Cyprus-Forum.com

[halil]

President Mehmet Ali Talat has said the current talks for a settlement moving slowly because of the absence of a comprehensive proposal or document to negotiate on.
The President also said that it was possible to solve the Cyprus Problem before the 2010 TRNC Presidential elections if negotiations continued at its current pace.

In an interview to a Greek Cypriot newspaper, President Talat said that difficulties and challenges were naturally being experienced at the negotiations process but that everything was normal.
“However difficulties and challenges was something that we had already foreseen and predicted before the talks began” he added.

Reminding that there will be parliamentary and a presidential election in 2010, the President warned that a failure to find a solution to the Cyprus Problem before then could drive disappointed Turkish Cypriot voters to support more hard line policies.
Stating that he had conveyed these concerns to his Greek Cypriot counterpart Demetris Christofias, the President said that he did not accept the view that the ‘Annan Plan’ was a bad solution plan.

Responding to a question, the President complained that they negotiating team had to go through the painstaking task of going through all UN documents because no other substitute document was on the table.

Pointing out that the bulk of work carried out by the UN to this day was quite extensive, the President said that this allowed both sides to easily bring different proposals to the table.
“Often the Greek Cypriot Side brings proposals outside the boundaries of existing UN parameters. From time to time, the Greek Cypriot Side makes proposals which are not in accordance with the principles of bi-communality and political equality” he added.

Explaining that he frequently faced accusations from the Greek Cypriot Side that he demanded a confederal solution”, Talat said that his proposals had nothing to do with a confederation.
“Those who make such claims do not know the difference between a confederal and federal settlement” he said.

Also clarifying claims that he sent ‘two letters’ to the UN Secretary General, Talat said that a second letter did not exist.
He said that one letter sent to the UN Secretary General was a protest response regarding Christofias’s critisizms and accusations on Turkey’s rights over any possible oil reserves off the coast of Cyprus.
Talat said that a second letter, which had nothing to do with the first, was a protested response to the Greek Cypriot leader’s address at the UN General Assembly.

Touching upon the latest economic crisis as well, President said that the TRNC was not too worried about the global financial crisis because of its isolation from the rest of the world.
He however added that the global financial crisis will affect the number of tourists and foreigners who visit the TRNC.