Cyprus-Forum.com

[YFred]

Talat to stand down if no 2009 solution found
By Jean Christou

TURKISH Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will not run for ‘president’ next year if there is no solution to the Cyprus problem by the end of 2009, he said in an interview published in Turkey yesterday.

In the interview with Sabah newspaper, Talat, who was on a visit to Istanbul, said he was unhappy with the pace of the Cyprus negotiations.

"If there's no hope for a resolution by (year-end), I will have completed my mission,” he said signalling that he would be done with his presidential ambitions when elections take place in April 2010.

“We have to solve the Cyprus problem by the end of 2009 to go to the referendum, and hold elections for a unified state before the start of the Turkish Cypriot presidential elections,” Talat said.

His spokesman, Hasan Ercakica told the Sunday Mail yesterday it was not a question of whether or not Turkish Cypriots continued to want a solution but whether or not the current process could be successful.

“If the process breaks down, President Talat sees no reason for him to be president any longer,” he said.

Talat, who was elected ‘president’ in 2005, said "serious differences in views" remained between the two sides in the talks, the most difficult of which were property and territory.

He last met President Demetris Christofias on Thursday, when they continued discussing property but decided to put it aside for the moment and focus on EU issues in their next meeting on Wednesday.

In a press conference with Turkish journalists on Friday, Talat talked about the upcoming ‘parliamentary’ elections in the north on April 19, and the rise in popularity of the right-wing and hard-line National Unity Party (UBP), saying if a party unsupportive of the negotiations was elected it would result in “chaos”.

Recent polls gave the UBP 40 per cent of the vote, with Talat’s party the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) trailing at 28 per cent. Other polls it the north during the past week showed the majority of Turkish Cypriots now favoured a two-state solution following Greek Cypriot rejection of the Annan plan in 2004.

Commenting on upcoming elections, Talat said: "I don't know what the result will be. However, the government to be formed has to support the negotiation process. This [negotiation process] is the product of a long process and is a position that has been maintained in coordination with Turkey. If the new government doesn't support it, chaos will emerge.”

Christofias said on Friday a way must be found out of the labyrinth, placing the onus on Turkey rather than Talat.

There was no response from the Greek Cypriot side yesterday on Talat’s announcement that he would step down if there was no solution by the end of this year.

However the comment is likely to be seen as a form of time pressure, which is anathema to the Greek Cypriot side.

(additional reporting by Simon Bahceli)

Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009

Then what?

[Viewpoint]

I agree he should stand down he cannot negotiate forever, the TCs will not allow it by not re-ellecting him.

[YFred]

I agree he should stand down he cannot negotiate forever, the TCs will not allow it by not re-ellecting him.

I personally blame the EU for promissing to remove isolation and going back on their word. TCs have every right to be angry and GCs will eventually realise that TCs voted for peace because they wanted peace not because they were gaining. But it will be too late.

I wouldn't trust EU as far as I can throw them.

[Piratis]

If the TCs want peace they should obey the UN resolutions, respect the sovereignty of Republic of Cyprus and the human rights of Cypriots.

They continue the war they started in 1974 because they continue to be trying to gain by force what does not belong to them.

Under such terms there will never be peace, because peace can only come with the liberation of Cyprus from the foreign invaders, and not by us surrendering our land to them. We will never do that.

About Talat: He should resign immediately. He proved already that he is no better than any other Turkish puppet.

[Viewpoint]

If the TCs want peace they should obey the UN resolutions, respect the sovereignty of Republic of Cyprus and the human rights of Cypriots.

They continue the war they started in 1974 because they continue to be trying to gain by force what does not belong to them.

Under such terms there will never be peace, because peace can only come with the liberation of Cyprus from the foreign invaders, and not by us surrendering our land to them. We will never do that.

About Talat: He should resign immediately. He proved already that he is no better than any other Turkish puppet.

We will never capitulate to GC will.....you can wait for the swing which may never go your way.

[Get Real!]

I agree he should stand down he cannot negotiate forever, the TCs will not allow it by not re-ellecting him.

I personally blame the EU for promissing to remove isolation and going back on their word. TCs have every right to be angry and GCs will eventually realise that TCs voted for peace because they wanted peace not because they were gaining. But it will be too late.

The TCs have no right to parlay with Turkey on occupied territory belonging to the RoC, so by being an accessory to a crime condemned by the UN you are not scoring any brownie points. There is no “isolation”, it’s a figment of your imaginations, but a closed off territory illegally occupied by the enemy… and so it shall remain until the RoC decides otherwise.

[Get Real!]

We will never capitulate to GC will.....you can wait for the swing which may never go your way.

Then quit complaining and continue your mediocre existence in the closed off area.

[insan]

I agree he should stand down he cannot negotiate forever, the TCs will not allow it by not re-ellecting him.

I personally blame the EU for promissing to remove isolation and going back on their word. TCs have every right to be angry and GCs will eventually realise that TCs voted for peace because they wanted peace not because they were gaining. But it will be too late.

The TCs have no right to parlay with Turkey on occupied territory belonging to the RoC, so by being an accessory to a crime condemned by the UN you are not scoring any brownie points. There is no “isolation”, it’s a figment of your imaginations, but a closed off territory illegally occupied by the enemy… and so it shall remain until the RoC decides otherwise.

U r confusing RoC with "RoC". This consfusion makes all ur arguments just a big galimatias.

[Get Real!]

I agree he should stand down he cannot negotiate forever, the TCs will not allow it by not re-ellecting him.

I personally blame the EU for promissing to remove isolation and going back on their word. TCs have every right to be angry and GCs will eventually realise that TCs voted for peace because they wanted peace not because they were gaining. But it will be too late.

The TCs have no right to parlay with Turkey on occupied territory belonging to the RoC, so by being an accessory to a crime condemned by the UN you are not scoring any brownie points. There is no “isolation”, it’s a figment of your imaginations, but a closed off territory illegally occupied by the enemy… and so it shall remain until the RoC decides otherwise.

U r confusing RoC with "RoC". This consfusion makes all ur arguments just a big galimatias.

A crime is a crime, so just shut up and take it like a man…

[Viewpoint]

We will never capitulate to GC will.....you can wait for the swing which may never go your way.

Then quit complaining and continue your mediocre existence in the closed off area.

We are!!!!!!! no one expects anything to come of these talks they all know the GCs to well, opening of the borders increased the viewpoint of a 2 state solution, the majority of TCs are against a unitary state which is what the GCs want.