President Dervis Eroglu has said on Monday that the Turkish Cypriots would like to see a referendum on a solution of the Cyprus problem held within 2014, but the Greek Cypriot leadership and the National Council oppose such a development, ‘Cyprus Mail’ reports.
In a statement, Eroglu said that the five-step roadmap tabled by his side includes the holding of a referendum at a set date in 2014. Otherwise, he said that with no roadmap, the two sides will continue negotiating for “another 40 years”.
The president said that the Turkish Cypriot side aspires to a comprehensive solution.
As far as negotiating territorial issues, he said that the Turkish Cypriot side had already proposed the criteria for a map in the January 2011 Geneva meeting, at which the UN Secretary General had expressed his satisfaction.
Eroglu said that he had proposed discussing the map one week prior to a summit with the guarantor powers – the UK, Greece and Turkey – but the Greek Cypriot side has yet to consent to such a summit.
He went on to say that this is not the time to discuss the map as it will impact the public and economic activity, adding that such discussion can be deferred until after agreement on a referendum and the summit have been achieved.
President Eroglu repeated his position on the issue of Famagusta, saying that it will be addressed as part of the wider issue of territory.
