FORMER House president Alexis Galanos said yesterday the Greek Cypriot side should not accept Rauf Denktash as Turkish Cypriot negotiator, saying it would be a waste of time, and could be dangerous.
Denktash’s popularity in the north has been in freefall since the European Union summit in Copenhagen, at which Cyprus secured an invitation to join the bloc.
Ordinary Turkish Cypriots blame Denktash for not agreeing on a settlement of the Cyprus problem, thus depriving the people of the chance to join the EU.
Galanos suggested the Greek Cypriot side should raise the issue of Denktash for two main reasons.
“He does not want a solution and it seems that right now he does not have the people’s mandate,” Galanos said.
The former House president said the Greek Cypriot side should make it clear that it could not negotiate with Denktash unless his mandate was renewed or Ankara changed its policy on Cyprus.
Galanos said that even if there was an agreement with Denktash, he did not believe the transition would be smooth.
“It would be dangerous and more or less condemned,” Galanos said.
He added that the Greek Cypriot side should negotiate the United Nations plan but without Dektash, whom he described as unreliable.
Galanos said the plan could have been better had it been submitted after Copenhagen and wondered if the Greek Cypriot side could have prevented it from being tabled when it did – just before the EU summit.
Galanos said the summit had been a game of “high-level poker” and that Cyprus had come under levels of blackmail that should not be accepted from now on.
He said the Greek Cypriot side had come out on top because it was always safe to count on Turkish intransigence.
He repeated that if the plan had been submitted after Copenhagen, it could have been better for the Greek Cypriot side, which gained an advantage after the EU summit.
“Whatever we do now, we will find the plan in front of us,” Galanos said.
He added it would be difficult to improve the plan, but said Cyprus would have a problem if it tried to avoid a solution.
He nevertheless added that the Greek Cypriot side should engage in tougher negotiations after Copenhagen.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
