Denktash: we can talk about talks between two states

TURKISH Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash yesterday dug in his heels over resuming talks on Cyprus, insisting they could only take place on a ‘state to state’ basis.
“If talks are to begin they have to be based on the principles of the existence of statehood,” Denktash said on the sidelines of the Crans Montana forum in Switzerland.
UN backed peace talks collapsed in March in a major setback to hopes of a solution before Cyprus joins the European Union next May.
The UN, the EU, the US and Britain have all blamed Denktash for the collapse of the talks in The Hague, saying he was intransigent.
“The way forward… is for the world to give up its well-meaning but futile attempts to force us back together. Instead they should remove the economic embargo and accept the government which Turkish Cypriot people have elected,” Denktash said in a statement issued during a presentation.
“In time the two peoples of Cyprus will move closer together in their own way and at their own pace,” the statement said.
A day earlier, Denktash had called for fresh talks on the future of Cyprus.
“We have to negotiate how to go to the negotiating table because the old attempt has failed,” he had told Reuters.
Denktash said certain conditions must be met before new talks start.
“The cardinal principal is of course that the Greek Cypriots are not a sovereign government over the Turkish Cypriots. That has to be accepted,” he said.
Ties between the people on the island warmed in April when the Turkish Cypriots, for the first time in three decades, allowed people on both sides of the island to freely cross over to the other side.
Sources close to Denktash told Reuters they wanted the island gradually to come together — through confidence building measures — in a loose federation and that the opening of the crossing was a step in this direction.
The sources said the security of the Turkish Cypriots, outnumbered by around seven to two was of paramount importance. The crossing was opened only after Turkey had assured Turkish Cypriots of their security, they added.
Denktash’s ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ is only recognised by Turkey, but sources close to Denktash claimed this was only because they had not tried to get international recognition, adding this was an option if all else failed.

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.