Cyprus – Denktas: Everyone waits for elections

TRNC President Rauf Denktas signalled on Tuesday Cyprus talks were unlikely before the elections in TRNC in December.

In an interview with Reuters, when asked if he would return to the negotiating table with Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos, Denktas said: "Everybody is waiting for the elections. So are we. Elections will show whether the opposition which has deceived the world by saying ‘Cypriots accept the U.N. plan and Denktas is the only obstacle’…is true or not."

Denktas said calls by Papadopoulos to resume talks under the U.N. plan as "tactical statements" adding "the Greek Cypriots have no need for a settlement nor for discussing the U.N. plan because they have been assured by the EU that whether they do or not, whether there is a settlement or not, they are a member."

He said pressure from the EU and international mediators on the two sides to resume talks on the U.N. plan could backfire.

"When the visions of the two sides continue to be so far apart, to try to bring the two parties together on a makeshift agreement to please others and serve the interests of others, (talks) will merely end in disaster," Denktas said.