President Talat Meets With UN Secretary-General
President Mehmet Ali Talat met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Mon in Berlin, Germany.
President Talat, in his statement to the Anatolia News Agency following the meeting, said that the UN Secretary-General seems pleased with the current developments in Cyprus.
Talat stated the following:
“Actually he is pleased, like we all are, despite our worries. As you know, there is the possibility of the initiation of a new process in Cyprus. We had several meetings with Mr. Christofias. We are meeting again on 25 July. I hope and I believe that we will, most probably, initiate full-fledged negotiations. We discussed these.
As you know, the UN Secretary-General has appointed a special envoy. This is significant, because the Security Council Resolutions state that a special envoy may only be appointed if there is hope regarding a solution; in case there is belief that there will be a solution. Therefore, the appointment of a special envoy indicates that the UN believes that a solution is possible. And we will do everything in our capacity.
The Turkish Cypriot side, with the full support of Turkey, has been working for the solution of the Cyprus problem for long time. We are still maintaining this position and we will be as flexible as possible, and do our best.”
Asked about the expectations of the UN Secretary-General, President Talat said:
“His expectations are very open and clear. He expects full-fledged negotiations to start as soon as possible. The fact that he has appointed a special envoy indicates this. He has asked for our opinion. We had a positive opinion. Most probably, Christofias also had a positive opinion. And so he made this appointment. Therefore, the Secretary-General expects the negotiations to begin. And our desire is to solve the Cyprus problem as soon as possible.”
When asked about his expectations from the EU countries and especially the German government, President Talat said:
“We did not have any contacts with the German government today. I am here only for this meeting. But of course, we do have expectations from the EU. We expect the EU to give us technical support and to encourage the Greek Cypriot side for a solution. Of course, as you know, it is not possible for the EU to play an impartial role as long as the Greek Cypriot administration is an EU member, and Greece is unconditionally supporting the Greek Cypriot side…”
In response to a comment that the German government is increasing its efforts regarding the Cyprus problem, Talat noted the following:
“This was necessary. In fact, it is even belated. Germany is one of the most important countries in the EU. She should have shown interest because Germany, and in fact, all the EU countries had strongly supported the UN solution plan, in other words, the Annan Plan. They had also stated that the side that rejects this plan would pay a high price. However, the side that rejected the plan did not pay any price. Moreover, it continued with its rejectionist stance until now. Germany really started to show interest during this period. I think this is a belated interest, but it is necessary.”
Underlining that France has a policy of supporting the Greek Cypriot side, President Talat said:
“France should be more impartial, more objective. When the Annan Plan was rejected by the Greek Cypriot side, the French foreign minister had put forward a very serious and meaningful reaction. However, this did not continue. We expect all EU countries, and the EU as a whole, to have a more objective approach to the Cyprus problem and to encourage the Greek Cypriot side for solution. We have the courage for a solution. So we do not need to be encouraged.”
Asked about who requested the meeting with the Secretary-General, President Talat said:
“We conveyed to his representatives in C |
