TURKISH CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH
PRESS
2.
The regime destroys the environment in occupied Karpasia peninsula
3.
Ozgurgun tries to manipulate the attack against a mosque in Denia village
4.
Shameful report by the Freedom House describes the image of the occupation
regime
5.
Second election round for the National Unity Party’s leadership
6.
Talat said that Eroglu and Ankara’s relations are in bad terms
7.
Akansoy comments on Atalay’s recent statements on economy
8.
New nuclear plant deal on the Sinop pipeline for Turkey
9.
Bagis said Turkey was ready to open chapters 23 and 24
10.
Bahceli on the Kurdish peace progress: We will resist the process like grey
wolves”
11. The occupation regime to participate at the EMITT tourism fair in Istanbul
11. The occupation regime to participate at the EMITT tourism fair in Istanbul
12.
Increase at the minimum wage in the occupied area of Cyprus; the gross minimum
wage has reached to 1415 TL
1. Efforts to transfer illegal Tymvou airport to an
American company
Turkish daily
Hurriyet newspaper (20.01.13, online) reported that Turkish Tas Yapi Company,
which has won the tender for illegal Tymvou airport, is looking for an American
company to transfer the operation of the illegal airport. Hurriyet’s
correspondent in Washington, Tolga Tanis referred to the issue under the title
“Two backstage [information] regarding Israel and Cyprus” and the subtitle
“Noble way Cyprus”.
Tanis reported
that the Turks have learned “to play the game by the rules”, that what he
called as “oil crisis in Cyprus” has been forgotten and that the Turkish side
“leads the issue safely” after its threats. According to Tanis, the Turks are
looking for an American partner for the illegal airport in Tymvou, just like
the Greek Cypriots had “called out” the American Noble Energy Company on the
issue of the explorations for natural gas and oil, and “took the lead in the
score by 1-0 in Washington”.
Tanis noted that
the political aspect of the issue has been solved. That is, if the [Turkish]
firm which has won the tender persuades an American company that the investment
in the illegal airport will be profitable, the American State Department will
not oppose to this, just like they had said “we will not interfere” in the case
of Noble Energy.
Tanis went on
and said: “Afterwards I called Emrullah Turanli, the owner of Tas Yapi, which
had undertaken the investment. Asking ‘in what situation the discussions are’.
He said: ‘We are discussing with several firms. We are still working. They do
not want us to reveal anything at the time being. As soon as it is concluded,
we will announce it to everyone’. As far as I have understood, some advantages
will be offered. Perhaps some slots from Istanbul. Perhaps some other
investment opportunities. But it will happen. I do not know what the financial
situation of Tas Yapi is and whether it has been a good choice. I just wanted
to give the news that the political part of the issue has substantially been
solved. The Noble way…”
Turkish Cypriot
daily Afrika newspaper (23.01.13) comments on the issue in its “Letter from
Afrika” column and writes that the plan for illegal Tymvou airport was this
from the very beginning. The subcontractor Turkish firm has been “called out”
so that it was not understood that the illegal airport was directly transferred
to Americans. “The first part of the operation has been completed, the second
phase has started”, notes the paper.
(I/Ts.)
2. The regime destroys the environment in occupied
Karpasia peninsula
Under the title
“This is called a crime”, Turkish Cypriot daily Halkin Sesi newspaper
(23.01.13) reports that the environment is destroyed in occupied Karpass
peninsula because of the works that started for the enlargement of the road in
the so-called “National Park of Karpass”. The paper writes that trees and
scrubs have been cut down and that great damage has been caused at “Golden
Sands” beach. Bulldozers entered into the above-mentioned beach, cut down the
trees in the area and flattened everything.
The Green Peace
Movement reacted against this destruction and said that it should be stopped
immediately. In a written statement issued yesterday, Dogan Sahir, chairman of
the Green Peace Movement, said that more than ten bulldozers and excavators
started to destroy the “National Park” and added that while they had stated
that they would enlarge the road up to 5-6 meters, this field was increased to
20-30 meter-area.
