NICOSIA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Plans to conclude an early agreement on a Cyprus solution in the immediate future have been put on ice as a result of Turkey's unwillingness, Cypriot government sources said on Monday.
"It is evident to us that the Turkish government is not currently interested in making any moves on Cyprus because of its preoccupation with constitutional changes that will turn the country's government system from a parliamentary one into a presidential system," the sources told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
They added that Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not prepared to make a compromise on Cyprus that would result in losing the support of nationalists at a referendum on the constitutional amendments, expected to take place early in April.
Turkey occupied 37 percent of Cyprus's territory, almost double the population ratio of Turkish Cypriots in a 1974 military operation prompted by a coup engineered by the military rulers of Greece at the time.
Turkey's decisions on security arrangements after a solution are crucial for a successful conclusion of the negotiations going on for almost 22 months.
The sources said that Cypriot community leaders, President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, will concentrate for the next two months on narrowing down remaining differences on chapters already discussed, such as territorial adjustments, restitution of properties and power sharing.
The chief advisors of the two leaders had a meeting on Monday aimed at preparing a meeting between Anastasiades and Akinci on Wednesday.
"They did not touch upon the substance of outstanding issues but they rather focused on the program and the methodology to be followed for overcoming existing differences," a source told the official Cyprus News Agency.
The source added that it was decided to continue negotiations on all issues to narrow differences and reach agreement on as many points as possible.
Two rounds of negotiations held in Switzerland earlier in January with the participation of the three guarantor powers -- Greece, Turkey and Britain -- had an inconclusive outcome.
The sources said that Turkey pushed the talks into an indefinite adjournment, after sending its nationalist deputy Prime Minister Tugroul Turkes to meet the Turkish delegation at the Mont Pelerin talks and make additional demands for according the rights of free movement, residence, trade and business to all Turkish citizens after a Cyprus solution.
Political analyst Petros Zarounas wrote in his twitter account on Sunday that the purpose of the Turkey's mission was twofold -- to slow down the negotiations until after the referendum and to exhort free visas for all Turks from the European Union.
But European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas advised Turkey on Monday to avoid negotiating publicly.
Schinas said that the European Union is part of the negotiations but it would like to talk inside the negotiations.
