`I AM NOT ASKING THE SUPPORT OF EU OR CHRISTOFIAS`
Prime Minister Dervis Eroglu has said that he is asking the support of his people, not the European Union or the Greek Cypriot Leader, in April’s Presidential elections in the TRNC.
The Prime Minister was addressing a crowd of Turks living in Britain at a meeting organized in Wood Green by the London-based Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Commerce. In an opening address at the event, vice-president of the Chamber Hayrettin Ramiz said that they are in support of an agreement in Cyprus to be based on the existence of two politically equal states under the active and effective guarantee of Turkey.
`Sovereignty should unconditionally belong to the Cyprus Turks`, he said, wishing Mr Eroglu success in the Presidential elections.
For his part, Prime Minister Eroglu underlined the need to take the realities on the island into consideration while continuing negotiations with the aim of settling the Cyprus problem.
Criticizing those who branded him as `intransigent` for saying that he would not cede an inch of land, the Premier asked `is there a Prime Minister in a country who accepts to give land. Am I guilty of rejecting to strip away our land`.
Pointing out that the Greek Cypriot Leader Christofias was portrayed as an `angel of peace` when he came to power after Papadopulos, he said `it shouldn’t be forgotten that Christofias was in support of Papadoulos` during the 2004 referenda.
The Prime Minister stressed that Turkey is not an occupying force in Cyprus and that it is the Greek Cypriots who have an occupying administration on the island, adding that the United Nations is keeping a close eye on this issue.
He also complained that the European Union committed a crime by accepting the Greek Cypriots into the Block, a move which he said was the reason behind the continuation of the Cyprus problem.
