Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris reports
that former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat has said that the
principles of single sovereignty and single citizenship, which cause
difficulties for issuing a joint statement that would lead to the resumption of
the Cyprus negotiations, must be included in the joint statement.
Kibris writes that Talat said that
the single sovereignty and single citizenship were for a long time among the
main principles in the Cyprus negotiations and added that this is reiterated in
the UN Security Council’s Resolutions on Cyprus.
Referring to a statement made
recently by Foreign Minister Kasoulides that had Talat been at the helm of the
Turkish Cypriot community we would not feel the need for a joint statement,
Talat said this showed the lack of trust towards Eroglu whereas Talat himself had
accepted the principles of single sovereignty and single citizenship.
“The biggest responsibility for
launching the negotiations belongs to the Turkish Cypriot side. We, more than
anyone else, should want the solution of the Cyprus problem. At the same time we
have a responsibility towards the Turkish Cypriot people. The single
sovereignty and single citizenship should be included in the joint statement. Once
negotiations start, a way should be found to refer to this issue. We should in
no case create the impression that we want two separate states or the
partnership of two states which have separate sovereignty. This will present us
negatively in the world.”
Talat went on to say that no UN
Security Council resolution refers to the principle of “residual powers”, which
the Turkish side wants included in the joint statement, but that this principle
is included in the de Cuellar document, the Ghali Set of Ideas and the Annan
Plan, which stated that “the residual powers are given to the founding states”.
“However, the equivalent of single
sovereignty and single citizenship are not residual powers. Actually this is
the issue. The equivalent of single sovereignty and single citizenship could
only be the two founding states, their equal status and political equality.”
Talat argued that the reason why
Eroglu “openly refrains from accepting single sovereignty and single
citizenship” is because this issue had been one of the main elements of
Eroglu’s campaign in the so-called presidential elections in 2010. Talat said
that Eroglu made no concessions on this issue and claimed that the Greek
Cypriots used this opportunity as they found Eroglu’s weakness.
Talat argued that it would be
dangerous not to launch the negotiations soon, adding that this could offer the
Greek Cypriots the opportunity to “get rid of all the agreements reached until
now”. Reiterating the view that interrupting the negotiations during the
Republic of Cyprus’ EU term Presidency was wrong, Talat recalled that if the
negotiations do not start in six months, the election period will begin [in
Turkey] and no one will be saying “let us start from the agreements that had
been reached”.
Turkey: Solution as soon as possible
Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Ahmet
Davutoglu, and European Commissioner for Enlargement, Stefan Fule, have both
expressed the hope that the Cyprus talks would start soon, Politis reports.
More specifically Mr Davutoglu
said that Turkey’s aim was to have a Cyprus solution as soon as possible,
underlining that Turkey was committed in this direction.
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