Northern Cyprus President Signals He Won't Run In Upcoming Presidential Elections

LEFKOSA - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas signaled on Monday that he would not run in the upcoming presidential elections to be held in April 2005 in the TRNC.
Denktas, who received Turkish National Security Council (NSC) Secretary General Sukru Sariisik, said that this was the last time he was joining the July 20th Peace and Freedom Day celebrations as the president of TRNC.
''This will be my last celebration, last July 20th. Another person, a person to be elected by people, will be in my place next year. I hope the world will see the realities till then. There is not only one nation in Cyprus, but there are two nations who have the self-determination right. And, this was proved with the (April 24th) referenda. Living in two separate geographical regions is a remedy accepted by the two parties and adopted by the (UN) Security Council,'' Denktas said.
He stated , ''there is a (TRNC) state here, whether they recognize it or not. There is a nation, and Turkey is a guarantor power. An agreement can be reached only if these realities are admitted.''
''The Greek Cypriots won't be eager to sign an agreement (with the Turkish Cypriot side) as long as they were considered the ''legitimate government'' of Cyprus'', Denktas added.
Denktas stated that it was time that everyone who made promises to Turkish Cypriots, should keep their promises and this without any conditions.
On the other hand Turkish NSC Secretary General Sariisik said that he was proud to be in TRNC to share the excitement of the Turkish Cypriots during the July 20th Peace and Freedom Day celebrations.
(BRC-ULG) 19.07.2004