President Mehmet Ali Talat met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Mon in Berlin, Germany on yesterday (15 July).

President Talat, in his statement to the Anatolia News Agency following the meeting, said that the UN Secretary-General seems pleased with the current developments in Cyprus.

Talat stated the following:

“Actually he is pleased, like we all are, despite our worries. As you know, there is the possibility of the initiation of a new process in Cyprus. We had several meetings with Mr. Christofias. We are meeting again on 25 July. I hope and I believe that we will, most probably, initiate fully-fledged negotiations. We discussed these.

As you know, the UN Secretary-General has appointed a special envoy. This is significant, because the Security Council Resolutions state that a special envoy may only be appointed if there is hope regarding a solution; in case there is belief that there will be a solution. Therefore, the appointment of a special envoy indicates that the UN believes that a solution is possible. And we will do everything in our capacity.

The Turkish Cypriot side, with the full support of Turkey, has been working for the solution of the Cyprus problem for long time. We are still maintaining this position and we will be as flexible as possible, and do our best.”

Asked about the expectations of the UN Secretary-General, President Talat said:

“His expectations are very open and clear. He expects full-fledged negotiations to start as soon as possible. The fact that he has appointed a special envoy indicates this. He has asked for our opinion. We had a positive opinion. Most probably, Christofias also had a positive opinion. And so he made this appointment. Therefore, the Secretary-General expects the negotiations to begin. And our desire is to solve the Cyprus problem as soon as possible.”

When asked about his expectations from the EU countries and especially the German government, President Talat said:

“We did not have any contacts with the German government today. I am here only for this meeting. But of course, we do have expectations from the EU. We expect the EU to give us technical support and to encourage the Greek Cypriot side for a solution. Of course, as you know, it is not possible for the EU to play an impartial role as long as the Greek Cypriot administration is an EU member, and Greece is unconditionally supporting the Greek Cypriot side…”

In response to a comment that the German government is increasing its efforts regarding the Cyprus problem, Talat noted the following:

“This was necessary. In fact, it is even belated. Germany is one of the most important countries in the EU. She should have shown interest because Germany, and in fact, all the EU countries had strongly supported the UN solution plan, in other words, the Annan Plan. They had also stated that the side that rejects this plan would pay a high price. However, the side that rejected the plan did not pay any price. Moreover, it continued with its rejectionist stance until now. Germany really started to show interest during this period. I think this is a belated interest, but it is necessary.”

Underlining that France has a policy of supporting the Greek Cypriot side, President Talat said:

“France should be more impartial, more objective. When the Annan Plan was rejected by the Greek Cypriot side, the French foreign minister had put forward a very serious and meaningful reaction. However, this did not continue. We expect all EU countries, and the EU as a whole, to have a more objective approach to the Cyprus problem and to encourage the Greek Cypriot side for solution. We have the courage for a solution. So we do not need to be encouraged.”

Asked about who requested the meeting with the Secretary-General, President Talat said:

“We conveyed to his representatives in Cyprus that we would like to meet with him. The UN proposed the time and place for the meeting.”

When asked whether the Annan Plan would serve as a basis for negotiations, the President said:

“The UN has left the solution of the problem to the sides in Cyprus. Of course, there is an accumulated body of work of the UN. We are carrying out the negotiations taking into consideration this accumulation. Therefore, as far as we are concerned, the Annan Plan is there, it is part of the accumulated work. Nobody can deny the Annan Plan. Yet, if you are asking me whether we are negotiating the Annan Plan, the answer is ‘no…’”

Talat added that the EU countries took a back seat when the TRNC had the tendency of initiating negotiations, and that they seemed like they were not interested in the Cyprus problem on those days.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Turgay Avci has emphasized that even at a time when the Cyprus problem has entered into a critical period in reaching a settlement, the Greek Cypriot Administration was working 24 hours to stop the ferryboat services between Latakia and Gazimađusa.

Complaining that the Greek Cypriot Leader has been taking initiatives to stop ferry services between the Syrian city of Latakia and the TRNC during his visit to Paris and met the Syrian Head of State Beţar El Esad to discuss this issue, Avci said “ is this a sign of good will... everyone in south Cyprus has mobilized his/her resources to stop a ferryboat service in North.”