Turkish Cypriot daily Halkin Sesi (28.02.14) reports that former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said that now there is a huge excitement among the people for a solution on the Cyprus problem, but he expressed his concerns on this excitement. He added that the hopes in case of a non-solution may cause a destructive trauma.

Replying to question whether this time the Cyprus problem will be finished, in a television programme Talat said that it would be inappropriate to make any evaluation statements regarding the issue, because the leaders have not yet said “ok”.

Referring to the issue of arbitration, Talat said that this stance is not correct, adding that it is almost impossible for the sides to agree to any issue and at the end they will need mediation.

Talat claimed that the Greek Cypriots have started now to see the realities, as Turkish Cypriots did in 2004, adding that it seems that the Greek Cypriots, who voted “no” in 2004, are more towards the solution this time.

Evaluating the reciprocal visits of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot negotiators in Ankara and Athens, Talat said that these visits cannot obtain an extraordinary progress, adding, however, that these contacts are for the consciousness of the people that Turkey and Greece show interest in the Cyprus problem.

Noting that the Greek Cypriots are trying to establish a natural gas terminal in Vasiliko and this will cause a fall at the electricity prices, Talat said that they could install lines of natural gas from there to their own electrical plants, as confidence building measure. He added that this will be a real confidence building step.