LEFKOSA - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat said on Friday that they did not lose solution vision for Cyprus.
Speaking at a ceremony at TRNC Bayrak Radio and Television Corp. (BRTK), Talat said that they were exerting efforts for lifting of isolations on TRNC on economy, politics and other fields, adding that the situation was not bad.
Noting that they were on the beginning of the path, Talat said that they would gain many rights step by step. He added that there was not a concerning situation and the atmosphere was rather good.
When asked what Turkish Cypriot side's policy would be while Greek Cypriot side's European Union (EU) membership would start officially as of May 1, Talat said that Greek Cypriot side's accession to EU on May 1 had been known from the beginning and added that it was an unjust situation.
Talat said, ''our demand against this situation is very clear and certain. We have not lost our solution vision. The solution continues to be essential for us.''
Noting that they wanted reunification of the island, not division and 65 percent of Turkish Cypriots supported this, Talat wanted the world to perceive this. He stressed that the Greek Cypriot side which entered EU by defending separatism and keeping Cyprus divided should be treated in the EU, taking all those facts into consideration, and the isolations on Turkish Cypriot side should rapidly be ended.
TRNC and Greek Cypriot side voted U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's plan for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem in simultaneous referenda held on April 24.
Sixty-five percent of Turkish Cypriots voted ''yes'' to the Annan plan while 35.09 percent voted against the plan in the simultaneous referenda. A total of 75.83 percent of the Greek Cypriots said ''no'' to the plan while 24.17 of them voted ''yes.''
The rate of participation in the referendum was 84.35 in TRNC and 96.53 percent in the Greek Cypriot side.
(GC-BRC) 01.05.2004