LEFKOSA - TRNC President Rauf Denktas said on Monday that both sides should accept Annan plan first presented by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, to bring the plan back to table again and for Annan's special representative Alvaro De Soto to return to his post again, adding that this was not possible.
Denktas said that Annan plan was prepared by the contributions of British, American and Greek Cypriots officials, and that there was no part of it to defend, adding that the philosophy and vision of the plan were wrong.
Speaking in a new conference, Denktas said that De Soto still supported and continued to defend the plan which was refused to be presented to referendum by the two sides which said that the plan needed amendment. ''As long as De Soto continues to do that, he loses his reliability and credibility,'' said Denktas.
Recalling that Annan plan was prepared by the contributions of British Special Representative to Cyprus Lord David Hannay, U.S. Department of State's Special Coordinator to Cyprus Thomas Weston and former Greek Cypriot prosecutor Alexos Markides, Denktas said that ''even if such a plan is imposed on us by pressure and made us accept it, the result of it would not be harmony and compromise, but fight and conflict in every issue.'' Noting that Annan plan was prepared by the suggestions of Greek Cypriots, Denktas said that it was regulated to adapt to Louizidu case. The plan was one that would deprive Turkish Cypriots of their country and territory, said Denktas.
Denktas said that the plan didn't take into consideration the fact that Turkish migrants who came from south Cyprus, could not return to South again, adding that ''De Soto has never gone to a Turkish village in the south and has never wanted to see that Greek Cypriots demolished Turkish houses to prevent Turkish Cypriots from returning back. The plan made complicated an issue that could be sorted out with barters and compensations. It disturbed the bi-zonality by permitting 60,000-70,000 Greek Cypriots to come and settle here. De Soto rendered ineffective the guarantee system, which is a vital issue for us, without waiting Turkey and Greece to reach compromise on the issue and signed a formula which would not leave one single Turkish soldier on the island.''
Denktas said that despite all warnings, De Soto brought them maps which could only be prepared by Greek-Greek Cypriot officers when the sides were 180 degree opposite to each other on main issues. Denktas added that the maps didn't take into consideration the economic developments in TRNC and De Soto contacted with certain circles within the Turkish side, gave them wrong information and tried to get their support.
Denktas said that De Soto did no way accept the equal sovereignty of Turkish Cypriots and noted, ''he has not taken into consideration the existence of TRNC, the loyalty of the people who formed this country to their state, and the insistence on a permanent existence of this state in a future arrangement, and he has stood against us in every issue forming the main stones of compromise by saying that 'you are exceeding the limits of the plan and talking about the vision' in cooperation with Clerides as these issues come onto the agenda.''
When the former Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides defended the ''existence of the 'Cyprus republic', the single sovereignty and the 40-year vision of the Greek Cypriots, De Soto did not say anything, Denktas noted.
Denktas said that De Soto did his best to make them accept a plan which had many deficiencies and did not ''want to see that both sides were not ready for a Catholic marriage again.''
Underlining that De Soto could not deny that he prepared the plan under Greek Cypriot-Greek influence, Denktas said, ''De Soto bodes well the latest developments and opening of doors as if 'it was a thing which could never happen' and even he still sees the Cyprus issue with the Greek Cypriot-Greek glasses and does not see that the solution of Cyprus issue can be possible by the recognition of equal sovereignty and state of Turkish side.''
''The realities that De Soto was astonished at were bound to TRNC's existence and the administration of TRNC government,'' Denktas underlined.
Denktas went on saying, ''as these realities between the two states are accepted, similar arrangements can be easily made and the path of compromise can be opened. What we can't accept and what we told De Soto, are the things which end TRNC, which bring Greek Cypriot domination, which make Turkish Cypriots face a difficult situation at the level of a complicated administration, which takes back our territory, which makes us migrants by the settlement of the Greek Cypriots. Our sine qua non conditions regarding settlement and property continue and will continue.''
Emphasizing that ''unless Turkey and Greece agreed on the issue of guarantees, De Soto formulas were invalid,'' Denktas said that they would ''talk about issues like territory and map after a frame agreement.''
Denktas reiterated that property issue could be settled with exchanges and mutual compensation and said, ''two people can't be pushed into quarrel just because this issue will be settled.''
When a reporter recalled a news in the ''Greek Cypriot press that Cyprus talks would start in June with the pressure of the United States'', Denktas said, ''Cyprus issue is not an issue which will be settled with intervention of the United States and Russia. Cyprus issue can be settled by an agreement to be reached by the two peoples on the basis of existence of two states and a new partnership and on the bases of a bi-zonal structure. None of the issues has been settled so far with external proposals.''
Denktas stated that those who wanted a solution in Cyprus should give up behaving the Greek Cypriots as the 'legal government' of whole Cyprus and that the two sides should be treated equally.
Asked about his view on the plan of the Greek Cypriot-Greek couple to launch an initiative to appoint ''a special envoy to Cyprus'' from the European Union (EU) in the summit held in Athens the same day, Denktas said, ''what they call 'Cyprus' is the south of Cyprus, the borders of which ends at Ledra Palace Border Gate.''
Denktas added, ''if they see it like this and act like this, we have nothing to say. But, if they decide to appoint an envoy to 'whole' Cyprus, this is nothing but a move which shows that they still don't take into consideration Turkish Cypriots and will never do so and it is a sign of their bad intention.''
(ÖS-BRC) 26.05.2003