May 28, 2012
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Talat, Denktaş quarrel over Cyprus’ fate at conference
Talat and Denktaş attended a conference at Girne American University on Thursday.
13 November 2009 / TODAY’S ZAMAN WITH WIRES, İSTANBUL
The incumbent and former presidents of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) were at odds yesterday over how the ongoing talks between the KKTC and rival Greek Cyprus to reunite the island should be concluded, underlining deep-seated political differences between the two politicians.
Rauf Denktaş, the KKTC’s hard-line former president, said he would conclude that his successor, President Mehmet Ali Talat, gave in to pressure to make detrimental concessions if he eventually announces that the reunification talks with Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias produced a deal. “If Talat and Christofias agree on a document, then we will know Talat has surrendered,” Denktaş, a staunch opponent of the island’s reunification as one state, told a conference at Girne American University in the KKTC. He said Talat, as a president who had sworn to protect the KKTC, cannot agree to sharing sovereignty with Greek Cypriots.
Talat, who recently revealed that he had opposed the establishment of the KKTC as an independent state in the early 1980s, has held 50 rounds of talks with Christofias since last September. The KKTC’s presidential elections are due to be held in April and Talat has said he may not run for re-election if there are no real prospects for a settlement.
“I can never accept that,” Talat said in response to Denktaş’s claim that a deal with the Greek Cypriots would mean surrender. “We will agree if there is a deal which guarantees the rights of Turkish Cypriots,” Talat, whose speech was frequently interrupted by Denktaş, said.
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