TURKISH Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash yesterday accused President Tassos Papadopoulos of acting as if the Cyprus problems had already been solved, as negotiations resumed to discuss “core issues” after a three-day break.
“We have started discussing the essential problems but we have still not found a way out (of the deadlock),” Denktash told reporters after three hours of negotiations.
Echoing his tone, Papadopoulos said: “The road is long and hard.”
Speaking on his return to the north after yesterday’s meeting, Denktash said economic issues had been discussed and that he would be seeking measures to prevent the domination of the north by the stronger Greek Cypriot economy.
“There is nothing in the Annan plan that protects the Turkish Cypriot economy during the transition period,” he said. Denktash also said he had complained to President Tassos Papadopoulos about comments he had made in the press “inviting” Turkish Cypriots to take part in European Parliamentary elections.
“Mr Papadopoulos is behaving as if the Cyprus problem has been solved already,” he said, adding: “Turkish Cypriots should not fall into this trap. I don’t think many [Turkish Cypriots] will do this, but if they do it will be tantamount to denying their TRNC citizenship.”
Denktash accused the Greek Cypriot side of “playing games” by suggesting that six of the 24 seats in each of the communal senates be occupied by members from the other community. Denktash wants a clear ethnic division of the two communities.
Papadopoulos wants the opposite. Speaking after the meeting, he said that the proof of good intentions “will appear in the negotiating room, and so will our positions”.
“As I said on my arrival from New York, the road ahead is long and difficult, and we must be persuaded whether it is possible to achieve the changes we consider as essential in the Annan Plan, and be able to talk about a united Cyprus and not a Cyprus divided according to criteria of ethnic origin,” he said.
Denktash said the Turkish side had presented De Soto with a document outlining the derogations of EU law they wanted built into the plan. He gave examples of Denmark and Malta, which both have derogations built into their accession treaties to protect their economies from stronger neighbouring economies.
He said he wanted assurances from the EU that an agreement based on the principle of bizonality would not be superseded by EU law, which is based on the principal of the freedom of movement for people, capital, and goods and services.
In his comments, Papadopoulos focused on issues relating to the referenda, and said that the Greek Cypriot side was demanding that the Turkish National Assembly not just commit to the ratification of a Cyprus agreement but make an actual decision on the issues.
He said that the Turkish side seemed to think that it was enough to have a commitment to ratify. “What we ask is not just a commitment but a real decision of the Turkish parliament. You realise that without a ratification of the agreement there will be no Cyprus Republic and it will be not certain under what legal authority the Turkish troops will stay in Cyprus or even whether they must go away”, he said.
Before leaving for the talks yesterday morning, Papadopoulos was asked to comment on Denktash’s suggestion that the talks could go on until December: “I have nothing of the sort in mind,” he said. “We have begun talks with a view to reaching a settlement that would satisfy us that it will be accepted by the people by the end of the timeframe Annan has set out.”
Annan wants the two sides to negotiate until March 22. If the leaders cannot agree on the basis of his plan by that date guarantor powers Turkey and Greece will be called in to negotiate until the end of March. Failing that, UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan will fill in the gaps on unresolved issues and the plan will be sent to separate referenda in April.
Anatolia news agency yesterday quoted Denktash as saying the sides had begun to discuss the core issues. ‘But we still cannot find a way out. Studies will continue,” he said.
He said that when the issue of Greek Cypriot weaponry had been raised near the end of the talks, the atmosphere became tense, particularly when Papadopoulos in response referred to the number of Turkish troops in the north and refused to discuss the issue of weapons. He then left the room before everyone else, said Denktash. The talks will continue today.
