LEFKOSA - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas said that he absolutely will not run for presidency in elections to be held in April 2005.
In an interview with A.A, Denktas expressed his views on presidential elections in TRNC, recent developments in Cyprus and Turkey's membership perspective to the European Union (EU).
When asked whether he will run for presidency in April 2005, Denktas said, ''I will not run for presidency and this is my definite decision.''
Denktas said, ''Change is beneficial. However, the person (future president of the TRNC) should protect the state. It should not be forgotten that president is the person who takes oath to protect the state and its sovereignty. A person, who cannot take this oath or will act differently afterwards, should not be brought to the office.''
''Thus'', said Denktas, ''a person who does not fulfill these requirements should not run for presidency''.
Denktas said, ''TRNC Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat told Turkish Cypriots before the referendum (in April 2004) that if they voted 'yes', then TRNC will be recognized (by the international community).'' He added, ''today, Talat experiences extreme difficulty. Those who made promises to Talat deceived him.''
Denktas said he wanted people not to mislead Turkish Cypriots by saying ''accepting Annan Plan is advantageous for us'', and added, ''Annan Plan is not in Turkey's national interests . Turkey's national cause should be decided at Turkish Parliament and should include our (TRNC) sovereignty.''
When asked whether Turkish Cypriots will get any benefit for voting 'yes' as it was promised before the referendum, Denktas said, ''if I had believed what was told to my people, I would have voted 'yes' as well.''
''Turkish Cypriots were promised to be recognized if they voted 'yes' but those, who gave promises, put some conditions to keep their promises after the referendum,'' added Denktas.
Denktas said, ''people said they will not keep their promises if Turkish Cypriots insist on sovereignty and statehood issues.''
Noting that nothing has done until today, Denktas said, ''also international community did not put any pressure on Greek Cypriot side and they won't do this in the future.''
Denktas said, ''Greek Cypriots cannot be our government. We insist on our sovereignty and recognition. Holding two separate referenda in Cyprus proved that only Greek Cypriots cannot determine the future of Cyprus.''
When asked whether he is expecting a new initiative (to solve the Cyprus problem) or a pressure, Denktas said, ''they will start exerting real pressure just before December'' (when the EU is expecting to make his mind up whether to give a firm date to Turkey to start full membership negotiations).
(GC-ULG) 27.08.2004