ANKARA - President Rauf Denktas of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) said on Friday that the date of February 10 which U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan set for revival of the Cyprus talks was a pressure, adding, ''we are not the side that set this date. They are putting pressure on us.''
Replying questions at the Sheraton Hotel in Ankara, Denktas said that they would decide on whether or not they would go to New York when they returned to the TRNC after holding a consultation meeting with Turkey once again.
When reporters said no much time left until February 10, Denktas said, ''but we did not set the date. Some other people set the date. They are putting pressure on us. And it is unfairness and a kind of pressure. Such things should not happen. If time gets short, it does not matter, things will turn out in the way they are fated to.''
When asked whether or not he would meet with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer or Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan the same day, Denktas said he did not suppose he would have the chance to meet with the Prime Minister.
Noting that they would depart from Ankara in the afternoon, Denktas said, ''we agreed in that way. They have been launching their initiatives. They will inform us on the result when we are in Cyprus.''
When recalled of the point that they would be considered that they accepted all conditions of Annan in case they went to New York on February 10, Denktas said, ''and it is the perfect example of a pressure. There cannot be such a negotiation. Either come and accept or be guilty if you don't come... It is not a negotiation.''
Stressing that they, as the Turkish side, were open to discuss everything, Denktas said they were obliged to defend their vital rights.
''We don't give in to the institutions which do not take these into consideration. We have been expending efforts for years on formation of a new partnership under equal conditions between the two peoples,'' he said.
Stressing that it was the Greek Cypriot side which did not feel the need for a compromise, Denktas added that the 'de facto' situation that the Greek Cypriot side had acquired in 1964 sufficed itself.
(MS-AÖ) 06.02.2004