Talat interview comments draw fire from government
THE GOVERNMENT yesterday accused Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat of being hypocritical and nationalistic after he warned that forcing Turkey to recognise Cyprus before a solution could destroy prospects for a solution and potentially lead to civil war.
Talat told the Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday that Turkey’s accession talks, due to begin on October 3, could force the Greek Cypriot side back to the negotiating table but he said President Tassos Papadopoulos did not want a solution.
Talat also said that Turkey could not recognise Cyprus before a comprehensive settlement despite efforts to do so. He said such a move would be unimaginable and tantamount to deserting the Turkish Cypriots.
“Just imagine if it is done…What will happen? I mean we are still alive. The Turkish Cypriots are living in the north and they will defend themselves. This will cause a civil war maybe. It is more dangerous,” he said.
Recognising Cyprus as it is means non-solution of the island’s division, he added.
He said Papadopoulos did not want a federal solution but a unitary state. “The biggest obstacle is the government,” he said. “His (Papadopoulos’) is the most regressive government we have ever faced in Cyprus in terms of a Cyprus solution.”
Responding to Talat’s comments yesterday, government spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said the integration of Cyprus to the European Union and the wish of Turkey for the beginning of accession talks ought to interest the Turkish Cypriot leader on some level.
However he said Talat’s nationalism does not allow him to see the realities surrounding the Cyprus question.
“Any reasonable Cypriot, Greek Cypriot or Turkish Cypriot must wonder what Mr Talat is trying to achieve by these statements,” he said.
“He seeks to torpedo every effort for the creation of a climate of collaboration and agreement. Does he not conceive, or does he not want to conceive the political and legal realities that surround the Cypriot problem?”
Commenting on Talat’s statement about the danger of civil war, Chrysostomides said the segregation of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots was the result of an illegality, which was continuing to this day.
“This segregation must be removed for the good of all Cypriots but it will be removed with the fanatical way Mr Talat approaches the Cyprus question,” Chrysostomdies said, adding that this could only come about through a bicommunal bizonal federation without racist partition.
“It appears that Mr Talat’s nationalism does not allow him to see these realities and then he accuses the President of the Republic of not wanting a solution when it appears that Mr talat is the one who doesn’t want a solution in line with Security Council resolutions and political and legal realities,” Chrysostomdies said.
It seems Talat does not think like a Cypriot and has been hypocritical in his stance, the spokesman added.
