Talat: It Is Not Possible To Accept Postponement Of Referenda

LEFKOSA - It was not possible to accept postponement of simultaneous referenda to be held in two sides in the island on April 24, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat said late on Saturday.
Talat told Turkish Agency-Cyprus (TAK) that it was not possible for TRNC to accept postponement of simultaneous referenda to be held in the island on April 24 for ''a few more months'' when commenting on the call made by Greek Cypriot communist AKEL party to the United Nations (U.N.).
TRNC Prime Minister Talat said that such a postponement would enable accession of the Greek Cypriot side to the European Union (EU) in the name of whole Cyprus on May 1 and therefore, did not comply with interests of Turkish Cypriots.
Talat went on saying, ''all aspects of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's plan for Cyprus have been discussed and well-perceived by the two peoples in the island. Deficiencies, shortcomings and advantages of the plan have all been revealed. Therefore, postponement of the simultaneous referenda in the island will not be beneficial. Such a delay will enable accession of the Greek Cypriot side to the EU in the name of whole Cyprus. And, therefore, I think such a postponement doesn't comply with interests of Turkish Cypriots. It is not possible for us to accept such a delay.''
Asked if AKEL had a bad intention for interests of Turkish Cypriots when it launched initiatives to delay the referendum, Talat said that he should meet with officials of AKEL to make such an evaluation and hoped to meet with them in the possible shortest time.
Talat added, ''in such a case, I will have the opportunity to explain why such a move is not acceptable for us.''
Delegations from TRNC, Greek Cypriot side, Turkey and Greece held Cyprus negotiations in Buergenstock, Switzerland from March 24 to 31 in order to contribute to a settlement in the island.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis also joined the negotiations as of March 29.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan presented his final plan to the parties on March 31.
The final plan will be put to separate simultaneous referenda in Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot sides in the island on April 24.
(BRC) 11.04.2004