TURKISH Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat’s meeting with the UN Secretary-general in New York late last night was an act that promoted divisive tendencies on the island, the government said yesterday.
The meeting with the UN chief lasted just over 15 minutes and symbolically did not take place at Annan’s office, as Talat is recognised only as the “leader of the Turkish Cypriot community.”
Speaking to reporters later, Talat said he explained to Annan his side’s positions and that Turkish Cypriots were ready to participate in a peace process. He also elaborated on ways of easing the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community, which last year voted overwhelmingly in favour of a solution.
Talat added the UN Secretary-general was seriously considering a resumption of talks, but first wanted to lay the proper groundwork for that.
Asked to predict when a new UN-sponsored initiative on Cyprus would begin, Talat commented: “I’m no wizard.”
He said he didn’t see the EU playing any part in efforts towards a settlement, since the bloc was “biased” because of Greek Cypriot’s participation in it.
Representatives of the Turkish Cypriot assembly are also on their way to Washington, although no scheduled meetings have been announced.
MPs Mehmet Calat, Turkut Tapci and Mustafa Kerben accompanied ‘House Speaker’ Fatma Ekenoglu. During their stay, they will take part in a panel that is organised by the Washington branch of the Association of Businessmen and Manufacturers of Turkey and the Institute of Turkish Research. They will return on November 2.
Last Friday, Talat held talks in Washington with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Although Rice made no statements following the meeting, a State Department spokesman said it underlined US support for the pro-settlement faction in Cyprus.
Talat’s contacts came on the heels of a letter he addressed to the Secretary-general on October 12, in which he accused the Greek Cypriot side of being “racist, chauvinist and ultra-nationalistic” in its attitude towards Turkish Cypriots.
The move served further to sour relations between Talat and President Papadopoulos.
Yesterday Nicosia denounced Talat’s New York meeting, saying it promoted “divisive and separatist tendencies”.
“These events reinforce Mr. Talat’s arrogance and rekindle [his] hopes of upgrading the status of the illegal regime,” noted Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides.
And senior coalition partners AKEL also sought to play down the Talat-Annan meeting; party spokesman Andros Kyprianou said that, “No matter how many of these meetings take place, no progress can be achieved unless talks get underway.”
