ISTANBUL (CIHAN) - The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat said on Saturday the best alternative is to go to polls to elect new government in Turkish Cyprus.
Talat said that it is necessity for Turkey to engage in at least minimum level of relations with the Greek Cypriot side that represents entire Cypriot Republic in the European Union.
Returning from his visit to Brussels and Strasburg, KKTC Prime Miniter Talat told press conference in Istanbul that the current seat distribution in the Turkish Cypriot Assembly does not represent the result of referendum. "The best way to sort out the government crisis in the Turkish Cypriot side is to go to early elections.
In the April 24 referendum, the pro-reunification Turkish Cypriots, led by the Prime Minister Talat, attained 65 percent of the votes while the opponents of the Annan plan just succeeded to lure 35 percent of the votes. However, the seats in the Turkish Cypriot parliament are evenly distributed.
General elections last December in the Turkish Cyprus, recognized only by Turkey, left seats evenly divided between parties for and against the U.N. plan.
The coalition government of the DP and the CTP had fallen below the minimum total of parliamentary seats which it requires in order to maintain a stable government. The government needs at least 26 seats in the assembly in order to win a vote of confidence. Recently one CTP deputy resigned from his party,while previously two DP deputies had quit their party following a dispute with Serdar Denktas.
Now, early elections are deemed as the only means of resolving the government crisis.
KKTC Prime Minister said that they are working on formation of the new coalition government in the Turkish Cyprus. "We anticipate the workings to reach target to resolve the government crisis."
Concerning the relations between the Greek Cypriot side and Turkey, Talat said that Ankara should form relations with Greek Cypriot side in minimum level as they represent the Cypriot Republic.
Turkish Republic does not recognize the Greek Cypriot Administration as independent country.
Talat said that the Greek Cypriot side was member of the European Union to which Turkey is candidate and hoping to join. "Turkey has no other option but to take steps to form relations with the Greek Cypriot side."
Cyprus has been ethnically divided since 1974 when Turkey, as guarantor state, intervened in the island in order to ensure the protection of Turkish Cypriots - in response to a coup on the Greek side engineered by the military junta in Greece with a view to uniting the island with Greece.