Eroglu calls on Turkish Cypriots to pull out of talks

EX-TURKISH Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Dervis Eroglu yesterday called for Turkish Cypriot negotiators to pull out of negotiations currently taking place in Switzerland aimed at uniting Cyprus before it joins the EU on May 1.

Eroglu lashed out at Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Mehmet Ali Talat – who is currently acting chief negotiator, following the refusal of leader Rauf Denktash to attend the talks – saying that he did not trust him to obtain security safeguards for the Turkish Cypriots.

He also accused Talat’s party of starting a ‘yes’ campaign in support of the Annan plan, despite calls by Talat that campaigns for or against the plan should not begin until negotiations have concluded.

Eroglu lashed out at the international community, who he said were intent on “forcing a solution based on the Annan plan that would lead the island down the same road as Kosovo.”

The ex-‘PM’ added that Denktash “made a mistake in attending talks in New York,” but praised Denktash for not attending the second leg of talks in Switzerland.

“Even if it came late, Denktash made the right decision not to go”.

Asked whether pressure from Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan might convince Denktash to travel to the talks, Eroglu said: “He [Denktash] has already changed his mind twice. If he does it again, people will stop believing in him”.

Eroglu – who recently began a ‘no’ campaign against the Annan plan – claimed to have no fears about the outcome of the result of the referendum in the north, but conceded being worried that the negotiation process in Switzerland could turn into a Dayton-style, forced solution.

“What is taking place in Kosovo today could possibly happen in Cyprus,” Eroglu warned, adding that such events were taking place despite the presence of UN troops.

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.