NICOSIA - Dovish new Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat accused his Greek Cypriot counterpart of intransigence Sunday as he took the oath of office a year to the day after a UN plan to reunite the island was approved by his own people but rejected by the majority community.
Talat accused Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos of wanting to write the Turkish Cypriots out of history by "depriving us of our right to partnership and equality".
Talat led his people in voting for the UN reunification blueprint last year. Papadopoulos successfully urged Greek Cypriots to vote it down, meaning a divided island joined the European Union last May, depriving Turkish Cypriots of the full benefits of membership.
"Membership of the European Union must not mean abusing this status to implement discriminatory, racist, authoritarian and intransigent policies towards other communities, particularly when it involves one's own country," Talat said in his inauguration speech.
He said that despite the position of their government, he wanted to "extend a hand of brotherhood and peace" to the Greek Cypriot people. "We are all in the same boat," he said, reiterating his support for reunification of "our common homeland".
He called on the international community to make good on its promises to reward Turkish Cypriots for their yes vote.
"The Turkish Cypriots have proved their desire for integration in the international community on the basis of peace, brotherhood and democracy," he said.
Efforts by the European Commission to resume direct preferential trade with the breakaway north, blocked by a court decision in the early 1990s, have run into legal difficulties amid the strong opposition of the Cyprus government.
Talat, 53, took over the presidency of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus from veteran nationalist Rauf Denktash, who had held the post ever since the breakaway state was first declared in 1983.
He won 55 percent of the vote in last week's election after the increasingly isolated Denktash decided not to seek a further term.
Even before his elevation to the presidency, Talat was already treated as Turkish Cypriot leader by the United States, which attempted to sideline the hardline Denktash as it sought to push through the UN peace plan.
Talat stepped down as both prime minister and leader of the leftist Republican Turkish Party on Saturday ahead of his inauguration in parliament which was attended by Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.
Party secretary general Ferdi Sabit Soyer has been named as his replacement as premier and is expected to form a new government in the coming days.
04/24/2005 15:57 GMT