Cyprus-Forum.com

[halil]

President Mehmet Ali Talat has said there is a need for outside factors like the United Nations during the negotiations process in Cyprus.The President made the statement during the first meeting of the Democratic Dialogue projects launched by the Freedom and Reform Party.

The Democratic Dialogue project aims to host many political party leaders and members with the aim of hearing their views and opinions regarding important issues concerning Cyprus and opening the issues up for discussion during the Freedom and Reform Party assembly meetings.

Making an opening speech, the leader of the Freedom and Reform Party, Deputy Prime Minister Foreign Minister Turgay Avci said democracy isn’t just the ruling of people who win elections and those failing becoming the opposition but the mutual respect and cooperation.

Avci stressed the importance of working together in deciding on the future of the nation and the people instead of political rivalry.

Speaking at the meeting President Mehmet Ali said he had found the perfect opportunity to explain the latest developments of the Cyprus issue during the Freedom and Reform Party’s Democratic Dialogue project.

He conveyed all the developments that had taken place before the beginning of the Cyprus negotiations process and said that in spite all the negative developments that were experienced in the year 2008, the beginning of the negotiations is a positive development.

Referring to the Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Hristofias stance before the elections, saying that he would be taking the Annan Plan as a basis and then refusing it after he was elected, the President said this was an example of the Greek Cypriot side’s going back on its word.

President Talat stressed that if the Annan Plan was accepted as a basis or if they had continued from where they had left off then a solution could have been found.

‘It is only natural that the negotiations process has been extended, but we hope to finish one of the 6 titles that we have been discussing by the end of this month’, he added.

Explaining that the Greek Cypriots are not bounded to the Annan Plan and they are blaming the Turkish Cypriots of being so, President Talat said ‘the Turkish Cypriot are bounded to the Annan Plan as much as the Greek Cypriots are’.

Noting that the Greek Cypriot side does not want international factors to take place during the negotiations process, so they extended the process President Talat stressed ‘it is not possible to reach an agreement on every subject so we need outside factors to help us, like the United Nations.’
The President reiterated that it is not possible to reach a solution only with the agreements reached by the two leaders during the negotiations process.

‘If a solution is wanted then there is a need for outside factors’, he added.