TALAT HEADS TO NEW YORK FOR TALKS WITH BAN
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Oct 15 2007
Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat departed on Sunday
from Ýstanbul for New York, where he will have talks with UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday and urge the secretary-general
to be more active on the Cyprus issue.
Speaking to reporters upon his departure, Talat touched upon the
controversy over the US House’s adoption of a resolution labeling the
mass killings of Anatolian Armenians during World War I as genocide.
"This resolution is both strange and a little funny; because it is
unbelievable that an assembly of another country is making a decision
concerning incidents — after around 100 years passed — over which
history should make a decision," Talat told reporters, noting that
he did not have any meetings scheduled with US officials when asked
whether he would bring up the issue during his meetings in New York.
"I hope that this [resolution] doesn’t move further by being approved
by the floor of the House of Representatives. Even if it is passed [by
the floor], nobody has the right to judge history; that is a decision
for history to make. What has been experienced by the Turkish nation in
history is not hidden — it is before everybody’s eyes," Talat added.
The leader declined to elaborate on content of his talks with Ban,
saying that he would rather make the position of the Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) clear rather than introducing a new means
for resolution of the Cyprus issue.
–Boundary_(ID_VGb/t2LutyokUlqz+MCCOg)–