Last week, the Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Yoannis Kasulidis proposed that all future negotiations on the Cyprus problem should be held directly between Turkey and the South.
He said that the TRNC was a puppet state that was under the control of Turkey anyway and that their participation was superfluous. Yesterday, the interim Foreign Minister for the TRNC Kutlay Erk strongly criticised this proposal.
Mr Erk pointed out that the proposal ignored the realities of the situation in Cyprus. Instead he said that both sides should be getting together at every opportunity and striving to see how they could live together as equals. He called on Mr Kasoulides to meet with him directly instead of making press announcements.
The Foreign Minister also pointed out that during the long history of negotiations it was the two communities in Cyprus that were the principal parties and that the United Nations had stated that this was the ideal way to reach a solution. In addition this viewpoint was also backed by Greece, Turkey and England.
