PRESIDENT TALAT’S LETTER TO ANNAN

"PAPADOPOULOS’ EXPRESSIONS REJECTING BI-ZONAL AND BI-COMMUNAL SETTLEMENT IS AGAINST ALL SETTLEMENT PARAMETERS"

President Mehmet Ali Talat, in his letter sent to the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, stressed that Greek Cypriot leader Papadopoulos’ recent statements, which rejected a bi-zonal and bi-communal settlement in the island was against to UN parameters as well as to the will put forward by the international community.

Underlining the Turkish Cypriot side’s determination to settle the Cyprus issue within the framework of the UN’s Good Offices Mission and on the basis of the Annan plan, President Talat pointed out that in order to resume the negotiations in this direction, they were expecting a fruitful dialogue to be established with the Greek Cypriot side, but Papadopoulos’ sayings in an interview with French journal L’Express on 4 May, had disappointed the Turkish Cypriot side.

In his letter published as a UN document, President Talat considering Papadopoulos’ said statement, which rejected a bi-zonal and bi-communal settlement as an "unlucky" event, indicated that this statement clearly contradicted with the parameters put forward by the UN Security Council, 1977-1979 High Level Agreements accepted by both sides as well as with the parameters agreed by the two sides during the negotiations carried out under UN supervision for 40 years.

President Talat stated that the most disappointing issue in this statement was its timing, which was simultaneous with the UN’s efforts to set up technical committees in order to improve the current situation in the island towards reaching a settlement. He added that the aim of setting up these committees was to prepare a ground for restoring the confidence between the two sides which was damaged as a result of the Greek Cypriot side’s rejection of the Annan plan and its intransigent policy followed afterwards.

President Talat referring to Papadopoulos’ speech made during the UN General Assembly Meeting on 18 December 2005 to the effect that the best solution in his mind was osmosis (assimilation), stressed that this proved that his recent saying to the same effect was not a lapse.

Warning that at the point reached in Cyprus, as long as the related sides stayed quiet in view of the Greek Cypriot administration’s provocative and detrimental statements, improbable settlement hopes because of the Greek Cypriot side’s luck of political will, will further be damaged, President Talat concluded: "Once more, I would like to confirm the Turkish Cypriot side’s strong determination towards reaching a settlement on the basis of the Annan plan within the framework of your Good Offices Mission.

 

SERDAR DENKTAS: "TURKISH CYPRIOTS SHOULD PRODUCE APPROPRIATE POLICIES BY IDENTIFYING THEIR GOALS"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister For Foreign Affairs Serdar Denktas on his return from Slovakia and London stated that during his visit to Slovakia, he participated to a conference organized by Slovakia Foreign Policy Association and to several TV programs and also met with high-level officials from different ministries. Evaluating his visit, he said the Turkish Cypriots should identify their own goals on the Cyprus issue and produce appropriate policies.

Pointing out that as the first Turkish Cypriot politician visiting Slovakia he received very positive impressions, Serdar Denktas said: "Slovakian officials, academicians and bureaucrats seemed very willing to listen to the situation in the Cyprus issue without being prejudiced".

Stating that he had found the opportunity to consider the issue of Czechoslovakia’s separation and then its unification within the EU, Serdar Denktas stressed that because of the atmosphere created by the current standstill in Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriot side should identify a new policy and he believed that the model of Czechoslovakia was worth to evaluate.

"If we think of a future within the EU, Czechoslovakia Model, under which Czechs and Slovaks first accepted that they were separate and then mutually respecting each other came together under the EU, could be a reasonable model for Cyprus", said Serdar Denktas.

Adding that following his visit to Slovakia, he had a one-day visit to London, Minister Denktas said in London he participated to the cocktail of the newly established Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce.

 

GREEK CYPRIOT SIDE PREVENTS TECHNICAL COMMITTIES TO CARRY OUT THEIR STUDIES

According to the information received by IHA (Ihlas News Agency), from the reliable news sources, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus approved the establishment of the technical committees which aimed to improve the situation in Cyprus and to carry out studies on the issues proposed by the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative to Cyprus Michael Moller.

Despite the TRNC’s approval, the Greek Cypriot administration’s efforts to load different missions on the technical committees were preventing the start of the committee studies.

It was pointed out that a progress could not be achieved on the studies of the technical committees, which aimed to ease life in Cyprus and help to create a more secure environment by improving the relations between the two sides.

While the TRNC was requesting the immediate implementation of the proposal and the technical committees to start their studies, the Greek Cypriot side was trying to widen the field of study of the technical committees by putting pre-conditions.

According to IHA, the Greek Cypriot side with this stance was trying to gain advantage before sitting at the negotiation table and preventing Moller’s studies in this direction.