President Mehmet Ali Talat stressed that the main aim in Cyprus was to achieve a settlement and that the Turkish Cypriot people had the right to administer themselves in non-settlement conditions. He said all the institutions of the TRNC had to be further strengthened and made more effective and that this wasn't 'discrimination' but the Turkish Cypriot side should create such mechanizms so that the world would not be able to say that the TRNC was Turkey's second local authority.

Speaking to the Cyprus Turkish News Agency (TAK) correspondent, President Talat said:

"We must carefully evaluate what the TRNC is and what it means. Under the conditions of non-settlement the TRNC is the right of the Turkish Cypriot people to administer themselves. Therefore, this administration mechanism should be befitting the Turkish Cypriot people, who are Europeans, and respond to all their democratic, social, cultural and political expectations. To achieve this the TRNC's institutions must be strengthened and made more effective and be able to function properly.

In this context, it should be stressed both internally and externally that the TRNC is able to carry out the functions of its institutions and that administrators who are elected by the Turkish Cypriot people administer it. If there is a settlement the TRNC will represent the Turkish Cypriot side. Thus, the implementation of the above mentioned functions will become more important. The Turkish Cypriot side, which will take its place beside the Greek Cypriot state, has the power and potential to maintain its equality not only on paper but in real terms. Under these competitive conditions, equality is a necessity for the Turkish Cypriots and at the same time it is the guarantee that reunification will take place without any problems. Equality is also vital to ensure that a mechanism will be set up so that problems can be solved easily and equally".

He added that in addition to establishing these mechanisms, public reform was also necessary and as well as the state organs, the NGO's should also do their best to assist and aid in this process.

"Our policy is not a 'discriminating' one. We proved this and because we don't discriminate we're being respected and supported by the world", he said. He reiterated that the most effective way to achieve the main aim in the settlement path was the lifting of the isolations.

Adding that the Greek Cypriot side was using the benefit of its EU membership as though the Cyprus problem was a problem between itself and Turkey and was trying to portray the problem as being one of 'invasion', the President said:

"The Greek Cypriot side is adopting a policy of negotiating with Turkey to remove Turkey from the North of Cyprus and annex the North to its own administration through osmosis. Papadopoulos says 'there's no reconciliation because Turkey refused to negotiate'…This is a lie…Who asked Turkey and it rejected…Papadopoulos' counterpart is not Turkey, it's the Turkish Cypriots. By using the benefit of being an EU member, the Greek Cypriot side is creating obstacles in front of Turkey's EU accession process and trying to achieve osmosis. The Greek Cypriot side wants to assimilate the Turkish Cypriots and the whole world is witnessing this. Diplomats and the whole world know and openly say that Papadopoulos has no intention of achieving a settlement, because he doesn't have a stable policy".

Continuing the President said up until today the Turkish Cypriot side had not received a positive response to its request to negotiate and that Papadopoulos didn't want to negotiate with the Turkish Cypriot side. He said if Papadopoulos accepted to negotiate it would be very beneficial for the two sides because he had such incorrect arguments that he wasn't sure if Papadopoulos believed them or not. President Talat said: "For example, he says if there is 3 Turkish Cypriots and 3 Greek Cypriots in an institution there will be a deadlock...Why…Will these 3 Greek and Turkish Cypriots always have opposing views…If so, then partition is unavoidable".

In a letter written to the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 2 November 2005, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Serdar Denktas stated that at a time with the Turkish Cypriot side was trying to improve trust and good neighbourly relations, provocative acts by the Greek Cypriot side did not contribute to peace.

The full text of the letter is as follows:

"I would like to bring to your kind attention an unfortunate provocative incident that has taken place yesterday when the Greek Cypriot politician, Marios Matsakis, who is a member of the European Parliament, has removed the Turkish flag from an unmanned observation post in Akincilar village, violating also the integrity of the buffer zone in the course of his hostile action.

This was an act of provocation against the Turkish Cypriot side and can clearly be explained by the ongoing escalation of hostility of the Greek Cypriot side towards the Turkish Cypriots. Matsakis may also be trying to weather his own troubles by diverting attention from charges he is facing regarding blackmail and illicit trade of historical artefacts, which recently culminated in the waiving of his diplomatic immunity by the European Parliament. Nevertheless, he is on record saying that the removing of the flag from the post was in line with his "parliamentary duties".

Attempts to portray this act as an isolated incident fail to convince anyone with the barest knowledge of the Greek Cypriot side's policies fuelling hatred against the Turkish Cypriot people and their consequences which have been conveyed to Your Excellency on numerous occasions, most recently by President Talat in his letter dated 12 October 2005. Declaration of the year of 2005 as the "Year for the Remembrance and Honouring of EOKA Liberation Struggle" and the realization of the Nikiforos military exercise in October 2005 after several years of restraint, are just two examples of the Greek Cypriot side's hostile policies.

Acts of provocation and violation of the buffer zone from the Greek Cypriot side do not promote reconciliation, especially at a time when we, on our part, have taken bold steps towards fostering confidence and good-neighbourly relations between the two sides on the island. We feel it our duty to bring to your attention and strongly protest the Greek Cypriot Deputy's action. We hope and expect that the UN will do more to ensure that the Greek Cypriot side refrains from offensive behaviour which increases the lack of confidence between the two peoples of the island.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration".

Former Greek Cypriot Defence Minister Sokrotis Hasikos (DISI Deputy Chairman) confessed to producing numbers regarding the number of Turkish troops stationed on the island during a speech made in the European Parliament on 9 November 2005.