TALAT AND  PAPADOPOULOS TO  MEET ON 5 SEPTEMBER

President Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot Leader Tasos Papadopulos are scheduled to meet on the 5th of September. The date was set at a meeting held yesterday between the Presidential Undersecretary Rasit Pertev and the Greek Cypriot Administration Diplomatic Bureau Chief Tassos Djonis in the UN controlled buffer zone.

Speaking after the meeting the Presidential Undersecretary Rasit Pertev said he and the Greek Cypriot Administration Diplomatic Bureau Chief Tassos Djonis had agreed  that the meeting between the two leaders should take place on the 5th of September at the residence of the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Cyprus Michael Moeller in the UN controlled buffer zone.

He said “as the Turkish Cypriot side  our aim is to start  substantive   negotiations  and reach a comprehensive settlement, we want the two leaders to meet within this framework.”

 

ERÇAKICA: “UNTILL REACHING A  PEACE, THE TURKISH CYPRIOTS’ NEED FOR SECURITY AND THEREFORE  FOR TURKISH ARMED FORCES WILL CONTINUE”

Presidential Spokesman Hasan Ercakica  in his weekly press conference  yesterday  (21 August 2007) stated  the following:

“The Greek Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs Mrs. Erato Kozakou – Marcoullis is maintaining her statements provoking Turkey and creating tension in the region. Refusing to change her attitude in spite of the warnings of Turkey, Mrs. Marcoullis continued to poison the environment by issuing new statements yesterday.

            It is evident that one of her targets is the presence of the Turkish Armed Forces in Cyprus. The Greek Cypriot side has, for a long time now, been striving to communicate to the world that as soon as the Turkish Armed Forces leave the island a settlement will automatically be reached.

            It should be underlined that, unless lasting peace is reached on the island, Turkish Cypriots’ need for security and therefore, for the Turkish Armed Forces will continue. The fact that Turkish Armed Forces keeps a deterrent force in Cyprus which has the duty of maintaining peace and security of the Turkish Cypriots along with peace on the island is a necessity arising due to the policies employed by the Greek Cypriot side. The attacks against the Turkish Cypriots and the conditions they were made to live in during the times when there was no such force in Cyprus are well known by everyone.

            Today, there is no guarantee that the Greek Cypriots, who still claim to be the sole government of the island, might not spend efforts to spread their so called sovereignty to the north by force when Turkish Armed Forces are not present. Considering that every state who claims to be sovereign might make use of force, we can easily say that, provided that Turkish Armed Forces leave the island, the Greek Cypriot side will immediately attempt to occupy the north.

            Taking these facts into consideration, it can easily be understood that if the Turkish Armed Forces leave the island, it will not contribute to the peace efforts but on the contrary, to a new chaos or even a new war. Therefore, it can be stated that the fact that Greek Cypriot side is attacking the Turkish Armed Forces does not serve to the efforts of peace. On the contrary, it conceals the real reasons of the problem and supports the stalemate.

            Hereby, it should be reminded once again that by accepting the comprehensive settlement plan in 2004, Turkey has promised and approved to remove its army from the island. If, according to the statements of Marcoullis, the only authority to decide on the Cyprus problem is the Turkish Army and it has no intention of leaving the island, how can this stance employed by Turkey during the referendum period be explained? Although this is a clear indication of the fact that Turkish Army is in favor of peace and settlement, it has no obligation to prove itself. On the contrary, it is the Greek Cypriot side, who poses a continuous source of tension and tries to usurp the rights of Turkish Cypriots on all occasions, that has to prove that it is in favor of peace and settlement.

            Another fact that Marcoullis and other Greek Cypriot leaders have been trying to conceal is the presence of Greek army on the island. It is estimated that there are 7000 Greek soldiers on the island today. The Greek soldiers who secretly arrived in the island in 1964 and some of them had o leave the island after the 1967 dated attacks in Gecitkale and Bogazici, also took part, under the command of the Greek junta, in the coup organized to annex the island to Greece in 1974. However, the Turkish soldiers have intervened to the island in line with Turkey’s rights arising from 1960 Agreements to end the attacks against the Turkish Cypriots and to avert ENOSIS. The difference between the two military forces should be taken into consideration.