The Cyprus talks, which should have taken place yesterday (February 25), was postponed for today (February 26) and in a press statement, TRNC President Denktas said yesterday’s meeting was postponed for today because the Greek Cypriot leader, Tassos Papadopoulos, had requested time to work on the proposals submitted by the Turkish Cypriot side in the previous meeting (February 20) regarding the changes that they wanted to make to the Annan Plan. The President said that the negotiations would therefore continue today.

Talking about the changes the Turkish Cypriot side wanted to make to the Annan Plan, President Denktas said: "The Annan Plan states that ‘24 people from each of the two founding states will be represented in the Senate’. However, since Greek Cypriots will have the right to vote and be elected in our state, we want this to be clearly expressed as 24 Turkish Cypriots senators and 24 Greek Cypriots senators"

Pointing out that there are two peoples in Cyprus, President Denktas said the Turkish Cypriot side requested that it be clearly stated if the founding states were to be formed by Turkish Cypriots or Greek Cypriots. Stating that the Turkish Cypriot side did not want one of the two peoples to be overshadowed by the other, the President said they also requested a reduction in some of the percentages outlined in the Annan Plan.

He said: "If these percentages remain as they are, the fact that our founding state will be composed of Turkish Cypriots will be eliminated and dangers will arise".

Explaining that changes were also requested on the property issue, President Denktas said wanting these changes did not mean going outside of the framework of the Annan Plan and if the Greek Cypriots also wanted some changes, without losing time, these should be speedily examined page by page, so that an agreement is reached on this issue.

Stressing that the issue of the derogations was the Turkish Cypriot side’s most important request, President Denktas said: "The derogations should become primary law within the EU norms, or at least one part of it should continue until Turkey becomes an EU member. However, on core issues and issues that a Cyprus settlement will be based on, we want the derogations to be included in the EU norms and the founding agreement and for them to be unchangeable. No progress can be achieved unless we receive a definite guarantee on this issue".

Following the postponement of yesterday’s meeting, President Denktas yesterday afternoon got together with Alvaro de Soto, the UN Secretary-General’s Special.

Speaking after the meeting, De Soto stated that the Cyprus negotiations would continue today (February 26) at 10:00am. He said during his meeting with President Denktas they discussed the core issues and he did not bring with him a new document.

For his part, President Denktas said De Soto had requested further information regarding the Turkish Cypriot side’s proposals and this information was given to him.

TRNC Prime Minister, Mehmet Ali Talat, yesterday (February 25) received a delegation from the Justice and Peace Party (ABP), headed by party leader Ertugrul Hasipoglu.

Prime Minister Talat, pointing out that there was no going back from the negotiations, which started with the aim of finding a settlement to the Cyprus issue, said from the Turkish Cypriot side’s point of view, the process was going well, but he couldn’t make a diagnosis for the whole process because the general picture would be a lot clearer in a few days time.

Pointing out that, during the negotiation process, as the Turkish Cypriot side, they wanted to reach a settlement by themselves and did not want Turkey, Greece or the UN Secretary-General to do the negotiating for them, Prime Minister said: "We’ll live in Cyprus, so we should be the ones to settle this problem. This is what we are striving for, but I’m uneased by the Greek Cypriot side objecting to most of the issues because this is halting the process".

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Serdar Denktas, yesterday (February 25) received a delegation from the Justice and Peace Party (ABP), headed by party leader Ertugrul Hasipoglu.

Pointing out that in the negotiations, which started with the aim of finding a settlement to the Cyprus issue, valuable time was being lost with the tactics of the Greek Cypriot side, Serdar Denktas said: "We are at the negotiating table but, there are no negotiations".

Stating that the Greek Cypriot leader, Tassos Papadopoulos, was not at the negotiating table to achieve a just, lasting and viable settlement to the Cyprus issue but, to just to waste time, Serdar Denktas said: "If there are those amongst the Greek Cypriot people who sincerely want to form a new partnership with the Turkish Cypriots, they should raise their voices and push their leader in the right direction".

Explaining that in New York a decision was taken to restart the negotiations in Cyprus because it was easier to access all the sources there, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister said, after returning to the TRNC from New York, the first seven days were totally wasted. He said the Turkish Cypriot side was not responsible for this because they went to each meeting fully prepared with a document clearly expressing their opinions and requests.

Referring to the postponement of yesterday’s meeting by the Greek Cypriot leader, Tassos Papadopoulos, Serdar Denktas said the reason for this postponement was so that the Greek Cypriot side would have more time to examine the documents submitted to them outlining the Turkish Cypriot side’s opinions. He added it was possible to examine the documents even while the negotiations were continuing.