ANKARA - Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said on Thursday that Britain was in favour of solution of Cyprus question as soon as possible and noted, ''I see they hope that Turkey's wish to join the European Union (EU) can cause a flexibility in Cyprus question.''
Baykal met with British State Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jack Straw.
Following the meeting, Baykal told reporters that they mainly took up Cyprus question.
Baykal said that Straw closely followed developments in Cyprus and thought that the report prepared by the United Nations (U.N.) Secretary General Kofi Annan had to be concluded rapidly.
He expressed his own views about Cyprus question during their meeting, Baykal noted.
When asked if there was a parallelism between Turkey's EU membership and Cyprus question, Baykal said that Straw did not clearly expressed this issue but bringing onto agenda Cyprus question before Copenhagen summit indicated existence of such an expectation.
Baykal noted, ''I see that they hope Turkey's wish to join the EU will cause a flexibility in Cyprus question.''
Asked how he evaluated statement of Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis following his meeting with the U.S. officials, Baykal said, ''it seems that a detailed deliberation on a possible intervention on Iraq has not been made with the United States. I guess that the foreign minister wanted to make a statement which will please U.S. officials. It was a good-willed evaluation. But, it seems that the evaluation was empty.''
When asked about his evaluation on pressure for at least a frame agreement on Cyprus before Copenhagen summit, Baykal said that the process continued and neither Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) nor the Greek Cypriot administration put forth their reaction to the plan in detail.
Baykal stated that they were waiting for conclusion of work of sides on the plan.
Noting that a new frame could be put forth by the U.N. Secretary General before the Copenhagen summit, Baykal said, ''this time, adoption or rejection of the frame will be requested. Copenhagen resolutions will be shaped up according to this acceptance or rejection.''
In light of these developments, there was an expectation of a change in Turkey's stance on other issues in Copenhagen in return for a negotiation date, Baykal pointed out.
Asked if he saw such a flexibility in the government, Baykal said, ''I do not have any concrete information about the stance of the government towards these issues. You can take this as a complaint. We do not have serious and official information about the developments in Iraq, Cyprus, EU plans and diplomatic contacts on these issues which are of importance for Turkey's future. As main opposition party, we would like to be informed in detail about what are being discussed and demands from Turkey.''
Baykal added, ''moreover, it is very difficult to see the stance of the government correctly. We often witness changes in statements of the government by statements that former statements are misunderstood. It seems that this busy diplomatic traffic sometimes affects line of the government. There is need for a serious solidarity in these cases. Turkey has been facing an international diplomatic pressure and this should be well evaluated.''