Embassy Row

Turkish-Cypriot move

The leader of the Turkish-Cypriot government is moving quickly to capitalize on international promises to reward his beleaguered region for supporting a U.N. reunification plan that Greek-Cypriots rejected.

Mehmet Ali Talat arrived in Washington yesterday after meetings in New York with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who proposed the plan.

“I received positive responses from them,” he told the Heritage Foundation. “They will consider and help alleviate the obstacles for Turkish Cypriots.”

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), recognized only by Turkey, has been diplomatically isolated since it declared its independence from Cyprus in 1983. Turkish Cypriots also live under economic sanctions that include a prohibition on international flights to the northern part of the island.

However, after Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected the U.N. plan and Turkish Cypriots strongly endorsed it in referendums last month, the world’s attitude began to change.

Greek Cypriots, long the global favorite in the ethnic dispute, found themselves accused of blocking the best chance for unification. The United States and the European Union criticized the Greek Cypriots, and the EU announced plans for economic cooperation with the TRNC. The Greek-Cypriot government, internationally recognized as the Republic of Cyprus, was admitted to the European Union over the weekend.

Greek Cypriots rejected the U.N. plan because they thought it failed to protect their interests and would have given Turkish Cypriots too strong a role in a unified government.

Mr. Talat yesterday said the Greek Cypriots are responsible for the continued division of the island.

“We are not trying to promote the division,” he said. “We are not responsible for the division. The Greek Cypriots are.”

Mr. Talat said he is pushing for the removal of all sanctions and hopes to promote tourism to revive the Turkish-Cypriot economy. He noted that a foreign visitor to the TRNC must fly to Turkey and change planes. A direct flight from London to the Greek-Cypriot part of the island takes 3 hours, while a flight from London to the TRNC takes eight, he said.

“We did our best. We did our duty,” Mr. Talat said of the referendum. “Now we are expecting a positive response.”

Scrubbing for Haiti

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell yesterday promised more financial aid to Haiti’s struggling new government, as he met the country’s interim prime minister, Gerard Latortue.

Mr. Powell said he is “scrubbing the department” looking for any accounts that can be tapped to help Haiti, but he did not cite a dollar amount.

“For the moment, we’re looking at all of the accounts that are available to us in the department to see what we might be able to transfer into support for Haiti,” Mr. Powell told reporters at the State Department.

Mr. Latortue said Haiti needs help from the United States and international lending institutions to help create jobs “because the root of the problem in Haiti is unemployment.”

Mr. Latortue today addresses the Organization of American States on developments in Haiti since the removal of the corrupt government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Ambassadors’ forum

Czech Ambassador Martin Palous and Lithuanian Ambassador Vygaudas Usackas will join Guenter Burghardt, the ambassador from the European Union, at a 1:30 p.m. press conference today at the National Press Club to discuss the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the European Delegation office in Washington.

• Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297, fax 202/832-7278 or e-mail jmorrison@washingtontimes.com.