"Talat seeks new image for Turkish Cypriot side
By Simon Bahceli
TURKISH Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said yesterday his administration had formally abandoned its pursuit of a separate state in the north and would do all it could to establish a united Cyprus based on the political equality of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.
Speaking to journalists at his ‘presidential palace’ in northern Nicosia yesterday, Talat said the north’s change of policy “from separatist to unionist” had come about as a reaction to promises by the international community that such a shift would bring the community closer to EU membership.
“We do not embrace a separatist policy: we pursue a policy of reconciliation,” he insisted."
More:Talat seeks new image for Turkish Cypriot side