Denktash gets to Erdogan
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has pushed hard for a Cyprus settlement in order to help Ankara’s bid to start accession talks with the European Union, expressed frustration with Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash’s unceasing opposition to the Annan plan. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Erdogan slammed Denktash’s habit of campaigning against a solution to the Cyprus problem while in Turkey, where he is supported by state officials and nationalist groups. «If something is to be done, please do it in Cyprus. Say what you have to say in Cyprus,» Erdogan remarked to journalists, saying he had told Denktash the same. «I am watching – unfortunately with regret – the meetings» that Denktash has held with «some marginal groups in Turkey, and I told him that,» Erdogan said. Denktash yesterday retorted that Erdogan had been misinformed about the Annan plan and that no one had the right to push the Turkish Cypriots to an uncertain future.
