Turkish Prime Minister Says Cyprus Process Continues

ANKARA - Cyprus process continued, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday when commenting on an expression in the statement released at the end of the National Security Council (NSC) meeting saying that ''some problems could occur in implementation of United Nations (U.N.) Secretary General Kofi Annan's plan for Cyprus.''
When a reporter stated that ''soldiers had reservations'', Erdogan said, ''what are we saying? Aren't we defending that bi-zonality should be preserved? Hasn't bi-zonality been ensured in the plan? Yes, it has and therefore, there is not such a problem.''
When a reporter recalled that the NSC statement included an expression saying that ''some problems might occur in implementation of Annan plan,'' Erdogan said, ''this is your comment. This is a process and it still continues.''
The statement released at the end of the NSC meeting earlier in the day said that it was the Turkish government who was responsible for and decide on launching the necessary process in order to make Annan plan official.
The NSC statement noted that ''participants stressed that in case the process began, Turkey should be careful when exerting efforts in order not to have any problems in Turkish presence in the island, Turkey's status as guarantor state, and the principle of bi-zonality.''
''We have seen that problems may be faced in implementation of the plan. Therefore, the concerned governments should carefully study all elements of the plan in regard to Turkey's and TRNC's national interests since this issue has sensitivity for both Turkey and TRNC. Therefore, we stress importance of making a possible solution on the island the primary law of the European Union (EU). We also emphasize that we should monitor de facto implementation of guarantees given to Turkey and TRNC in the negotiation process. We point out that it is the government who is responsible for launching the necessary process to make Annan plan official. We also stress that in case the process begins, we should be careful when exerting efforts in order not to have any problems in Turkish presence in the island, Turkey's status as guarantor state, and the principle of bi-zonality,'' the statement added.
(BRC) 05.04.2004