THE leader of the Turkish Cypriot Communal Liberation Party (TKP) said yesterday he considered AKEL as the most important party in the struggle to find a solution to the Cyprus problem.
Speaking after talks at TKP headquarters in northern Nicosia with an AKEL delegation headed by Nicos Katsourides, Hussein Angolemli said it was a useful meeting where the two sides agreed that a solution should be found on the island and not imposed by outside powers.
“We agree with AKEL that a solution must be found on the island, not imposed by outside powers.
“We believe that in the struggle to find a solution to the Cyprus problem AKEL is the most important party,” Angolemli said.
The Turkish Cypriot politician said his party neither supported President Tassos Papadopoulos nor Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash as they did not believe they represented the people of the island.
Angolemli criticised Talat and urged for a unilateral declaration of the Turkish Cypriot state as envisaged in the Annan plan.
“Talat’s policy of simply seeking an end to embargoes on the Turkish Cypriots is lacking in scope.
“His policy should reflect the ‘yes’ vote of the Turkish Cypriots in the referendum on the Annan plan; We call for a unilateral declaration of the Turkish Cypriot State as envisaged in the Annan plan,” he said.
As for the Greek Cypriot ‘no’ vote, Angolemli stressed that Turkish Cypriots had to help their Greek counterparts to overcome their security concerns.
Angolemli proposed as “additional protocol” that could be added to the plan to allay Greek Cypriot fears on security. The plan would then be put to referendum again in the south without the necessity of doing so again in the north.”
Katsourides agreed it had been a useful and sincere meeting and reiterated that AKEL was committed to a solution.
“When we formed our party 80 years ago our aim was ‘one country, one people’. This remains the same.”
“We need to promote co-operation between the two communities. One way is through trade and we, therefore, support the development of the Turkish Cypriot economy”.
“We will continue to hold meeting with progressive Turkish Cypriot parties,” Katsourides said.
At the same time, DISY chief Nicos Anastassiades met with the head of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce Ali Erel.
Erel stressed the urgency of finding a solution soon before things became more difficult.
“We are spending nearly 100 per cent of our energies on finding a solution to the Cyprus problem.
“We need to join forces with all those seeking a solution under the umbrella of the EU,” Erel said.
He added: “Things are moving fast, so unless we take the initiative to motivate everyone… things will become more difficult.”
Anastassiades said he went to Erel “to share (Greek Cypriot) concerns and hold discussions on a fair settlement” to the Cyprus problem.
“After the referendum we realised there were some concerns of the Greek Cypriots that needed to be addressed,” the DISY chief said.
He added that any changes sought by the Greek Cypriot side should not detract from the Turkish Cypriot side.
Most of the desired changes concerned security.
Anastassiades listed the proposed changes as: the need to address “mistrust” over the implementation of the plan, a number of changes in the property regime, some changes in the timescale for derogations to EU law, incentives for Turkish mainlanders who would not be eligible for United Cyprus Republic citizens to leave the island, more UN regulation of territorial adjustments and changes in the guarantor rights.
