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ISTANBUL, Jan 2: Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan has called for a shake-up of Turkish policy on the divided island of Cyprus and urged Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash to heed protests against his rule.
Around 30,000 Turkish Cypriots rallied last week calling for Denktash to quit. Opponents accuse him of blocking progress in UN-sponsored peace talks on reunifying the island.
“If 30,000 people demonstrate at the same time in northern Cyprus then it means something is going on in northern Cyprus,” Erdogan told a Turkish television station late on Wednesday.
“It is not an ordinary or chance event. We have to think hard about this business, you can’t just sideline what the people think.”
Cyprus has been partitioned since Turkey invaded in 1974 in response to an Athens-backed Greek Cypriot military coup. Turkey keeps 30,000 troops in the north of the island to support the breakaway Turkish Cypriot administration.
An agreement to reunify the divided island is central to Turkey’s hopes of joining the European Union. Erdogan has made EU entry a priority but must win over hardliners in Cyprus and Turkey if a deal is to be reached.
“If a decision in the direction of a solution does not emerge by Feb 28 then things will get harder,” Erdogan said.
The United Nations is pressing for a deal to be agreed before Feb 28 to reunify Cyprus before the island enters the European Union in 2004.
DENKTASH SAYS HE’S LISTENING: Denktash defended his position on Thursday ahead of a meeting with party leaders in the north.
“He (Erdogan) says ‘this isn’t Denktash’s issue but a national issue’ and stressed the need to heed the wishes of the people,” the Anatolian news agency quoted Denktash as saying.
“What do the people want? That’s what I’m holding this meeting (with party leaders) for. Have the people given up on sovereignty and political equality? Are they resigned to the Greek Cypriots living among them?”
Erdogan’s comments reveal the differences between his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Denktash over Cyprus. Turkey’s powerful armed forces, traditional backers of the Turkish Cypriot leader, also have a strong say on policy.
“I am not in favour of following the Cyprus policy that has been followed for 30 or 40 years,” said Erdogan, who is leader of the AKP but not prime minister because of a political ban that stopped him from standing in Nov 3 elections.
“This business is not Denktash’s personal business. It’s not Ahmet’s or Mehmet’s or Tayyip Erdogan’s. It’s the struggle of a nation for existence,” Erdogan said.
UN-backed talks are set to resume on Jan 7. Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides, Denktash’s longtime sparring partner, said on Thursday he did not rule out standing for re-election next month to maintain momentum in UN-brokered efforts to reunify the island.
Denktash has said he will continue talks with the Greek Cypriot side, but has expressed serious reservations about parts of the plan dealing with handing over territory.—Reuters
