CYPRUS: Rare tension crackled yesterday between the veteran Turkish-Cypriot leader, Mr Rauf Denktash, and Turkey over how to tackle the division of Cyprus following last weekend's inconclusive Turkish-Cypriot election.
Turkey and Mr Denktash are under heavy international pressure to resume stalled talks on a blueprint proposed last year by the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, which envisages Cyprus joining the EU next May as a reunited island.
But the Turkish-Cypriot general election on December 14th returned a parliament split 50-50 between supporters of the Annan plan and those who back Mr Denktash's rejection of it.
Mr Denktash reacted angrily to what he clearly saw as criticism from the Turkish Prime Minister, Mr Tayyip Erdogan, who was reported by the Anatolian news agency to have expressed impatience with Mr Denktash and his advisers over their inflexibility.
"They [the advisers] do not bring any different views [on the problem]," Mr Erdogan was quoted as saying during a trip to the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan.
"In my view it is wrong to say the Annan plan is completely bad for northern Cyprus," he said, making clear that Turkey saw the blueprint as a basis for more talks.
However, Mr Erdogan appeared to avoid the issue of whether Mr Denktash should be replaced as the enclave's chief negotiator. Mr Denktash was clearly rattled by the implied criticism from Turkey, the only country to recognise his "statelet" of 200,000.
"The Turkish government should say who they prefer to become the negotiator so I can appoint one. Let's see how far it can take us," he said in Nicosia.
Mr Denktash (79) has personally conducted negotiations with the Greek-Cypriots over the decades, never deviating from his insistence that any settlement must be based on a two-state solution. But a solution has become more urgent as the internationally recognised government of Greek-Cypriots prepares to take Cyprus into the EU on May 1st.
The lack of a settlement by then could cement the island's ethnic division, deepen the Turkish-Cypriots' international isolation and damage Turkey's own application to join the EU.
Mr Denktash fears the more numerous and wealthier Greek-Cypriots will inevitably dominate a reunited Cyprus. The Turkish President, Mr Ahmet Necdet Sezer, may try to convene a meeting of the country's institutions to discuss the developments in northern Cyprus. - (Reuters)