Denktas: When Turkey Said Annan Plan Could Be Negotiated, Naturally Our Resistance Was Broken

LEFKOSA - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas said on Saturday that Annan Plan was unacceptable and Turkey had supported this view until a point, but when Turkey started to say ''the plan can be negotiated'', the resistance of TRNC was broken.
Denktas told reporters that they had never escaped from negotiation, but they were escaping from the conclusion that they would be tied after the talks started.
Denktas said that Annan Plan was unacceptable and added that there were impositions on them to accept it.
Denktas said, ''it was decided to hold negotiations and try to reach an agreement and if we could not, the Secretary General would fill in the blanks/the parts which we could not reach agreement. We did not escape from negotiation. We escaped from the conclusion which we would be tied after we started negotiations and we could not accept this. Such an imposition has never been made in any place of the world.''
''Turkey had said until a point that the plan was unacceptable and it could not be negotiated. Then, when Turkey started to say that the plan could be negotiated, naturally our resistance in that issue was broken,'' added Denktas.
Denktas said that they would either say 'we will not come for negotiations' and they would open the doors to people who could accept Annan Plan as it was which could take the Turkish side to an unknown adventure. He added that or when Turkey replied positively to TRNC on providing support to defend sine qua nons until the end, TRNC would attend the negotiations under those circumstances. ''We chose the latter,'' he added.
DENKTAS: SINE QUA NONS DEFENDED ON NEGOTIATION TABLE
Speaking to reporters in a meeting, Denktas said that no signature was asked from him as it was known that he would not sign such an agreement.
''The plan will be discussed directly, if the sides reach an agreement it is okay, if not U.N. Secretary General will fill in the blanks in the plan and it will be submitted to referendum,'' he said.
Noting that they could not get the result they wanted in the negotiations to date, Denktas said that ''but these are first initiatives. We will continue the talks sincerely and try to defend our sine qua nons.''
Denktas stressed that the proposals of the Turkish side were described as ''unacceptable'' in the Greek Cypriot press, adding ''we also find their approach as unacceptable, problems continue.''
Denktas said that he would go to Ankara on March 3 for a conference, adding that he would also meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. Denktas said they would evaluate the developments about Cyprus issue with Erdogan, adding that ''everybody knows that we must work together with Turkey. We will explain the results of the steps we are taking to them.''
Denktas called the people to understand well what was going on and not to accuse anybody afterwards, adding that he explained the things discussed in negotiations to public opinion everyday. Recalling that the negotiations would end on March 22, Denktas said that ''if we accept Annan plan as it is now, it is wretchedness, it is end of Turks on the island. We try to amend it for that reason, but you see that we can't record much progress.''
Referring to the statements of some people who said that ''Annan plan is our destiny, let's try to amend it, and amend the parts which we can. Let's sort this issue out by saying 'yes' in referendum,'' Denktas said that ''this is not our destiny, we can't leave our destiny to the hands of others. We will give our decision by seeing, knowing, assessing the things.''
Denktas said that Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat helped to do the best for people, adding ''but one day, he can say 'no, that is all, I can't support you anymore' due to the concerns of his own party. Or we can say so. But we are in a conscious cooperation to serve our people now.''
DENKTAS: TURKISH PARLIAMENT'S APPROVAL OF THE TEXT THAT WILL BE SUBMITTED TO REFERENDUM IS CONSTITUTIONAL PROBLEM OF ANKARA
When a reporter recalled that Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos was insistent that Turkish Parliament had to approve the text which would be presented to referendum before the referendum was held and asked whether they had consulted with Ankara on this issue, Denktas said, ''this is constitutional problem of Ankara. Turkish Parliament had approved and accepted 1960 agreements. There is a Turkey which is involved in Cyprus with the title of guarantor. Now, they will change those agreements which Turkish Parliament had ratified. If we make a new agreement, those agreements will be changed. If Turkish Parliament does not see how those agreements will change as a whole, then what the Parliament will guarantee and what will it approve? We find strange the insistence on Turkey that it should accept the text before referendum and urging Turkey again to accept the thing that will come out from referendum.''
When reminded about the news of Greek Cypriot press claiming that the United Nations will take assurance from Turkey and Greece by using Greenland islands tactic for the results of referendum, Denktas said that he had read those news and did not have any information about it. He added that as he did not have much information about the issue, he did not want to say anything.
Upon a question about the news of Greek Cypriot press claiming that Turkey had launched initiatives to postpone EU membership of Greek Cypriot side, Denktas said that he did not have information about such an initiative.
Denktas said that EU was in great difficulty as it opened its doors to Greek Cypriots under the name of 'Cyprus' with a very wrong decision and in a deceived way, adding that ''EU knows the problems which it will have to deal with when it admits Cyprus which is divided into two. For that reason it wants to get our approval and signature in a hurry in order to legalize the things that are being done. We work with good will, but we sit at negotiation table wide-awake to protect the rights of our people.''
Denktas stated that Greek Cypriots applied to EU in order to end the rights of Turkey on Cyprus and to make Turkish Cypriots accepted as a minority community in Cyprus, adding that the initiatives of Greek Cypriots recently showed that their philosophy continued. ''As long as this philosophy continues, it is not easy for us to reach a result,'' Denktas said.
Stressing that Cyprus was not the property of Greece and Greek Cypriot administration and that there were two peoples in Cyprus, Denktas said that ''these two peoples lived side by side for 400 years by maintaining their national and religious characters. A partnership agreement was set up by 1960 treaties by taking as the basis the existence of two national peoples. It is very sad to see today that Greek Cypriots try to deceive the world by removing all of these and by saying that 'Denktas wants to build everything on two national peoples and this is racism.' This disappoints us very much.''
Denktas said that Belgium was a partnership founded on language difference (as people who speak French and those who don't speak French) and that nobody said there was racism in Belgium. ''Here, there are Turks and Greek Cypriots. This is the reality,'' he said.
Denktas stressed that he would not demand postponement of the negotiations in Cyprus on March 3 as he would be in Ankara, adding that the Turkish Cypriot delegation would attend the negotiations.

(GC-Öª) 29.02.2004