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[insan]

Talat snubs EU

By Menelaos Hadjicostis

THE European Union should not supplant the United Nations in a revived Cyprus settlement drive that should be guided by the UN reunification plan rather than undiluted EU law, Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Mehmet Ali Talat said.

"I’m not denying the EU’s involvement, but it is the UN that is leading solution efforts," Talat told reporters following his first-ever post-invasion visit to Larnaca’s Hala Sultan Tekke, one of Islam’s holiest sites.

Demonstrating a clear reluctance for Brussels’ more active involvement in Cyprus settlement efforts, Talat said he encourages the international community to become involved, but the EU should take a back seat to the UN.

Taking his cue from Ankara which insists that the EU should not take charge of settlement talks, Talat rebuffed suggestions that a derogation-free acquis communautaire should underpin any fresh solution blueprint.

He said the Annan plan should remain the driving force of a settlement as it is in full accord with EU law.

"The EU acquis is not the case for the Cyprus problem...The Annan plan is fully in parallel with the acquis and if you disagree with that, then we don’t agree," Talat said.

Unaware

Talat skirted a question on whether a new settlement plan is in the offing, saying he was unaware of any new blueprint being cobbled together.

Speaking at the entrance of the mosque where Muslims believe Prophet Mohammed’s aunt is buried after dying in a fall from her mount, Talat repeated that it’s up to Nicosia to unveil its plans for a fresh round of negotiations, insisting that the Turkish side is ready for a resumption of talks.

"Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots want a solution. I don’t have any doubts about this...I’m confident that we will reach a solution. For that the good will of the politicians will be enough," Talat said, adding that it is his "expectation" is for a solution to be reached by October 3 when Ankara begins its EU entry talks.

Talat said his visit to the mosque was to fulfill a pledge to his aunt Laika to make the pilgrimage during Kurban Bayam, Islam’s holiest religious festival commemorating Abraham’s sacrifice of a ram in the place of his son Isaac.

Happiness

Talat said that he had prayed in the mosque’s inner sanctuary - the resting place of Mohammed’s aunt - for peace and an end to the island’s division.

"We cant to convey our best wishes to all Cypriots...We want peace and solution. We don’t want to go on with this division forever...This was our prayer, for happiness to all Cypriots," said Talat.

Talat’s wife Oya echoed the sentiment, wishing the peace reigns in the world and in Cyprus at a well ensconced within in the mosque where the faithful traditionally make wishes.

Talat sloughed off suggestions that his visit was part of any personal religious reawakening that was inspired by Ankara’s Islamic government.

"I know what my roots are," Talat quipped.

Talat dismissed Turkish Cypriot opposition criticism that his post-referendum expectations have been dashed.

The Turkish Cypriot prime "minister" has come under fire for resting on his laurels while waiting for international political support and financial aid to pour into the north as a reward for backing the Annan plan.

"This is no failure. We have taken many steps forward to get rid of our isolation. At least we made the Turkish Cypriots known internationally as being against secession," said Talat.

Security

Talat arrived at the mosque in a silver Land-Rover Freelander that bore no insignia of the illegal "TRNC" or of his "prime ministerial" status.

An accompanying SUV carried his own four-man Turkish Cypriot security detail shadowed by a half-dozen plain-clothes Cyprus policemen.

Apart from his wife and aunt, Talat’s entourage included his wife’s wheelchair-bound grandmother Elmaziye, 95.

Talat and his wife took turns pushing the wheelchair to the mosque through its garden and down the steps with the help of his security.

Together with Talat were his "communications and works minister" Omer Kalioncu, his "undersecretary to the prime minister" and Huseyin Gursan, chief of the illegal Turkish Cypriot broadcasting station Bayrak.

All the women in the entourage had their heads covered inside the mosque with scarf in accordance with Islamic tradition.

Some 20 Turkish and Turkish Cypriot journalists covered the visit which provided ample photo opportunities.