Cyprus-Forum.com

[halil]

TRNC President Talat has sent a letter to the President of the European Parliament clearing the Turkish Cypriot Side’s position on European Parliamentary election, which will be held in June.

In his letter, the President pointed out that two of the six seats allocated for Cyprus belong to Turkish Cypriots, adding that they should be kept empty until a solution on the island if a regulation making it possible for them to be represented at the EP was not made.

Mr Talat also underlined the need for Turkish Cypriots to be given at least an observer status at the European Parliament.


Talat’s visit to Washington has been postponed to a future date
Presidential Spokesman Hasan Ercakica said that the President’s meeting with the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will not go ahead as planned for the 30th March.
Speaking to reporters this afternoon, the Presidential Spokesman Hasan Ercakica said that they expected the visit to Washington take place next month.

Ercakica who pointed out that the visit had been postponed because of the US Secretary of State’s busy schedule as well as preventative efforts of the Greek Cypriot Side, said that contacts to secure an invitation from the US State Department were continuing.

The Presidential Spokesman also said that the Turkish Cypriot Side was deeply disturbed by the negative developments that were the result of the Greek Cypriot Administration’s efforts.

[Oracle]

Ercakica who pointed out that the visit had been postponed because of the US Secretary of State’s busy schedule ....

No such meeting with Talat was ever scheduled. Pure Turkish trickery again.

Maybe he'll have better luck persuading the EU to take him seriously ... NOT!

[turkkan]

No Talat-Clinton meeting, said US State Department
By Stefanos Evripidou

THE MUCH-hyped meeting between Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is officially off, according to a State Department spokesman yesterday.

The Cyprus News Agency (CNA) quoted Robert Wood saying: “As you know, the Secretary will travel to Mexico (today) and there will be no meeting.”

The news will come as a blow to Talat’s team who were pushing for a meeting with Clinton before the April 19 ‘parliamentary’ elections in the north, which according to polls, his party is set to lose. The Turkish Cypriot press was already reporting that Talat would meet Clinton in Washington on March 30.

However, the date and meeting were never confirmed by the State Department, which became the target of an orchestrated campaign by the Greek American lobby in Washington to prevent the meeting.

Greek American community leaders argued that it would not be right for Talat to meet a second Secretary of State, having met Colin Powell in 2004, while the Cyprus President or Foreign Minister had yet to receive an invite.

On Monday, Archbishop of America Demetrios and Greek American community leaders met with Clinton for 45 minutes, where they discussed the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul, the Cyprus problem and the FYROM issue.

Following the meeting, various reports appeared saying US officials had assured Greek American leaders that the Secretary of State would not meet Talat before seeing the Cyprus President or Foreign Minister.

According to the CNA, Clinton would pursue a meeting with Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou during her visit to Europe in the coming days.

Officially, the State Department has remained tight-lipped about a possible Talat or Kyprianou-Clinton meeting. A spokesman for the American Embassy in Nicosia said he had “no information” on the prospect of either.

A Foreign Ministry source was equally unable to shed any light, noting that things should become clearer in the coming days.

The door still remains open for both or either meeting however, as Clinton will be visiting Prague on April 5 to take part in the EU-US summit. It remains possible that Clinton would arrange to meet Kyprianou on the sidelines of that summit, paving the way for a possible meeting with Talat in the future, and possible before April 19.

An even more tempting prospect for the Cypriot government would be to finally get an official invite to the political heart of the US, and some say the world, Washington, something which no high official of the Republic has enjoyed at least in this century.


Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009


THere was certainly a meeting being considered but its going to have be put off till kyprianou is met. THe americans will do everything possible to make sure talat stays in power so i assume they will grant this meeting before the elections in the TRNC.

[Kikapu]

Ercakica who pointed out that the visit had been postponed because of the US Secretary of State’s busy schedule ....

No such meeting with Talat was ever scheduled. Pure Turkish trickery again.

Maybe he'll have better luck persuading the EU to take him seriously ... NOT!

