NICOSIA – Turkey’s refusal to return to daylight savings time means it’s unlawfully-occupied side of Cyprus will be an hour ahead of the rest of the island.

Nicosia has been a divided capital since an unlawful Turkish invasion in 1974 and talks to reunify the island have been sputtering again, as they have for decades.

Cyprus could now be included in the list of countries with more than one time zones, the Cyprus Mail reported.

Turkey’s decision was greeted comically by some although Ankara said it was done for practical reasons because last year it had to wait a week to fall in line with the rest of the world, causing problems with computers and smartphones that reset automatically.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said the decision wasn’t political although he’s locked in negotiations with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades about a plan for reunification that has seen most of the major issues unresolved, lessening chances they will meet a self-imposed end-of-the-year deadline for a resolution.

Another reason, Akinci said, was to also avoid a change in the rules of the market and an effect on the financial sector. “If you ask me I surely do not wish for different time zones on our island,” Akinci had said.

The way out is a solution of the settlement agreement so that they could “rid” themselves from “unnatural things like this,” he added.

Mete Hatay researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (Prio) Cyprus Centre told the Sunday Mail Turkey’s decision was silly and short-sighted.

“It is tragicomic. I don’t think Turkey was thinking of Cyprus when they made this decision but for the government (in the north), they are right wing, Turkey is their ‘Motherland’,” Hatay said.

He added that the decision has political implications as it puts yet another emphasis on “the other part” of the island.