We will altogether attend quartet conference in Switzerland

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on late Thursday they will altogether attend the quartet conference to be held between Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Greek Cypriot side, Turkey and Greece in Switzerland.

"There won’t be any problem. We will althogether attend the conference," Erdogan said when commenting on whether or not TRNC President Rauf Denktas would attend the quartet conference

Erdogan told reporters that Denktas was and would be a part of the process from the outset till the very end and said, "he can’t withdraw from negotiations in the middle of the process."

Asked if he would launch initiatives to convince Denktas to participate in the quartet conference to be held in Switzerland, Erdogan said, "our friends are discussing this issue at the moment. I think there won’t be any problem and we will altogether be there. Denktas is in this process from the outset till the very end and he can’t withdraw from negotiations in the middle of this process. We will exert efforts to solve this problem in consultation with TRNC as we have done till today."

When asked if he or other Turkish officials would meet with Denktas, Erdogan said, "we are in fact holding consultations with him."

Erdogan reiterated that he would not express any opinion about the ongoing Cyprus negotiations before progress was recorded in the quartet meetings.

TRNC and Greek Cypriot side started negotiations on February 19 to find a fair and lasting solution to Cyprus issue till May 1 on the basis of United Nations (U.N.) Secretary General Kofi Annan’s plan.

If sides fail to reach a solution till March 22, a quartet conference will take place among TRNC, Greek Cypriot side, Turkey and Greece.

U.N. Secretary General Annan will fill in the blanks left in the plan if participants can’t reach any compromise in quartet meetings, and the text to be formed at the end of all these initiatives will be voted in referenda to be held synchronously in the Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides on April 20.