Denktash: can’t miss a trick

Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash said yesterday that the UN Secretary-general’s report merely thanked the Turkish side for saying yes in the referendum. Denktash, who was sidelined by the international community and refused to attend the last phase of negotiations, said the report was inadequate for the Turkish side. He said the Greek Cypriots, who were heavily criticised in the report, had

“played their tricks and preserved their bargaining power”. “Those who induced us into saying yes with false promises are now looking on us from afar and confining themselves to only saying that they will try to help us,” he said.
“Secretary-general Annan, who applauded Greece’s non-interference in the affairs of the Greek Cypriots, merely extended a thanks as a reciprocation for Turkey’s great role in persuading us into saying yes.’ Denktash, who had campaigned openly for a ‘no’ vote in the north because he wanted two separate states, said he would issue a more detailed statement when he had read the report more carefully.

“No Turkish Cypriot can break into smile today,” he said. “This is the day when the Turkish Cypriots should do some serious thinking. It is very saddening that the people, deceived by the promise of recognition, villas, peace and integration with the world, have been thrown into such a situation. The remedy lies in standing up, forcefully and persistently, for our own state and sovereignty.”