LEFKOSA - Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Serdar Denktas of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) said on Saturday that the Turkish Cypriot side had a lack of confidence in the U.N. Secretary General's former special envoy to Cyprus Alvaro De Soto, stressing they had earlier announced that they did not trust De Soto and they would not accept his mediation in talks.
Speaking on the Eurasia Radio and Television (ART) about Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's proposal for a new mediator trusted by both sides to resolve the Cyprus issue, Denktas said that he considered the matter as a method to seek a new name instead of De Soto.
Serdar Denktas said he would go to Ankara on Sunday and he would understand the situation better.
Stressing that they did not trust De Soto as there had been a difference between his statements to the Turkish Cypriot side and Greek Cypriot side in latest talks, Denktas said, ''we have announced that we won't accept De Soto's mediation due to lack of confidence.''
Referring to the statement issued by the National Security Council, Denktas said, ''there is a demand for revival of talks. Will they (talks) finish before May 1? It totally depends on the attitude of the United Nations and the European Union towards the Greek Cypriot side and it depends on the thing whether the Greek Cypriot side will sit at the negotiation table with the same good will as the Turkish Cypriot side. There may be a hope if these happen. However, it is not so easy to finalize Annan's plan or reach any compromise before May 1 if these don't happen.''
(MS-UK) 25.01.2004