ISTANBUL - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Serdar Denktas said on Monday that he was very pleased with approval of paragraph about Cyprus in the final declaration of the Organization for Islamic Conference (OIC) Foreign Ministers' Conference in the political committee.
Denktas replied to questions of reporters at the Lutfi Kirdar Congress Center where the 31st OIC Foreign Ministers' Conference is held.
Stating that they wanted document which was prepared in Jeddah to be accepted without any problem and reservation, Denktas said, ''initiatives that we earlier launched and diplomatic initiative that Turkey has launched yielded favorable result.''
Denktas said that he was pleased with approval of the document in the political committee and noted that they expected the document to be also approved in the General Assembly.
When asked if TRNC's attendance to the OIC meetings as ''Turkish Cypriot State'' would bring concrete results, Denktas said, ''although this developments seems symbolic, our friends' demands earlier were rejected politely during meetings of OIC that we have been attending for years. But we had the chance to meet with 16 foreign ministers today. We will also continue holding meetings tomorrow. This development is symbolic, but it will provide us with taking advanced steps in cooperation with Islamic countries. At least, we will be able to explain our problems directly.''
Stressing that they wanted to verify their contacts under the OIC with also economic and cultural activities, Denktas said, ''we still have the status of observer, but there is now an acknowledgement.''
Denktas said that TRNC showed clearly that it was the side which wanted peace in Cyprus with result of twin referenda held on the island on April 24 and noted that they expected Greek Cypriot side which refused the solution to accept share of power with Turkish Cypriots.
Replying to a question, Denktas said that if U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's plan on Cyprus was to be brought onto agenda again, they would not accept any change on the plan.
(EÖ-AÖ) 14.06.2004