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Talat expects renewed efforts to solve Cyprus problem in 2008
Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat has said he anticipates fresh efforts aimed at reunification of the divided island of Cyprus following presidential elections in Greek Cyprus in February.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat "There are serious signs that there could be a new initiative. We want 2008 to be the year of solution," Talat told the Turkish Cypriot news agency TAK. "The Cyprus problem has been on deep freeze throughout 2007 but there will be a serious initiative in the next few years."
Talat, who is due to arrive in Ankara on Thursday for a two-day visit, warned the gap between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides is growing wider and that the United Nations could begin seeking another alternative if the new initiative fails. "This could be the last initiative," he said, without elaborating.

Talat is expected to discuss the deep-seated Cyprus problem with President Abdullah Gül. The visit comes weeks before the Greek Cypriots hold a vote on the new president. With the Greek Cypriot side focused on the election race, there are few expectations that there could be any progress to resolve the stalemate before the election is concluded.

Talat said the winner of the poll would have crucial impact on the success of efforts for a solution. The incumbent Greek Cypriot leader, Tassos Papadopoulos, campaigned for rejection of a UN plan to reunite the island in 2004 and has done little to break the deadlock since then, blocking European Union attempts to ease the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. The Turkish side says it has already done its part for reunification of the divided island by supporting the UN plan. It says the progress will depend on reconciliatory steps on the part of the Greek Cypriots and international efforts to ease the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots.

Talat will be the first official guest Gül will host in 2008. The visit is also expected to end an ongoing chill between the Turkish Cypriot leader and the Turkish presidency. Talat, elected president in 2005, visited Turkey at the invitation of former President Ahmet Necdet Sezer only once during Sezer's term in office. In a sign of the disagreements between the two, Sezer refused to follow the top state protocol used in visits by heads of state to Ankara during Talat's visit.

In addition to Gül, Talat will hold talks with Parliamentary Speaker Köksal Toptan and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during his two-day visit to Ankara. In an apparent gesture from Gül, Talat and his delegation, which will include KKTC Foreign Minister Turgay Avcı, will fly on the Turkish presidency's private GAP plane.

02.01.2008

Ankara Today's Zaman