CALLS for Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash to resign gained volume in the wake of his failure to convince his people to reject the Annan plan in Saturday’s referendum.
But on Saturday evening – as it became clear that Turkish Cypriots had wholeheartedly backed the plan – Denktash turned the tables and claimed victory in his battle to kill the UN-backed settlement.
“If the Annan plan had been accepted, I would have resigned. But it was not accepted, so there is no need for me to do so,” he said at a news conference on Saturday evening.
The first to call for the elderly leader’s resignation was Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Mehmet Ali Talat, who said after polls closed on Saturday that Denktash had “no further role to play” in efforts to solve the Cyprus problem.
Talat added that further diplomatic steps on solving the Cyprus problem would be taken by his ‘government’, and that Denktash – “as someone who believes that no solution is the solution to the Cyprus problem” – should “step aside”.
The leader of the north’s Peace and Democracy Movement (BDH), Mustafa Akinci, echoed Talat’s call, saying yesterday: “He campaigned for a no vote and promised his people that if they voted yes he would resign. If he was honourable, he would do it.”
But Akinci added that he did not believe Denktash would keep his promise.
“If he does keep his promise, it will mean that he has learned democracy at the age of 80.”
Unless Denktash resigns, he will remain in power until ‘presidential elections’ in April next year.
It is not only politicians opposed to Denktash who wish to see him resign: thousands of Turkish Cypriots marched through Nicosia on Saturday night calling for his resignation after it became clear that almost 65 per cent of the electorate had rejected his call to vote ‘no’ to the plan.
At one point during the evening, riot police blocked the road to the ‘presidential’ palace when it looked at if demonstrators might try to take their calls for his resignation right to his door.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has also cast doubt on Denktash’s ability to represent his people following Saturday’s referendum saying: “The Turkish Cypriots should look closely at the referendum result in respect to Denktash’s ability to represent the Turkish Cypriot people.”
Erdogan had appeared on Turkish television the previous night, heavily criticising Denktash for withdrawing from negotiations on the Cyprus problem before they reached their conclusion at the end of March.
Calls for Denktash’s resignation appeared in many Turkish Cypriot newspapers on Sunday and yesterday.
Writing in Turkish Cypriot daily Kibrisli under the headline, “Denktash’s greatest defeat” Dogan Harman said, “Denktash’s attempt to claim victory from the Greek Cypriot rejection of the Annan plan was both laughable and infuriating”. He concluded his article by saying: “It is Denktash’s turn to watch the match from the sidelines.”
Daily Afrika on Sunday threw cold water on jubilation in the occupied north, asking: “Why the drunken celebrations? Denktash is still here.”
