LEFKOSA - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) wanted privileges regarding exportation, Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat said on Monday.
After the meeting of some Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot political parties at the buffer zone, Talat told reporters that Gazimagusa port was in fact open, and what TRNC wanted was privileges regarding exportation.
Talat said that Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos' demand for ''solution step by step'' meant ''wanting everything step by step'', and noted that the Greek Cypriot administration should firstly decide what it wanted.
Answering a question about the Greek Cypriot secondary school to be opened in Karpaz, Talat said that there were problems regarding teachers, and TRNC Foreign Minister Serdar Denktas was dealing with that matter.
Talat stated that Denktas would meet United Nations (UN) officials after he returned home from his abroad visit.
TRNC was determined to open the mentioned school within this year, Talat added.
Talat said that the Greek Cypriots did not touch on issues regarding free trade regulation during their meeting, but Turkish Cypriots brought them onto agenda.
The Greek Cypriots refrained from discussing the matter saying, ''these issues concerned Brussels'', Talat noted.
Talat stated that the Greek Cypriots did not want development of Turkish Cypriot economy.
On the other hand, Jan Varso, the Slovakian Ambassador to the Greek Cypriot side, read the joint statement at the end of the meeting. The statement said that participants discussed recent developments regarding Cyprus problem, and decided to further improve relations among leaders of Turkish and Greek Cypriot political parties.
Varso added that the following meeting would be held on October 18th.
(BRC) 06.09.2004