"The Turkish-Cypriot people need, in the shortest possible delay, a government that can win the confidence of parliament," Talat told reporters after he was appointed prime minister by the ultra-nationalist Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.
"The date of May 1 is our main objective," the 51-year-old politician said, referring to his ambition to see northern Cyprus join the European Union alongside the internationally-recognized Greek-Cypriot south.
Talat's Republican Turkish Party and its rival reformist parties want to resume talks with Greek-Cypriots on a reunification plan drawn up by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that broke down in March.
But the Turkish-Cypriot parliament is hung down the middle between Talat's pro-Annan plan/pro-EU supporters, and those supporting Denktash.
In elections held on December 14, each side won 25 seats.
The self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus will be excluded from the EU unless Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot politicians sign a Cyprus reunification deal by May.
"We are going through a particularly delicate period," Denktash admitted this week.AFP
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