Erdogan: Southern Cyprus Has Lost Out

ISTANBUL - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said regarding results of synchronous referenda in Cyprus on Saturday, ''according to me, southern Cyprus has lost out.''
Speaking to reporters in Istanbul, Erdogan said, ''a democratic result has been reached in Cyprus upon peoples' will. There would have been a new period with a different start on May 1 if both sides had voted yes, but it did not happen.''
Stressing that a different period had emerged, Erdogan said, ''here I want to especially stress a reality, that is, according to me southern Cyprus has wasted this step of good will by not contributing to formation of a fair and lasting solution. We did not want such a result and actually, southern Cyprus has lost out in this step towards a solution.''
(MS) 24.04.2004