Jean Christou
A FORMULA is being devised by the United States to force Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash back to talks, newspapers in the north claimed yesterday.
UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan is expected to issue an invitation to the two sides at the end of October, but Denktash says he will not return to the table unless his breakaway regime is recognised as a separate state.
The US and the rest of the international community are not likely to give in to his demand, but want a resumption of talks.
According to Turkish Cypriot press a ‘middle way’ formula has been found which will be included in a joint statement to be made after the meeting between US President Bill Clinton and Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit on September 28.
The statement is expected to include a sentence saying that both sides would contribute as much as they can towards a solution of the Cyprus problem.
The Clinton-Ecevit meeting is said to be crucial for the Cyprus issue, and new developments are expected to follow starting with Annan’s invitation.
Turkish Cypriot press said that at the same time as Annan’s call to talks, either US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright or another high-ranking US official would make a statement implying that the ‘Greek Cypriot administration in Cyprus is not the state of the Turks’.
It is hoped that this formula will satisfy Denktash. The papers said that if he continued to say no to talks, he would “find himself in a very difficult position in international platforms”.
The reports add the US firmly believes that once the two sides actually get to the table the problems can be solved. “It is openly talked about in Washington that Denktash is the main reason why this is not being realised, ” one paper said.
“Because of Denktash’s hard stance all calls concerning the Cyprus issue have been addressed to Turkey.”
But according to former Turkish ambassador Inal Batu, Turkey does not have a clearly defined policy on Cyprus.
“I have not been able to understand whether it is a federation or a confederation that we want,” Batu told the Turkish Cypriot daily Zaman. “It is not clear whether we want recognition of the statehood of the TRNC or what might be termed a sovereign equality”.
Batu said there was a “muddle” over what Turkey wanted to do in Cyprus. He said names were not important and that Switzerland is a confederation and the US a federation. “In other words what is important is how power will be distributed between the two sides,” he said. “If there is good will and the larger side refrains from harming the benefits of the smaller side then it is not very important whether you call it a federation or a confederation”.
