Statement by the TRNC President

Statement by the Presidential Spokesperson Mr. Hasan Ercakica

As the negotiations aiming to find a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem are being maintained, the Greek Cypriot leader Mr. Demetris Christofias and his spokespersons stated that the views and positions put forward at the negotiation table by President Mehmet Ali Talat to make 2009 the year of settlement should be changed.

While claiming that the views and positions put forward at the negotiation table by President Mehmet Ali Talat should be “in accordance with the agreed basis”, the Greek Cypriot leaders are, in fact, defining what they themselves should exactly do.

It is well known by the whole world that the views expressed by the Greek Cypriot side at the negotiation table have nothing to do with the UN settlement documents that have been produced until now. The primary sources of these news items were the Greek Cypriot press and the Greek Cypriot leaders themselves.

While maintaining their campaign to defame the Turkish Cypriot position put forward at the negotiation table by President Mehmet Ali Talat, the Greek Cypriot side is nurturing the suspicion that their real aim is to free themselves from the image of being the “intransigent side”, rather than striving to find a solution to the Cyprus problem.

The efforts spent by the Greek Cypriot side for armament is one of the actions that lead to doubts in people’s minds. As the negotiations aiming to find a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem are being maintained and the common aim of the two sides has been determined as concluding the negotiations timely and successfully, the said armament actions in the Greek Cypriot side are causing concern, not only among those who actually maintain the negotiations but among the people whose support for the process is indispensable, and decreasing the chances of the negotiation process to be concluded successfully. (rg)