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Turkish Cypriot Leader Threatens to Boycott Proximity Talks
Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash threatened on Friday to boycott the UN-sponsored proximity talks with Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides.
"We think that the proximity talks are nothing but a waste of time," Denktash said here after talks with Turkish leaders.
"If our parameters are not accepted, it will not be beneficial for us to continue the proximity talks," he told a press conference.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied the northern third of Cyprus after a failed coup by the Greek Cypriots to seek union with Greece.
Since last December, Denktash and Clerides have held five rounds of indirect talks in New York and Geneva, mediated by Alvaro de Soto, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's special envoy on Cyprus.
"The proximity talks are progressing in a wrong direction because the negotiations are being carried out in a manner only accepting the Greek Cypriot side as the legal government of the whole Cyprus," Denktash said.
Northern Cyprus has been controled by the Turkish Cypriots, who declared in 1983 the breakaway "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," which is only acknowledged by Ankara, to counter the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus.
The Greek Cypriots hope to establish a bizonal bicommunal federation, while the Turkish Cypriots insist on a confederation solution, with "two equal states."
"We show good will in the peace negotiations., while the Greek Cypriot side has never given up its policy to claim the whole Cyprus in every phase of the proximity talks," Denktash said.
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