ANKARA - Justice Minister and government spokesman Cemil Cicek said on Monday that developments in Cyprus closely concerned not only kinsmen there but also Turkey.
Following the meeting of Council of Ministers, Cicek told reporters that what Turkey expected was formation of a government in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as soon as possible.
Cicek said, ''how the government will be formed is a decision to be made by Turkish Cypriot people. We may have recommendations and wishes at this stage, but it is the Turkish Cypriots who will make this decision.''
Asked if Ankara would make a suggestion in case there was a problem in efforts to form a government in TRNC and asked about today's statements of TRNC President Rauf Denktas about Annan plan, Cicek said, ''we did not discuss 'what kind of a government will be a good government in TRNC.' There is no doubt that it is a decision to be made by elected TRNC parliament. We expect that a government will be formed in TRNC as soon as possible. How a government will be formed is a decision to be taken by Turkish Cypriot people. We may have recommendations and wishes at this stage, but it is the Turkish Cypriots who will make this decision.''
Cicek went on saying, ''developments in Cyprus closely concern not only kinsmen there, but also Turkey. There is a limited time before us especially when May 1, 2004 is taken into consideration. This process should be well-evaluated. We should work in detail about how to make best use of this process.''
''We should discuss what we can negotiate and how we can do it. We should discuss what we can do together. These are issues which will become clear in coming days. We closely follow developments in Cyprus,'' Cicek added.
(BRC-AÖ) 22.12.2003