TRNC President Rauf Denktaş following the completion of his contacts in Strasbourg and İstanbul, arrived in TRNC on April, 26, 2002.

Upon his arrival at Ercan State Airport, President Denktaş answering the questions of the journalists, said that his visits to Strasbourg and İstanbul were very fruitful.

Stressing that he explained the Cyprus cause and the point reached in the Cyprus issue within the framework of the latest developments and EU, President Denktaş said he was warmly welcomed.

Pointing out that foreign contacts with these type of visits should not be expected to help in solving the Cyprus issue in short time, President Denktaş said “we will naturally continue to do our best here to solve the Cyprus issue with the negotiations between the two equal sides."

Stressing that his meeting with the President and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly were very constructive, President Denktaş said he conveyed to them the difficulties in reaching a settlement on the Cyprus issue and the Turkish Cypriot point of view in the recent direct talks.

President Denktaş said during his meeting with the President of the European Court of Human Rights he explained the effects of some causes on the Cyprus talks.

Referring to the conference that he gave in Strasbourg, President Denktaş said the high ranking officials were attended the conference and it was understood from their questions that they do not know the Cyprus issue well.

Evaluating his meeting with the Secretary General of the European Council as very fruitful, President Denktaş said he exchanged views with the Secretary General.

After his arrival to TRNC, President Denktaş met US State Department Special Coordinator for Cyprus, Thomas Weston, for lunch.

Responding to questions from the Greek Cypriot press, President Denktaş said “what you call the government of Cyprus is not the government of Turkish Cypriots. Grant that, and we will have a settlement."

Answering the questions about the footballer Sabri Selden who illegally passed to South, President Denktaş stressed that the player had taken a chance but had been sucked into a Greek Cypriot "manoeuvre".

President Denktaş said “all Turkish Cypriot footballers are unable to play in international football because of the embargoes, so this young man is taken in to destroy the chances of all others."

The Chairman of AEK Larnaca, the club that the Turkish Cypriot footballer signed a contract with, stressed on April 23, 2002, that their aim was political and added that their aim is to show that "the administration in the Turkish Cypriot side is bad".

TRNC President Rauf Denktaş and the leader of the Greek Cypriot Administration Glafcos Clerides will have another meeting this morning within the framework of their directs talks aimed at finding a lasting and just solution to the Cyprus problem.

Following the meeting the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative to Cyprus, Alvaro De Soto will leave the island for New York for contacts on the Cyprus problem.

The scheduled meetings of the two leaders will have a break until the return of De Soto and then will resume on May, 7, 2002.

TRNC Prime Minister Derviş Eroğlu will depart from TRNC today at 12:00 for Ankara where he will meet with his Turkish counterpart Bülent Ecevit, Turkish State Minister in Charge of Cyprus Affairs, Şükrü Sina Gürel and various other state officials.

According to the information received from the TRNC Prime Ministry, Derviş Eroğlu at the traditional “Statesmen of the Year” ceremony organised by the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Foundation, will be presented the award of "statesman of the year".

Prime Minister Eroğlu, will pass to İstanbul on May 1, upon the invitation of the National Industrialists and Businessmen Association, where he will make investigations on various industrial plants, will meet with the journalists by visiting the press foundations, and will give a conference under the title of "Investment Opportunities and Promotions in TRNC".

Within the framework of activities for promoting the Cyprus Turkish culture, an exhibition including handicrafts of the Turkish women, opened in Belgium under the name of "A Turkish Season in Liege".

The exhibition which opened on April, 27, 2002, will be kept open until May, 19, 2002.

A history book prepared in Greece to be used in Greek Cypriot high schools and which refers to the EOKA terrorist organisation as "the product of fundamentalist nationalism" caused problem between the Greek and Greek Cypriot Education Ministers.