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PRESIDENT DENKTAŞ’
CONTACTS
TRNC President Rauf Denktaş
yesterday morning received the President of the
European Parliament, Pat Cox, who came to TRNC in
order to have contacts and give conference on the
subject of the future of Europe.
Speaking after the meeting,
President Denktaş said that the meeting was fruitful
and they exchanged views on various issues.
Responding to a question asked what
he expects from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s
next week visit to the island, President Denktaş
pointed out that this will be Annan’s first visit to
Cyprus and said he believes that Annan will encourage
both sides to settle the Cyprus problem on the basis
of equality.
Explaining that Annan would be
listening to both sides together as well as separately
during his visit, President Denktaş said “it will
be a useful visit” and added that the UN Secretary
General would be informed on what the issue is and
where problems are arising.
Following his meeting with Pat Cox
which lasted for about an hour, President Denktaş
departed from the Presidential Palace at 10:20 for
meeting with the leader of Greek Cypriot
administration, Glafcos Clerides, to continue their
direct talks aimed at finding a lasting and viable
solution to the island.
The UN Secretary General’s
Special Adviser to Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, was also
present at the meeting held at the Lefkoşa Conference
Center.
Following his meeting with Glafcos
Clerides, President Denktaş departed for Ankara at
13:30 in order to have contacts on the latest
developments on the Cyprus problem and give
conferences on the Cyprus issue.
President Denktaş held a press
conference upon his arrival at Esenboğa Airport in
Ankara.
In the statement he made there,
President Denktaş said that despite all the
difficulties, the Turkish Cypriot side was in the
negotiations process with its good intentions.
Explaining that the efforts were
being made to establish a new partnership under equal
conditions for both sides, President Denktaş said
that the issue of equality, status and identity of the
two sides, remained to be one of the main problems.
Later, within the framework of his
contacts in Ankara, President Denktaş got together
with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Necdet Sezer.
During his visit, President
Denktaş is being accompanied by the Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Defence, Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu,
the Presidential Undersecretary Ergün Olgun, and the
Presidential Adviser Hilmi Özen .
A LESSON BY THE BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION TO THE GREEK
CYPRIOTS
The Greek Cypriot administration which argues that it
managed to make the Irish government cancel under
pressure the flights between Ercan and Dublin, that
were planned to start in May, tried to do the same on
the British government, as well.
The Greek Cypriot authorities considering the
"cancelling as a precedence", stressed their
expectation of the same from the British government.
The British High Commission Spokesman in Lefkoşa
reiterated, however, that the British government see
no reason “to ban the flights which first lands in
Turkey”. “Our government does not restrict
citizens’ rights to choose how they get to certain
places,” the spokesman said, adding that such an
application could only be done "if the
international aviation law said it was dangerous, but
it doesn’t".
The democratic approach by the British High Commission
in Lefkoşa has been appreciated by the Turkish
Cypriot authorites.
CLERIDES, ABOUT DIARY PRODUCTS FROM THE
NORTH...
"DEBATES ARE POINTLESS"
The proposal drawn up by the "Brussels
Group" – formed by Turkish Cypriot and Greek
Cypriot businessmen – to allow trade of diary and
farm produce with the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus, has been rejected by the Greek Cypriot Leader
Mr. Glafcos Clerides.
Previously, the Greek Cypriot Attorney General Alecos
Markides stated that, "trade of local products
through the green line is not illegal" however,
the proposal received strong opposition from many
Greek Cypriot political parties and civil
organisations. After the government spokesman Michalis
Papapetrou said "they wouldn’ forbid trade with
the north" , the DISY Party Leader Nicos
Anasstasiades - currently in the government – said
recently, "his party felt that such a proposal
would not appear to be helpful, on the contrary, it
could cause problems and ought perhaps to be
avoided".
As a result of incongruous statements by the Greek
Cypriot government, Glafcos Clerides said that
"debates on trade with the north is ‘pointless’
at the moment" and thus, he rejected the
proposal.
COX MEETS WITH POLITICAL PARTY LEADERS
The President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox,
who came to TRNC in order to have contacts and give
conference on the subject of the future of Europe,
yesterday morning met with the leaders and
representatives of the political parties at the
Presidential Palace.
Present at the meeting were, the
Leader of the National Unity Party (UBP) and TRNC
Prime Minister, Derviş Eroğlu, the Secretary General
of UBP, Süha Türköz, the Leader of the Democrat
Party (DP) and Deputy Prime Minister, Salih Coşar,
his Undersecretary Ahmet Aker, the Leader of the
Communal Liberation Party (TKP), Hüseyin Angolemli,
TKP representative responsible for Foreign Relations,
Güngör Gürkan, the Leader of the Republican Turkish
Party (CTP), Mehmet Ali Talat and the Secretary
General of CTP, Ferdi Sabit Soyer.
Pat Cox evaluating the meeting,
stressed that the meeting was conducted in a positive
atmosphere. Cox stressed that he brought no new
proposals for the solution of the Cyprus problem but
during his contacts he found the opportunity to listen
to the views of all the sides concerned.
 In
a statement after his meeting with Cox, Prime Minister
Derviş Eroğlu said they had exchanged views on the
Cyprus issue.
The Prime Minister explained that
he had told Pat Cox that the Cyprus talks had begun
with the aim of reaching a positive conclusion and
that he was still optimistic, even though nothing had
so far been achieved from the talks.
Eroğlu said there was still a lot
the European Union had to do regarding the Cyprus
problem. Eroğlu added that the EU should refrain from
making statements to the effect that the Greek Cypriot
side will be admitted into the Union with or without
an agreement.
Explaining that the Turkish Cypriot
side had started the discussions within the framework
of good will and with the desire for an agreement,
Eroğlu said he could not see the same intentions from
the EU and underlined that the embargoes imposed on
the Turkish Cypriot people were still in force.
Eroğlu added that the European
Parliament’s intervention, at a time when the good
offices mission of the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
was continuing, was not a positive contribution and
also increased Greek Cypriot intransigence. |
