Tassos’ secret meetings with Serdar

TURKISH Cypriot ‘Deputy Prime Minister’ Serdar Denktash yesterday denied that he was the one who met secretly with President Tassos Papadopoulos in a last ditch attempt to postpone the referendum on the Annan plan, but it is now an open secret that he was the one.

Denktash, son of Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, insisted to the Cyprus Mail that he did not take part in two secret meetings with Papadopoulos, one in Burgenstock during the talks in March, and one in Nicosia before April’s referendum on the Annan plan.

However, sources on the Turkish Cypriot side said “everyone knows it was Serdar”.
The ‘secret’ meetings came to light in an interview with Papadopoulos published earlier this week in Dubai’s Khaleej Times, in which the President said he met a Turkish Cypriot leader, but added: “I will not tell you who he is.”
“We asked for a postponement of the negotiations for a few months when we thought we would be able to solve all problems,” Papadopoulos was quoted as saying in the interview.

Sources in the government confirmed yesterday that two ‘secret’ meetings took place but refused to confirm or deny that Serdar Denktash was the one who met the President. “There was a general discussion but we will not reveal the names,” said one source.

Diplomats also played coy yesterday saying that news of the meetings were a complete surprise to them. However, it is known that diplomats have spoken about the meetings socially.

Sources on the Turkish Cypriot side were slightly more forthcoming. One course close to Turkish Cypriot United Cyprus party leader Izzet Izcan said the speculation that it was Serdar was true. The source said Izcan himself had been to Papadopoulos’ house where “there were lovely pictures” and he was treated very politely.
“Everybody knows it was Serdar,” said another well-placed Turkish Cypriot source. “They met to try and delay the Annan plan. He went there with Communications and Works Minister Omer Kalyoncu.”

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.