PRESIDENT TALAT SENDS A LETTER TO PAPADOPOULOS

President Mehmet Ali Talat sent a letter to Greek Cypriot Leader Tassos Papadopoulos on the Turkish Cypriot side’s views over the content of a possible meeting between the two leaders.

According to the statement of Presidential Spokesman Hasan Ercakica, Mr. Talat, in the letter, has conveyed his ideas regarding the content of the probable meeting, but did not mention any date. The date would be set in a meeting to be made between Presidential Under-Secretary Rasit Pertev and Greek Cypriot administration’s Chief of Diplomatic Office Tassos Tzonis.

It was pointed out that in his letter President Talat expressed satisfaction that as a result of his prior calls, Papadopoulos has finally agreed that it was time to meet.

Meanwhile, the Greek Cypriot radio reported that after receiving the letter sent by President Talat, Papadopoulos made a call to the United Nations Special Representative to Cyprus Michael Moller to immediately start the necessary procedure for negotiations.

ERCAKICA: “MS. MARKOULLI’S STATEMENTS ARE UNFORTUNATE AND MEANINGLESS”

Presidential Spokesman Hasan Ercakica in his weekly press conference held yesterday (14 August) stated the following:

“The Turkish Cypriot side has communicated a letter directly to the Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos concerning the position of the Turkish Cypriot side in terms of the meeting that is expected to take place in the near future between Mr.Talat and Mr.Papadopoulos.

In the letter, Mr. Talat has conveyed his ideas regarding the content of the probable meeting and expressed satisfaction that Mr. Papadopoulos have finally agreed that it is time to meet as a result of Mr. Talat prior calls.

However, it should be pointed out that the recent statements by the Greek Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs Ms. Markoulli might have negative consequences over the probable Talat-Papadopoulos meeting.

Ever since the date Ms. Markoulli has been appointed as the Greek Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs, she has been issuing provocative statements regarding the Turkish side and Turkey in particular.

Reiterating her ideas in her most recent statement to NTV that “the key to a solution in Cyprus lies with the Turkish army”, she has not refrained from stating that they “would prefer to discuss the issues regarding the Cyprus problem with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan or the Turkish army”.

We would like to reiterate once again that we consider such statements by Ms. Markoulli as unfortunate and meaningless. Claiming that President Talat is not authorized to negotiate the basic issues concerning the Cyprus problem at a time when efforts are being spent to hold a summit between the two leaders and all the related parties are expecting this summit to be substance oriented and effective, Ms. Markoulli should clarify not only the issues Mr. Papadopoulos is planning to discuss in the meeting but also the results he expects to achieve.

The stance and statements of Ms. Markoulli can be deemed as the strong indications of the possibility that the Greek Cypriot side plans to hold this meeting with their own concerns of domestic affairs as well as efforts to render the said meeting ineffective.

The Turkish Cypriot side is determined not to be an instrument to such a plan but to make use of such a meeting between Mr. Talat and Mr. Papadopoulos as an opportunity to overcome the deadlock before the efforts of reaching a comprehensive settlement for the Cyprus problem.

Also referring to the issue of oil and natural gas explorations in the Eastern Mediterranean, Spokesman Ercakica said:

“It is unfortunate that the oil and natural gas explorations in the Eastern Mediterranean are still posing a source of tension. Even though the warning we have issued last week has been misunderstood or deemed as “extreme” by some circles, we believe, the fact that the Greek Cypriot Administration has been acting as if it is “the sovereign state” before the Cyprus problem is settled and ignores the rights of the Turkish Cypriots and of an important country such as Turkey, bears serious risks and strains the atmosphere.

We regret to observe that the tension in the Eastern Mediterranean has been escalating. The party responsible for this tension is the Greek Cypriot side who deems itself as a problem-free country and strives to exploit the membership, achieved in an unjust manner on 1 May 2004, against the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey.

Instead of spending efforts to settle the tension, the Greek Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs has threatened Turkey by interrupting its membership process and revealed the sources that support them for their tension creating initiatives.

It is now evident that the Greek Cypriot side aims to use its EU membership as a trump card against the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey.  Making use of this card is quite dangerous. The fact that the Greek Cypriot side wishes to exploit this card whenever possible can lead to risky developments regarding not only the oil explorations but other issues as well.

The fact that Ms. Markoulli has dared to threaten Turkey for trying to protect its rights in the Eastern Mediterranean, by saying that they might “interrupt the EU membership process of Turkey” should have had the reactions of the EU member states before everyone else. The EU member states should not forget that they would also be responsible for the consequences of the fact that they allow the Greek Cypriot side exploit the trump card given to them by the EU.

33^RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE SECOND LEG OF 1974 PEACE OPERATION…

33^rd Anniversary of Serdarlý’s liberation celebrated with ceremonies

The 33rd anniversary of the liberation of Serdarlý was celebrated with ceremonies yesterday (14 August).

Speaking during the ceremony, President Mehmet Ali Talat stressed that Turkish Cypriots desired a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem and said: “It is our aim to reach an honorable peace which would preserve the rights of Turkish Cypriots, without wasting time”.

President Talat underlined that achieving a strong and lasting peace by taking lessons from the past was very important for Turkish Cypriots.

Continuing, Talat said: “Just like we are celebrating the liberation of Serdarlý today, tomorrow we will celebrate the future security achieved by the Turkish Cypriot people with determined struggle.

President Talat added that they would accomplish a strong and permanent peace in Cyprus; set up a bi-zonal partnership based on two constituent states under the guarantorship of Turkey and would become Europeanized.

Martyrs of Murataga, Atlilar and Sandallar Commemorated

President Talat: “A Shameful Date in Human’s History”

Martyrs of Murataga, Atlilar and Sandallar who were massacred and buried in mass graves by Greek Cypriots 33 years ago commemorated with two separate ceremonies in martyrdoms of Murataga-Sandallar and Atlilar.

Speaking during the ceremony in Murataga-Sandallar Martyrdom, President Talat said those events, which gave so much pain to people, had an important place not only in Cyprus’ history but also in human’s history. He added that this date was remembered as a “shameful date”.

Pointing out that such events were always remembered and people work for preventing the repetition of them, President Talat said: “Turkish Cypriot people had experienced so much difficulties and painful days”.

Explaining that the second leg of 1974 Peace Operation began on the days when Greek Cypriots full of hatred and with reaction to failure in achieving their Enosis aim carried out massacres in Murataga, Atlilar and Sandallar, Talat said the Greek Cypriots’ hatred was so much that they even massacred babies and elderly and buried them in mass graves in three different villages.

President Talat referring to the recent statement by new Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Ms. Markoulli to the effect that ‘there was no need for a settlement in Cyprus and if Turkish army withdrew then the problem would be solved’, said the mass graves could be the best answer to her remarks and indication of the reason why Turkish army had saved Turkish Cypriots.