Following an official invitation from the U.S Secretary of State Condolezza Rice, President Talat went to the U.S.A on 26 October and yesterday (27 October) had his first meeting with Barry Jacobs, the Director of the American Jewish Committee for Strategic Studies.

Later President Talat attended a conference jointly organized by the Brookings Institute and the CSIS (Centre for Strategic International Studies) and talked about the latest developments on the Cyprus issue.

During the conference, the President said after many mistakes, a divided Cyprus had entered the E.U and if there was to be progress on achieving a Cyprus settlement, it was necessary for the isolations imposed on the Turkish Cypriots to be lifted.

President Talat indicated that the Greek Cypriots didn't want to share power with the Turkish Cypriots so a settlement couldn't be achieved and added: "They (Greek Cypriots) don't accept the Turkish Cypriots as their equals but see us as a minority. Because they don't want to share power, they're not interested in negotiating with Turkish Cypriots on an equal footing. Therefore, the lifting of the isolations would bring with it many positive developments".

Asked about the Direct Trade and Financial Aid Regulations, President Talat said the regulations in question were prepared as a package and if they were to be implemented then the ports should first be opened, but unfortunately this was being blocked by the Greek Cypriot side.

Highlighting that instead of receiving financial aid the Turkish Cypriot side wanted arrangements to be made that would support trade, the President said receiving the 259 million Euro promised by the E.U was not so important for the Turkish Cypriot side.

Meanwhile, he named Condolezza Rice's invitation as "encouraging" and added that the U.S.A could use its influence to restart the U.N sponsored talks. He said he was ready for negotiations and a settlement based on equality as already defined by the U.N.

He said apart from this, the U.S.A could encourage other countries to visit the TRNC and open representative offices in North Cyprus.

Following the completion of the conference, the President attended a round table meeting at The Washington Institute.

Later, President Talat met with Henry Hyde, the Chairman of the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives and senior Committee member Dan Burton, and the U.S.A Congress Turkish Friendship Group and Oregon Senator Gordon Smith. The President also attended a reception hosted by Faruk Logoglu, the Turkish Ambassador to Washington and a dinner hosted by Osman Ertug, the TRNC Representative to Washington.