Cyprus: No Dissenting Voice in Negotiations

Talat, who came to Ankara as the official guest of the Union of Turkish Chambers and Bourses (TOBB), said that if the Cyprus issue was solved it would be inevitable for EU to specify a date to commence accession talks with Turkey. Talat said that the solution efforts would continue until December 2004, if EU did not give a date, then the process would halt.

Talat said, “Now, our first target is to commence talks. To do that the conditions stipulated by the UN Secretary General. Everything will get clearer following the Washington visit of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.” Talat admitted that they would have removed Denktas from his post as the negotiator if they had won elections with a majority, however, now Denktas, himself, and Foreign Minister Serdar Denktas would join the negotiations.