The Parliament of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus adopted a joint declaration yesterday (13 February) reflecting the justified expectations and concerns of the Turkish Cypriot side as regards the decision to introduce a commemoration in Greek Cypriot schools of the plebiscite on “Enosis” held among the Greek Cypriots on the Island in 1950, which was proposed by the far-right, racist ELAM (National People’s Front) and passed by the Greek Cypriot parliament on 10 February 2017.

We join the statements made by President Mustafa Akıncı on this issue, in which he called on the Greek Cypriot leader to annul the said decision.

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 November 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”.

​At the current stage in the negotiations aiming to establish a new Partnership State in Cyprus based on the political equality of the two sides as put forth in the Joint Declaration of 11 February 2014, it is clear that the Greek Cypriot parliament’s and leadership’s ownership of the proposal made by the far-right, racist ELAM will not contribute to confidence-building between the two peoples on the Island, nor will it contribute to the negotiation process. In fact, this current case as well as various previous examples, clearly demonstrated that as long as a fundamental change does not take place in such Greek Cypriot mentality- which refuses to accept the Turkish Cypriots as co-owners of the Island, it will be difficult to achieve results from the efforts aiming towards a settlement in Cyprus.