ISTANBUL - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat and Foreign Minister Serdar Denktas met on Wednesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Talat told reporters after the meeting that it is known that Russia follows a policy which was not quite positive towards Turkish Cypriots so that Lavrov's accepting to meet with him was important. Noting that it was difficult to change traditional policies of countries, Talat said, ''however, Lavrov's accepting to meet with me shows the hints of intellectual change in their traditional policy.''
Talat said that their efforts would continue to settle new parameters to Cyprus policies of the United Nations Security Council member countries like Russia. He added that recent developments brought Russia, as well as the whole world, to a stage to reevaluate the situation. Talat said, ''they express that they are determined to lift economic isolation. Thus, they are also accepting that reaching a solution will be easier in the future.''
TRNC Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Denktas said that the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) General Assembly approved the draft in which TRNC is named as ''Turkish Cypriot State''. He thanked all countries that voted in favor of this draft. Denktas said that they would leave OIC meeting as a ''state''.
(GC-AÖ) 16.06.2004