LEFKOSA, March 26 (A.A) - Rauf Denktas, the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) met with Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Denktas said that he responded to the statements Clerides issued at the previous meeting, adding that Clerides would respond to him in tomorrow's meeting.
Upon a question, Denktas said that the agreement reached between Montenegro and Serbia is a model that is very close to the one TRNC wants in Cyprus.
''The two sides in Yugoslavia set up a union by recognizing each other. The same thing also happens in other places. You can't reach agreement by ignoring an existing thing. The Greek Cypriot side tells that it exists as a state and claims that it owns the whole Cyprus. We tell that we exist in our part of the island. We can reach a consensus if we take the issue from this respect. This is the thing that happened in Montenegro and Serbia. These two states said 'let's wait for three years. If it works, it works, but if it does not work, then we could separate.' We don't even tell that because we believe that we could maintain the new formation on the island with guarantees. Turkish Cypriots' defending their rights in a way that is based on their republic and sovereignty is not harmful. We will discuss these issues,'' he said.
Denktas said that he could not understand the things told by EU Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen, adding that his statements didn't suit his position and objectivity.
Noting that Verheugen may like Greek Cypriots, Denktas said that ''but we can't understand how Greek Cypriots will drift us to join the EU.''
Denktas and Clerides will come together at 15.00 local time on Wednesday.