Turkey urges Greek Cypriot administration to cancel 'Enosis' commemoration

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Turkey's Foreign Ministry have urged the Greek Cypriot administration on Tuesday to annul the introduction of a commemoration in Greek Cypriot schools of the plebiscite on "Enosis," which is the idea of Cyprus being annexed by Greece.

A meeting between Turkish and Greek Cypriot negotiators was canceled Tuesday over a Greek Cypriot move to honor "Enosis," reports said.

On Monday, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus President Mustafa Akıncı told reporters that the meeting on the island between Turkish Cypriot negotiator Özdil Nami and Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis "will probably not be held" due to the controversial move.

The Greek Cypriot parliament voted Friday to introduce a yearly public school commemoration of a 1950 referendum in which Greek Cypriots voted overwhelmingly for Greece to annex the island.

On Monday, Mustafa Akıncı asked the U.N. secretary-general's special adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide to urge the leader of the Greek Cypriot administration not to approve the decision.

On Tuesday evening the Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement, saying it "joins the statements made by President Mustafa Akıncı."

"The Greek Cypriot leader's characterization of this decision as 'a simple reference to a historical fact' and his depiction of it as being equivalent to the celebrations of the anniversaries of the July 20 Cyprus Peace Operation and the Nov. 15 founding of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, on the other hand, are both meaningless and unacceptable. The Cyprus Peace Operation aimed to put an end to the humanitarian tragedy caused by a mentality rooted in delusions of 'Enosis'," the statement said, and it added that the decision by the Greek Cypriot side will not contribute to confidence-building between the two peoples on the island or to the ongoing negotiation process.

Moreover, the statement noted that the Greek Cypriots' refusal to accept Turkish Cypriots as co-owners of the island will make it difficult to achieve results with regards to resolving the conflict.

The eastern Mediterranean island was divided into a Turkish Cypriot state in the north and a Greek Cypriot administration in the south after a 1974 military coup by Greece was followed by the intervention of Turkey as a guarantor power.

The issue of the reunification of Cyprus remains unsolved despite a series of discussions which resumed in May 2015.

The main goal is to find a political solution as the sides seek to reunify the island under a federal system after more than 40 years of division.