EROGLU: ‘NEGOTIATIONS WILL BE MEANINGLESS AFTER 1 JULY’

President Dervis Eroglu said that they do not expect from the Greek Cypriot side to make any developments after 1 July because of the EU Term Presidency and Presidential Elections to be held in February, 2013 so negotiations will be meaningless after 1 July.

‘We should reach an agreement until 1 July. I believe that if we do not reach an agreement, it should be accepted by all sides that it will not be possible because of the attitude of Greek Cypriot side. We tried all methods 44 years before’ Eroglu added.

In his speech during ‘International Humanist Law Violation Seminar’ organized by Cyprus Turkish Red Crescent and International Humanist Law Islamic Form, President Eroglu expressed his satisfaction for the steps taken to develop relations with Cyprus Turkish Red Crescent. Moreover, Eroglu said that Turkish Cypriots want to live in the island by getting benefit of human rights. The UN Secretary General’s Advisor for Cyprus, Alexander Downer will submit a report at the end of March about the current situation of the negotiations.

Eroglu also added that the UN Secretary General will evaluate it and call for a multilateral meeting or submit to the Security Council.

‘Turkey, Greece and UK will join the multilateral meeting. I will participate on behalf of the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriot Leader Christofias will participate on behalf of Greek Cypriot Administration. The UN Secretary General will preside this meeting’ Eroglu added.

Moreover, Eroglu expressed that they sit at the negotiation table by being aware that take and give would be necessary during the negotiations but it is getting hard to reach an agreement because of Greek Cypriot side’s understanding.

Adding that new problems will rise because of cooperation of Greek Cypriot side with Israel, Eroglu said that they are face to face with an administration which has been increasing their intransigence especially after exploration of natural gas and shows different attitudes towards Turkey.

ÖZERSAY IS IN BERLIN

TRNC President’s Special Representative Kudret Özersay went to Berlin yesterday in order to have contacts with the temporary member of the UN Security Council.

According to the information obtained from the Presidency, it is expected that the role of the EU and UN in the negotiation process, what sort of attitude can be followed in order to proceed to multilateral meeting stage by achieving a successful result at the end of March, and what can be done for encouraging Greek Cypriot leadership in the negotiation process will be handled during the Berlin visits of Special Representative Özersay, who will meet with top level executives of German Foreign Affairs Ministry.

It was also stated that the potential problems, including Greek Cypriot government’s assuming EU term presidency, that can be arisen from a possible failure in the negotiations will be among the subject that will be discussed during the meetings.

In October 2010, after taking the office President Eroğlu visited Germany and met with German Foreign Affairs Minister Guido Westerwelle, and following this visit, Special Representative Özersay visited Berlin twice and had contacts with top level executives of German Foreign Affairs Ministry.

KUCUK WENT TO ISTANBUL

Prime Minister Irsen Kucuk flew to Istanbul last evening for a series of contacts as guest of the Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş. Prime Minister accompanied by his wife Gulin Küçük and the Minister of Tourism, Environment and Culture Ünal Üstel.

Prime Minister Irsen Küçük will attend a conference within the framework of the activities organized by the Küçükçekmece Municipality in Istanbul, titled “the Secret for Success and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”, as the guest of honor and will talk to 500 participants. A meeting with tourism investors and a series of visits to various media institutions are also included in Kücük’s agenda and Küçük underlined that the Minister of Tourism, Environment and Culture Ünal Üstel will attend those meetings.

On the other hand Prime Minister Irsen Küçük also pointed in his statement that he had a meeting in the previous day with the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser for Cyprus Alexander Downer as he asked for information about the New York summit and added that there will be a third meeting as Downer will present his report in March. Responding to a question about to ban the entrance of Downer to TRNC which some of the Turkish Cypriot Unions asked as a reaction to the statement of Downer Küçük said ‘It’s out of question at the moment however there would be a warning if needed’.