According to Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi (online, 22.05.14), former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, evaluating US Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Cyprus during a TV program on “BRT”, described Biden’s visit as a historic one. Talat, reminding that the US is a “super power”, said that Biden’s visit is an indicator of US’ high level interest in the Cyprus problem, and urged both sides to be extra attentive to this visit. “This visit is also important as it would show how sincere the parties involved are”, added Talat.
Commenting on the Confidence Building Measures, Talat said: “Confidence building measures are important, however the most important issue is trust between the leaders”.
Talat also elaborated on his meeting with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades. “Neither Anastasiades nor Eroglu trust one another”, said Talat and added that he requested Anastasiades to take the negotiations to the leaders level and to increase the impetus.
“I gave examples to Anastasiades for CBMs and told him that language and communications are the two areas where CBMs can be practiced. I also suggested to him that we should work on communication technologies for phone calls between the two sides. I would not call it ‘roaming’ agreement as it is affiliated with inter-state communication but rather call it ‘cooperation agreement’ to prevent any misunderstandings”, said Talat.
