Word: denktash
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...retired diplomat who has spent many years in Cyprus [Nov. 28]. It is wrong to think that the Greeks and the Turks, who are hereditary enemies, can live peacefully in a mixed Cypriot community. Since a compromise cannot be found, Turkish Cypriot Leader Rauf Denktash did the right thing by establishing a separate republic. I predict that in less than ten years an independent Turkish Cypriot state and an independent Greek Cypriot state will develop normal relations with each other. The international community should give Denktash's bold move a chance...
...only nation that recognized the new republic in the course of the week was, not surprisingly, Turkey. But even the Turks had reservations. "Wouldn't it have been better," asked Ozal after being informed of Denktash's proclamation by President Kenan Evren, "to do that after first strengthening Turkish Cyprus economically...
Elsewhere there was mostly hostility. French President François Mitterrand's government denounced the Denktash decision "without reservation." Declared Mitterrand coldly: "I don't think that the great powers want to involve themselves in this issue and thereby place an additional burden on those matters already in dispute." British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher suggested that, as the guarantors of Cyprus' independence under the 1960 treaty, Britain, Greece and Turkey discuss the problem. Greece, however, objected to face-to-face talks with Ankara, forcing Thatcher to seek a compromise formula for negotiations. The issue ultimately went before...
...Denktash admitted that he had timed his announcement to take advantage of the interregnum in Ankara before Ozal is installed. "I caught them by surprise," he explained. "They would not have had me do this had they known in time." But his move was not taken solely with Ankara in mind. Denktash also sought to gain international attention, impatient as he is over the stalemate in negotiations with the Greeks. Moreover, some observers insist, he has personal ambitions. "He wouldn't be happy being the governor of a Turkish province [of a federal Cypriot republic]," said a Western diplomat...
...they are frustrated politically and demand not only the withdrawal of the 20,000 Turkish "occupation" troops but also the return of Greek Cypriots to areas they were forced to abandon after 1974. They agree in principle to a federated state but are vague about the kind of equality Denktash demands for his outnumbered minority. Turkish Cypriot leaders insisted last week that the federation option remains open despite the proclamation of the republic; indeed, they explained, the creation of a Turkish Cypriot state would provide the weight necessary for successful negotiations with the Greek community. "We are looking...