Turkey slams Greek Cyprus' Enosis move

Turkey has rebuked Greek Cyprus' recent decision to introduce the commemoration of "Enosis" in Greek Cypriot public schools, noting that the decision made by a "racist, far-right," party would not contribute to ongoing efforts to create a new partnership between Turkish and Greek Cypriots.

The new law allows the celebration of the 1950 referendum, when 96 percent of Greek Cypriots voted for the island to be annexed to Greece. 

"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 Feb. 11, 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," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Feb. 14. 

"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," it said. 

The Turkish Cypriot parliament released a declaration on Feb. 13 reflecting their expectations and concerns, informing that Turkey joined Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı's call on the annulment of the 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...