TALAT SENDS A LETTER TO BAN KI MOON

President Mehmet Ali Talat in his letter sent to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon stressed that Greek Cypriot leader Papadopoulos’ words that `efforts to solve the Cyprus problem have not been filtered through a system of values and norms of international law’, was a clear attempt to do away with the well-established UN parameters and the body of work for the settlement of the Cyprus problem.

Reacting to Papadopoulos’ reference to the efforts for a settlement as “a constitutional arrangement set up primarily on the basis of ethnic origin”, President said the Greek Cypriot leadership should be cautioned that the efforts for a settlement are aimed at establishing a new partnership on the basis of well-established UN parameters; such as political equality, equal status and bi-zonality.

President Talat in his letter, which he sent to the UN Secretary General in response to Papadopoulos’ latest speech at the UN General Assembly, underlined the fact that the Cyprus issue was a political problem between the two founding partners of the republic namely the Turkish Cypriot people and the Greek Cypriot people.

According to the information received from the Cyprus Turkish News Agency (TAK), President Talat in his letter also pointed out that the Turkish Cypriot people were subjected to enmity and ousted from the 1960 partnership republic within the framework of the ‘Akritas plan’ which aimed to unite Cyprus with Greece (ENOSIS). Talat said the words referred by Papadopoulos such as “enclave”, “missing persons”, “refugees” and “human rights violations” were in fact explaining the situation which the Turkish Cypriots had been subjected to between the years of 1963 and 1974.

In his letter, the President drew attention to the fact that each consecutive year, the statements of the Greek Cypriot leader before the Assembly become more and more distant from the realities of the Cyprus problem as well as the international efforts towards a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus.

The President noted that the Greek Cypriot leader once again undermined the UN Secretary General’s Good Offices Mission by continuously referring to Turkey as his counterpart in the search for a settlement in Cyprus and made no reference to the Turkish Cypriot side in this regard.

Referring to the words of Greek Cypriot Spokesman Vassilis Palmas that: “We never claim that Papadopoulos and Talat will solve the Cyprus problem”, President stressed that Greek Cypriot leadership should be reminded by the UN that the Mission of Good Offices of the UN Secretary-General concerns and involves the two sides in Cyprus.

“It has never been and it will never be an exercise of a constitutional arrangement through which Turkish Cypriots are to be patched up to the “Republic of Cyprus” and absorbed by it through osmosis” he said.

Referring to Papadopoulos’ statements holding Turkey responsible for the continuation of the Cyprus problem and to the effect that the Greek Cypriot side possessed the will for a solution, the President said the Greek Cypriot leader looked like he forgot his call on his people in April 2004, for a “resounding no vote” to the UN Comprehensive Settlement Plan. Talat added that Papadopoulos was trying to conceal the fact that he had the sole responsibility for the continuation of the Cyprus problem.

Referring to the Greek Cypriot leader’s claim that the Plan had satisfied all demands and desires of Turkish Cypriot side, and that is why it was readily accepted by the Turkish side, Talat said: “Let me remind Mr. Papadopoulos that as the former UN Secretary-General Mr. Kofi Annan put it; ‘the Turkish Cypriots voted in favor of the Plan notwithstanding the significant sacrifices that it entailed for many of them’”.

The President said it is very unfortunate that the Greek Cypriot leadership denies even the existence of the isolation and restrictions on the Turkish Cypriot people, in complete disregard of the fact that international organizations like UN, EU, Council of Europe and OIC as well as individual states have called for the lifting of the isolations.

Talat stated that while on one hand the Greek Cypriot leader was referring to the figures of Turkish Cypriot economy in order to prove that there was no isolation, on the other hand he was blocking any attempt aimed at lifting the isolations. President added that this showed the insincerity of the Greek Cypriot side.

He said that one cannot take the Greek Cypriot side seriously when it proposes confidence building measures while the isolation was still continuing.

“The development in the Turkish Cypriot economy is the result of pro-solution policies accepted by the world. Papadopoulos would be much more informative if he compares the economy of the two sides and explains the big gap between them, in his speech at the UN General Assembly next year”, President said.

President Talat reiterated that the lifting of the isolation is not an end in itself, but said that such a move will be conducive to a settlement by bridging the economic gap between the two sides.

Referring to Papadopoulos’ speech accusing Turkey for preventing the Greek Cypriot side to use its right for oil exploration and its natural resources, President Talat said:

“Natural resources on and around this island belonged to the all inhabitants of the island. However, the Greek Cypriot side by totally disregarding our rights engages in unilateral attempts. This demonstrates that Greek Cypriot side is not looking for an early solution. If it desired a settlement, it wouldn’t take steps which make solution more difficult. These kinds of issues should be dealt with only after a solution.”

The President also pointed out that the Greek Cypriot leader, who claims that he is committed to the implementation of the 8 July process, should have accepted the Turkish Cypriot proposals on 5 September aimed at forwarding the process.

Also referring to Papadopoulos’ words to the effect that: “In order to make a solution functional and permanent, solution efforts should not consist of simple formulas which reflect the balance of power between the two sides”, Talat said in fact the one who wants such a solution and pursues policies in this direction was the Greek Cypriot side, which was trying to use its unilateral EU membership and the title of Cyprus Republic, against the Turkish Cypriots.

In conclusion, President Talat reiterated the Turkish Cypriot side’s firm commitment to the comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem under the auspices of the UN Secretary General’s Good Offices Mission and on the basis of the Annan Plan.