Post by depletedreasons on Jan 4, 2008 7:15:27 GMT -5
Talat: 2008 will shape fate of Cyprus
Friday, January 4, 2008
‘We are both a part of the world and also not because we are isolated and live just like a country in the Middle Ages,’ says the Turkish Cypriot president
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News
WELCOME: Turkish President Abdullah Gül (R) shakes hands with the president of northern Cyprus, Mehmet Ali Talat, on his arrival at Çankaya Palace. TDN photo, Selahattin Sönmez
No matter who wins the upcoming presidential elections in Greek Cyprus, 2008 will be a year of diplomatic activity toward a solution to the decades-old Cyprus problem, the president of northern Cyprus said yesterday.
“This is the expectation as is clearly indicated in the report of the U.N. secretary general. 2008 will determine the fate of the divided island,” Mehmet Ali Talat told a press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gül.
Talat, however, said that was only an expectation and that no concrete proposal for a comprehensive settlement was on the table. Behind the scenes, the Kosovo example is being discussed where it appears diplomatic negotiations resulted in nothing as the province is heading toward unilateral independence. Earlier, a senior Turkish Cypriot told the Turkish Daily News that other options may arise in the event of no diplomatic solution just like in the case of Kosovo.
The Turkish side did its best for a solution and exhausted all the diplomatic means even after the overwhelming approval of a U.N.-backed peace plan in the north, said Talat.
“We continue to do our best but despite this we are deprived of global cooperation. We are both a part of the world and also not because we are isolated and live just like a country in the Middle Ages,” he added and sought Turkey's open support.
Talat's full-fledged consultations in Ankara come after a visit by the Turkish president to the northern part of the island in September, which was Gül's first visit overseas. Talat was accompanied by Foreign Minister Turgay Avcý and state protocol was applied.
For his part, Gül repeated that a viable solution must be based on the realities of the divided island; two different peoples, two democracies and two states. “To this end, Turkey, a guarantor country, is determined to do its part in the upcoming period as it has done in the past.”
Gül also called on the international community to stick to its commitments to lifting the isolation of northern Cyprus.
“Northern Cyprus kept its promise and took steps,” he said, referring to the Turkish Cypriots approval of the U.N. peace plan in the 2004 referendum. “Now it is the turn of the international community.”
Talat's visit comes before Gül's scheduled visit to Washington and New York where he will also meet with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Gül said he will ask the secretary general for a more active U.N. role in Cyprus.
Later in the day, Talat held talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan.
www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=92789
Friday, January 4, 2008
‘We are both a part of the world and also not because we are isolated and live just like a country in the Middle Ages,’ says the Turkish Cypriot president
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News
WELCOME: Turkish President Abdullah Gül (R) shakes hands with the president of northern Cyprus, Mehmet Ali Talat, on his arrival at Çankaya Palace. TDN photo, Selahattin Sönmez
No matter who wins the upcoming presidential elections in Greek Cyprus, 2008 will be a year of diplomatic activity toward a solution to the decades-old Cyprus problem, the president of northern Cyprus said yesterday.
“This is the expectation as is clearly indicated in the report of the U.N. secretary general. 2008 will determine the fate of the divided island,” Mehmet Ali Talat told a press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gül.
Talat, however, said that was only an expectation and that no concrete proposal for a comprehensive settlement was on the table. Behind the scenes, the Kosovo example is being discussed where it appears diplomatic negotiations resulted in nothing as the province is heading toward unilateral independence. Earlier, a senior Turkish Cypriot told the Turkish Daily News that other options may arise in the event of no diplomatic solution just like in the case of Kosovo.
The Turkish side did its best for a solution and exhausted all the diplomatic means even after the overwhelming approval of a U.N.-backed peace plan in the north, said Talat.
“We continue to do our best but despite this we are deprived of global cooperation. We are both a part of the world and also not because we are isolated and live just like a country in the Middle Ages,” he added and sought Turkey's open support.
Talat's full-fledged consultations in Ankara come after a visit by the Turkish president to the northern part of the island in September, which was Gül's first visit overseas. Talat was accompanied by Foreign Minister Turgay Avcý and state protocol was applied.
For his part, Gül repeated that a viable solution must be based on the realities of the divided island; two different peoples, two democracies and two states. “To this end, Turkey, a guarantor country, is determined to do its part in the upcoming period as it has done in the past.”
Gül also called on the international community to stick to its commitments to lifting the isolation of northern Cyprus.
“Northern Cyprus kept its promise and took steps,” he said, referring to the Turkish Cypriots approval of the U.N. peace plan in the 2004 referendum. “Now it is the turn of the international community.”
Talat's visit comes before Gül's scheduled visit to Washington and New York where he will also meet with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Gül said he will ask the secretary general for a more active U.N. role in Cyprus.
Later in the day, Talat held talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan.
www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=92789