SERDAR DENKTAŞ’S LETTER WAS PUBLISHED AS A UN DOCUMENT

TRNC Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Serdar Denktaş’s letter sent to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, about the UN report on the UNFCYP and UN Security Council resolution was published as a UN document.

Serdar Denktaş in his letter sent on July 4, stating that, at the outset, an objective assessment of the situation was made in the report, and that Security Council resolution 1604 reflected a fairly balanced stance in comparison to previous resolutions, draw attention to some shortcomings.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Serdar Denktaş in his letter stated that although in the report it was stressed that the cooperation between the two sides was necessary, the expression that the "Government of Cyprus" agreed to keep UNFCYP beyond 15 June 2005, leads to the conclusion that only the agreement of the "Government of Cyprus" was necessary for the extension of the mandate of the UN peace-keeping force in Cyprus. Foreign Minister Serdar Denktaş pointed out that it was an undeniable reality that UNFCYP functions in Cyprus with the consent and cooperation of the Turkish Cypriot side was well known to and accepted by the relevant UN authorities.

Serdar Denktaş also stated that while there was no reference to the UN Good Offices Mission in the Security Council resolution, which was a technical report, reference to the developments pertaining to the accession process of Turkey to the EU was incomprehensible.

Foreign Minister Serdar Denktaş stated that the report felt short of the preventive Greek Cypriot attitude regarding the crossing of commercial vehicles from North to South Cyprus and the relevant wording in the report gave the impression that the busses and taxis registered in North were allowed to cross to South on certain conditions. Denktaş added that in the report it was not openly stated that the Greek Cypriots refuse to accept the driving licenses issued in North Cyprus.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Serdar Denktaş pointing out that the lack of official contacts and cooperation on humanitarian issues between the two sides were presented in a misleading manner, said although the Turkish side had repeatedly expressed its willingness to establish contacts on all levels the Greek Cypriot side failed to respond positively.

FIRST DIRECT FLIGHT OF CYPRUS TURKISH AIRLINES TO BAKU

First direct flight from TRNC other than Turkey, took place this morning to Baku.

A 90 people delegation, headed by the TRNC Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Serdar Denktaş, went to Azerbaijani capital city Baku this morning with a direct flight from Ercan which is an important step for the lifting of the economic isolation and embargoes.

The TRNC delegation consisting of First President Rauf Denktaş and his 6 people delegation, Minister of Foreign Affairs Serdar Denktaş, bureaucrats from the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Economy and Tourism, businessmen and reporters will have contacts with the Azerbaijani Speaker of the Assembly , Foreign Minister and State Minister.

Turkish Cypriot businessmen will participate to a forum organized by Azerbaijani-Turkish Businessmen and discuss the issues of developing the existing relations between the two countries.

INTERNATIONAL ACCREDITATION TO EMU FROM ABET

Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) in United States gave international accreditation to Electric-Electronic and Mechanical Engineering Departments of Eastern Mediterranean University .

According to information received from the EMU’s Assistant Rectorate in Charge of Promotion, Planning and Development, ABET gave accreditation to only four universities in Turkey which are Middle Eastern Technical University, Bogaziçi University, Bilkent University and İstanbul Technical University. In the relevant statement it was stated that ABET, which performs as a non-governmental organization in the US, also gave accreditation to universities abroad and the engineering departments of the universities which received this accreditation was recognized all over the world.