"Denktas Still Thinks I am a Traitor to My Country"

The current Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus and candidate for President of North Cyprus, Talat lives in this house with his much loved wife Oya. Entering the door to the garden, I came face to face with the Prime Minister. His hands were full carrying breakfast plates, and he was laughing. "Why are you surprised, don't your prime ministers do this?" he asked. I couldn't answer. The breakfast table was set with fresh local produce from Cyprus, including the simits. Fried hellim cheese, herb breads, olives, Oya's own jellies, herb teas. Talat and I will go together to the villages of the region after breakfast-Sirinevler, Akcicek, Alemdag, Goceri, Pinarbasi, and Dagyolu. Later still we will go to the 9,500 square meter lemon garden left to Talat by his father.
 
(Yener Susoy for the Hurriyet) Prime Minister, with apologies beforehand, do you have the intention of selling out Cyprus, as some claim you do?
 
(Talat) This is my country, Yener. And I have nowhere else to go. Where can I go anyway-if I went to Turkey, what could I do in an atmosphere that I didn't know? I have no family or ties there. I have only one country, and that is Cyprus, and how could I sell it out? If Turkey were to try and sell it, I would step up and confront it. I think the question of 'Are you planning on selling out Cyprus?' should be asked to the Turkish Prime Minister. Because he could sell it, he doesn't live here. He could find some advantage, something he could get out of it, and pull back from Cyprus. But a Cypriot Turk, how could a Cypriot do that? Even more so, how could an elected Cypriot Turk so such a thing? I have always loved my country. People who say Cypriot Turks are lazy are not wrong, they are lying. Cypriot Turks have been living in isolation and difficulty for a long time, and over this period, the elements tore them away from human investment, production, and the climate all around them. Otherwise, Cypriot Turks do not shy away from work, in fact their youth takes a very active role in the modern work world.
 
(Hurriyet) Is it just my imagination, or are you rather cold towards Turkey? It seems that you approach Greek Cypriots more warmly than Turks.
 
(Talat) Yes, it's true that from time to time I show a cold shoulder to Turkey, but in which situations? When they get involved in our domestic issues at times when there is no reason.....In elections, it became their government politics to support (then Prime Minister) Rauf Denktas. Denktas' politics were dominant at that time in the world, among Cypriot Turkish people, and in Turkey. His politics were tension-provoking, enemy-making politics.
According to Denktas, there were traitors to the country who would take money from foreigners. He thought that I was one of these, and he still thinks this way-it's not possible to change this. And Turkey supported Denktas' politics, quite openly. Mr. Yener, I don't believe that there are any Cypriot Turks who would act in a way harmful to other Cypriot Turks.
 
"I Rejected the Greek Passport"
(Hurriyet) Have you or your wife and children gotten Cypriot passports?
 
(Talat) I have said from the very first day that a passport is a person's right and need. Right now, when I travel abroad, I use a Turkish Republic passport. You know, you often need to get visas for a Turkish passport, and that can be quite difficult. And you often get asked how as a Cypriot, you are carrying a Turkish passport. Then Denktas stepped forward and said that "People who get Cypriot passports are traitors to the country." He even suggested to the North Cyprus Parliament that there be a two year prison term attached to the action. Then he got angry when his grandson was criticized for getting a Cypriot passport. We are not opposed to people getting the Cypriot passport.....I was offered a Cypriot passport before, but I rejected it. Those years I was a refrigerator repairman, but I was concerned that it would be used against me in the future."
 
(Hurriyet) Would you approve of your daughter or son marrying a Greek?
 
(Talat) Neither my wife nor I would get much pleasure from having a Greek son or daughter in law. We would prefer them to marry Turkish Cypriots. But you as a father know that this is just our preference. In the end, you can't influence the life of your children that much, it is their own choice.

Talat's Wife Oya Talks About Her Husband
 
Oya Necmi Talat was born in Limasol in 1952 as the only daughter of four children. In school she was interested in music, theater, loved sports, even had a first or two in athletics. She is involved actively in CTP politics, as well as running the "Talat Laboratory" on the bottom floor of their house.
 
She said: "Talat and I got married on the 29th of October in 1978. We were both graduates of the Middle Eastern Technical University in the engineering department, he in electrical, me in chemical. Our daughter Aysenur was born in 1980, and our son Ongun was born 1983. Aysenur studied social politics in England, and is doing her MA in Germany now. Ongun graduated from the law department at the Easd Aegean University, and is very involved in music.

Recently I was at a dinner where I was seated next to Mr. Denktas, and we had this discussion. He said "You are right, we always condemned you as being traitors to the country....we never became close to you, and you always stayed far away from us." Though we and are friends may have been called traitors to the country, the truth has come out that we are in fact great lovers in the nation. Mehmet Ali Talat is very trusted, very feeling, too pure, and very connected to his family. He doesn't like to be complimented, and when someone is complimented, his eyes fill with tears. He never puts off his work, or leaves it half finished. He gets angry quickly, and raises his voice sometimes, but is always sorry later. He doesn't like to stay angry, or to have those around him be angry at him.....and because he is the only child of the Talat family, he is the apple of their eyes."