U.S. Ambassador To Turkey Edelman Meets With Mfa Undersecretary Ziyal

ANKARA - U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman has said that the Turkish Cypriot side should be represented by an authorized person in the four-party conference to be held in Switzerland with the participation of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the Greek Cypriot side, Turkey and Greece.
Edelman met with Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal on Monday.
Replying to a question following the meeting about TRNC President Rauf Denktas' decision not to attend the conference, Edelman told reporters that the most important thing was representation of TRNC at the conference and TRNC representative's being an authorized person.
Noting that his meeting with Ziyal had mainly focused on the Cyprus issue, Edelman recalled that the first stage of the negotiation process had been completed, and the sides would start a new stage. He stressed that the United States was ready to play its role in the new process.
Edelman described the current point reached in the island as the best opportunity.
Upon a question about possible contribution of the United States to the process, Edelman said that the U.S. officials had been holding telephone conversations with leaders at key points, adding that contacts had been continuing in various forms and levels.
Replying to a question about the issue of derogation, Edelman said that the United States was not a member of the European Union (EU), and the issue should be debated in the EU in principle, noting that the United States was aware of importance of the issue.
Edelman said that the side's reaching a compromise on principles would have significant contributions to the process.
Meanwhile, representatives of diplomatic missions of the EU-member countries were invited to the MFA.
During the meeting, the Turkish side will convey the ambassadors the importance it attributed to approval of an agreement to be reached in the island as the primary law of the EU.
If the principle of bizonality is to be effective in Cyprus within the EU, a permanent derogation on freedom of movement and settlement in Cyprus would have to be part of EU law, and it will need to exclude mainland Greeks as well as Greek Cypriots, the Turkish side insists, noting that it will have to be for the two peoples themselves, not the EU by some arbitrary time limit or pre-arranged mechanism, to decide when that derogation is no longer needed.
(UK-AÖ) 22.03.2004