Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmed Ali Talat offers Cypriots to vote for leader of the Turkish Cypriots, Turks in Cyprus to obtain the status similar to that of European citizens and to create two separate areas for air traffic control in the north and south.
Special Advisor to the General Secretariat of the UN Alexander Downer gave the proposals made by Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat on the issue of governance, to President of the Republic of Cyprus Dimitris Hristofias.
According to the Turkish media the proposals are the following:
- President and Vice President, who will come from different communities will be selected by vote of both Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots based on a procedure which the Turks and Turkish Cypriots call "cross-voting”. Except for the leader of their community Cypriots will vote also for a Turkish Cypriot leader, but their votes will be counted with a heavier factor. According to publications Cypriots insist that their vote should be counted for 25% and Ankara is discuss the possibility about 20%, depending on what they will receive in return.
- Among some of Ankara’s requests, which will be set for discussion by the Turkish Cypriot leader, is to recognize the right of Turkish citizens to move freely, buy real estate and to be employed as al EU citizens have those rights, while Turkey is still not a member. In this way, Ankara is trying to ensure the regime for its citizens stay on the island, but it does not think that the final decision on this question will come from the EU.
- Turkey insists for the creation of two different areas of air traffic control – from the Turkish Cypriots to the north and from the Greek Cypriots to the south.
- The president and vice president of the new state should have the right for a veto over decisions of the Ministerial Council.
According to the representative of the Cypriot government Stefanos Stefanou, Mr. Hristofias will notify the parties involved in the National Council about the proposals and will consult with them because Talat's proposals relate to the negotiations, which will begin on Monday.