Damn.! I was hoping to see the movie one day, "Mr.Talat Goes to Washington".!!

Oh well, at least Mr. Talat went to see the Formula1 races in Istanbul couple of years ago. He even got to present one of the awards to the drivers.! I'm sure it must have been the highlight of his "Presidency".!

[YFred]

Ercakica who pointed out that the visit had been postponed because of the US Secretary of State’s busy schedule ....

No such meeting with Talat was ever scheduled. Pure Turkish trickery again.

Maybe he'll have better luck persuading the EU to take him seriously ... NOT!

Damn.! I was hoping to see the movie one day, "Mr.Talat Goes to Washington".!!

Oh well, at least Mr. Talat went to see the Formula1 races in Istanbul couple of years ago. He even got to present one of the awards to the drivers.! I'm sure it must have been the highlight of his "Presidency".!

Don't worry Kicks, if the Yanks can make Rambo, you may yet see the film?

[insan]

The news will come as a blow to Talat’s team who were pushing for a meeting with Clinton before the April 19 ‘parliamentary’ elections in the north.

Noisy Greeks They still have the old bad habit. At every occasion they show their ridiculous faces... but time is near... max in 1 year time, they will face with the realities...

[Oracle]

The news will come as a blow to Talat’s team who were pushing for a meeting with Clinton before the April 19 ‘parliamentary’ elections in the north.

Noisy Greeks They still have the old bad habit. At every occasion they show their ridiculous faces... but time is near... max in 1 year time, they will face with the realities...

Don't blame the Greeks when Talat was lying all along that he had set up a meeting in Washington .... at a time when Clinton was not even scheduled to be in the country

You can't keep blaming Greeks for everything you know .... But in future, remember the Greek Lobby will be heard, without resorting to your silly games and tricks.

[Get Real!]

I suspect a dud letter…

[bill cobbett]

The news will come as a blow to Talat’s team who were pushing for a meeting with Clinton before the April 19 ‘parliamentary’ elections in the north.

Noisy Greeks They still have the old bad habit. At every occasion they show their ridiculous faces... but time is near... max in 1 year time, they will face with the realities...

Are you saying "2009 - a good year for the tnct" ?

[Lit]

The news will come as a blow to Talat’s team who were pushing for a meeting with Clinton before the April 19 ‘parliamentary’ elections in the north.

Noisy Greeks They still have the old bad habit. At every occasion they show their ridiculous faces... but time is near... max in 1 year time, they will face with the realities...

Don't blame the Greeks when Talat was lying all along that he had set up a meeting in Washington .... at a time when Clinton was not even scheduled to be in the country

.... But in future, remember the Greek Lobby will be heard, without resorting to your silly games and tricks.

The Greek American lobby can only help if people support them. The first thing that will make their job easier is for Greeks in the old country to stop bashing everything American.

Here is the second thing, pay attention Cypriots:

Philip Christopher, a refugee from Kyrenia, is THE face and one of a few powerful voices for Cypriot Americans in the States. He was the one who called us out, the one with a bull horn protesting the arrival of the then Turkish Cypriot leader Denktash to the States, the one who gives speeches, the one...do you understand?

Now, Americans have a saying: money talks and bullshit walks. Do you all understand what that means?

The Turks have recently given 2 million dollars (easily) to a FYROM diaspora organization in the States for lobbying activity.

The truth is, the average American does not know where Cyprus is on the map. On the other hand, American jobs have been created because of all the military hardware being bought by Turkey who is seen as a vital ally simply because of where it is situated on a map. Turkey can remain a vital ally to the States but not at the expense of Cyprus. Support those who are out there talking to government agencies, who are out there on the streets telling our side of the story. Instead of bashing Americans who have no idea what you are upset about; try to help those who push for a more even policy in this region:

make a donation to this group or you can continue to whine, the choice is yours. The name is Mr. Philip Christopher, the organization is called: The International Coordinating Committee "Justice for Cyprus" (PSEKA)