," the official said.

Cavusoglu is expected to show up in the northern part of Cyprus to have talks with Akinci and other Turkish Cypriot officials on Tuesday. Endit