Denktas: No — the Greek Cypriots won

This is exactly what he wrote:

"Dear M. Ali Birand,

I read your article ‘This time Greek Cypriots lost again’ on 4.6.2004 with great amazement.

What did the Greek Cypriots lose?

Non-recognition of the KKTC; refusal to accept the existence, sovereignty and the right to secede of the Turks as one of the two communities that form the ‘Cypriot nation’; the necessity of U.N. Security Council supervision over security problems of the ‘official’ Cyprus state, which is a member of the European Union; regular assessment on when the continued presence of 650 Turkish soldiers on the island will end; it being endorsed that with their ‘yes’ vote and acceptance of the Annan plan as it stood, the Turkish Cypriot people did not want to live in a separate state with sovereignty.

The Greek Cypriots, by saying ‘NO,’ are holding all the cards. By saying ‘YES,’ we imprisoned ourselves within the Annan plan. Greek Cypriot fears about the KKTC’s recognition were abated.

The Greek Cypriot dreams, policies, expectations and all its efforts were directed at becoming an EU member as the only official Cyprus state and to eliminate the Turkish-Greek balance it had failed to [eliminate] with arms. This was what the Greek Cypriot side achieved, while eliminating the limitations imposed on it by the 1960 treaties with the Turkish ‘YES’ vote. How and which rights will Turkey defend now that it has approved the Annan plan, which entirely ignored the Turkish-Greek balance set up by the 1960 treaties?

If you say we succeeded, yes, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is calling on the Greek Cypriots, which the Turkish Cypriots also accept as their government, to forge links with the Turkish community and take steps that will end their isolation. Still, the EU is trying to find a legal way to send assistance to the Turkish side without upsetting the Cyprus government.

If I had given up on the demands for two equal communities with the right to self-determination and sovereignty and Turkey’s guarantees, we would have ‘solved’ the issue a long time ago, and there would have been no Cyprus problem for Turkey. There wouldn’t have been any Turks left. Now everything is proceeding towards this scenario.

Respectfully,

Rauf Denktas KKTC President
What would have happened, if we had said ‘NO’?

Unfortunately, I don’t share the president’s outlook. What would have happened if the citizens of the KKTC had voted "NO"?

* Embargoes would have been intensified. The international media would have condemned us, and isolation would have increased.
* The Greek Cypriots would still have become EU members.

A statement made by Glafcos Clerides a short while ago can still be remembered: "…The Turkish side, by rejecting each and every one of the plans in the past, gave us the EU membership as a present."

The KKTC, which said YES in the referendum, is perceived very differently in the international community. Its former status is very different.

Denktas says that with the Annan plan, the Turkish-Greek balance established in 1960 has been eliminated; however, this balance was eliminated a long time ago, the minute Greece became an EU member and Turkey was left out.

The only way to restore this balance is for Turkey to become a full member of the EU.

Despite our differences, my respect for President Denktas will always continue.