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DENKTAÞ EVALUATES PAPADOPOULOS- AKEL CO-OPERATION: “IF WE REACH AN AGREEMENT, IT’LL BE A PROBLEM TO GET THE GREEK CYPRIOT PEOPLE TO ACCEPT THIS IN AN ENVIRONMENT SUPPORTIVE OF PAPADOPOULOS” (31.07.02)

T.R.N.C President Rauf Denktaþ evaluated the anticipated co-operation between AKEL and DIKO Leader, Tasos Papadopoulos, in the forthcoming February 2003 presidential elections in South Cyprus, and expressed his views about his expectations following the elections.

Pointing out that, Papadopoulos was the instigator of the Akritas Plan, which was an ethnic cleansing plan against the Turkish Cypriots, and that AKEL is still dreaming of returning to Girne, President Denktaþ said, “if we can reach an agreement with Clerides, it will then be a big problem to get the Greek Cypriot people to accept this, especially in an environment that is supportive of Papadopoulos, and who under the shadow of AKEL, will be eminent. If the Cyprus issue can be solved before February it’ll be solved, but will this be carried out by AKEL, who says that ‘the path to a settlement passes through Girne’, or Yorgacis’ right-hand man Papadopoulos? There’s no need to live in a day dream”.

Continuing, the President said “the key to the Cyprus issue is in the hands of external friends who foresee a new partnership being established on the basis of equality and bi-zonality, and the message should be given to the Greek Cypriots that they never were and can be the legitimate government or representative of Cyprus. This message has not been given by these friends, who for 39-years made the Greek Cypriots the ‘legitimate government’, and who were joint partners to this tragedy and injustices carried out against us. As long as the Greek Cypriot leadership continues to be treated as if it is ‘Cyprus’ unconditional representative, legitimate government’ it will not give up its aspiration of taking over the whole of Cyprus”.

Reminding that AKEL announced its supports for DIKO Leader, Tasos Papadopoulos’ presidential candidacy, President Denktaþ, on being asked how this would affect the Cyprus issue replied by saying, “in 1967 when I was captured in Karpaz, together with Kyprianou, Papadopoulos was the one who pressed for my immediate elimination. If I hadn’t been recognized in the village of Aytotro, I definitely would have been killed…”

Also pointing out that in the latest Milosevic money laundering operation, when sanctions were imposed on Yugoslavia by the U.N, and innocent people were put in front of a firing squad, the person most responsible for defying the U.N sanctions was Papadopoulos, the President stated, “without a doubt Papadopoulos will represent, very well, Greek Cypriot Cyprus. Because, he’ll be the representative of South Cyprus, who for years has opened its arms to money laundering, the Russian Mafia and to the PKK and Armenian terrorist groups operating in the South”.

Stating that Papadopoulos’ leadership is an issue that South Cyprus should be concerned about, the President said, “it’s a fantasy to think that they’ll unite with us as equal sovereigns”.