Leader of the Republican Turkish Party-United Forces (CTP-BG) and 2nd President Mehmet Ali Talat expressed his optimism about finding a solution to the Cyprus problem in an interview with the Greek Cypriot newspaper Fileleftheros. Talat also expressed his belief that Turkey will support the solution.
Answering a question about the solution Talat said that many things had changed so far, they were faced with the intransigency of Tassos Papadopulos for 4 years after the 2004 referendum on the Annan Plan and they did not manage to reach a solution during the Papadopulos period.
Talat said that the election of Dimitris Hristofyas after Papadopoulos was a positive development and he stated that the negotiations that began in September 2008 lasted until February 2010 and some achievements and agreements were reached during that period.
Noting that for the first time the two leaders found common points through negotiations in the negotiation history of the Cyprus problem, Talat referred to the past negotiations and said that the negotiations were conducted between the two leaders but in practice the UN offered some suggestions and the leaders either accepted or rejected them.