http://www.cyprus-mail.com/cyprus/erogl ... g/20101006
Eroglu ‘ready for tripartite meeting’
Published on October 6, 2010
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Cyprus, Cyprus Problem, dervis eroglu
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TURKISH CYPRIOT leader Dervis Eroglu is ready for a tripartite meeting with the UN Secretary-general, he has said.
Asked to comment on reports in the Greek Cypriot press that UN Secretary-general Ban Ki Moon intends to call a tripartite meeting with the two community leaders, Eroglu said a similar proposal was what had prompted him to go to New York recently. However, President Demetris Christofias never showed up, he claimed.
“Mr Christofias refused (the invitation),” said Eroglu. “If such a proposal comes from the Secretary-General, I will gladly accept it.”
Speaking at Ankara University in Turkey – where he held meetings with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and General Sebahattin I??k Ko?aner, the Turkish army’s Chief of the General Staff – Eroglu said Cyprus’ national problem had now entered a “critical phase” and promised to do everything in his power to find a permanent and fair solution; “a new partnership”.
He added: “This isn’t for just any kind of peace; we are trying to find a solution that won’t bypass Turkey’s best interests and will allow Turkish Cypriots to live in dignity. We want a permanent agreement, so we too can live in Cyprus.”
But he added: “It takes two to reach an agreement”. The Turkish Cypriot leader claimed to have explained the “true realities” in his contacts with foreign diplomats.
Eroglu maintained there were two reasons why the Cyprus problem wasn’t being resolved. “The first regards the UN Security Council resolution on March 4, 1964, with which the peacemaking force arrived in Cyprus and the Turkish side was expelled from the Republic,” he said. “The second is the acceptance of the Greek Cypriots’ application in 1990 for accession to the EU.”
Eroglu claimed that reactions back then from the Turkish Cypriot community and Turkish Foreign Minister had been met with promises that the accession would not be going ahead.
“But as you have seen, they became full members and today they are obstacles for Turkey,” he added. “When I explain these two reasons, they don’t tell me anything. But I am certain that they are fully aware of the reality.”