(I/Ts.)
3. Ozgurgun tries to manipulate the attack against
a mosque in Denia village
Turkish Cypriot
daily Gunes newspaper (23.01.13) reports that Huseyin Ozgurgun, self-styled
foreign minister of the breakaway regime in the occupied area of the Republic
of Cyprus, has condemned the attack by what he called “Greek Cypriot fanatics”
against a mosque which is being restored by United Nations Development Plan
(UNDP) in Denia village. “We strongly protest the racist attacks, which have
been increased recently, against the Moslem-Turkish cultural heritage in south
Cyprus [translator’s note: as he described the government-controlled area of
Cyprus]”, he said in a written statement issued yesterday.
Ozgurgun alleged
that the responsibility for this incident belongs to the Greek Cypriot
leadership, which “encourages” these racist approaches by allegedly remaining
silent to similar saddening incidents that happened until today.
He claimed that
these attacks are an “inevitable reflection” on the Greek Cypriot community of
what he described as “intransigent stance” of the Greek Cypriot leadership in
the efforts for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem.
Ozgurgun called
on the Greek Cypriot leadership to take the perpetrators of this incident to
court and added that his “ministry” has undertaken the necessary initiatives on
this issue before the officials of the UN Peace Keeping Force in Cyprus and
asked to be urgently informed.
Ozgurgun claimed
that such saddening incidents prove the lack of trust of the Turkish Cypriots
against the Greek Cypriots to be right.
(I/Ts.)
4.Shameful
report by the Freedom House describes the image of the occupation regime
Under the front-page title: “This is our
global image: Shameful report”, Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen (23.01.13)
publishes the results of the report prepared by the famous NGO organization
called Freedom House which was established in 1941 in New York.
Commenting on the results of the report,
the paper underlines that the report refers to the “north” part of Cyprus” and
writes that it is included among the countries with the most violations of
human rights.
Among the most important points of the
report referring to the situation exist in the occupied area of Cyprus are the
following:
·
“There is corruption, vote
hunting and luck of transparency”,
·
“The election of Eroglu at
the ‘presidency’ means the continuation of the status-quo. With the election of Eroglu, the negotiations
were interrupted...”,
·
“No solution was found on
the issue of the trafficking in women”,
·
“There are impositions in
religious education since there are relations with the Fethullah Gulen
movement”,
·
“The population of the
Turkish Cypriots increases rapidly”,
·
Despite of the fact the police
used excessive force during the union protests in 2011 and made several
arrests, the NGO’s generally operate without restrictions... The workers should
demand their rights by establishing independent unions),
·
“The rights of the detainees
are violated”,
·
“Census results released in
2007 showed that about half of the population in the north of Cyprus consisted
of indigenous Turkish Cypriots,
·
“The Property Compensation
Commission formed in the “north” of Cyprus in in 2006 has resolved hundreds of
restitution claims by Greek Cypriots who have left their immovable property in
the “north”, though some Greek Cypriots find as ‘inadequate’ the compensation
amounts”.
(AK)
5. Second election round for the National Unity
Party’s leadership
Under the title
“The supreme court ruled for a second round!”, Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen
(23.01.13) reports on its internet site that the self-styled supreme court of the breakaway
regime ruled that a second round must be held for the election of the National
Unity Party’s (UBP) leadership, supporting that the declaration of Irsen Kucuk
as UBP chairman during the party’s 21 November election congress was against
UBP regulation.
Kucuk was
declared UBP chairman despite not winning the majority of votes. His revival
Ahmet Κasif
filed against Kucuk’s election on the ground that this was against the
regulation of the party.
Speaking after
the “court’s” ruling, Kasif stated that the “court” decision must be followed.
According to the
decision, UBP’s assembly must decide within seven days on the date and time the
second election round must be conducted.
6. Talat said that Eroglu and Ankara’s relations
are in bad terms
Turkish Cypriot
daily Kibrisli newspaper (23.01.13) reports that the former Turkish Cypriot
leader Mehmet Ali Talat, stated that it is sad that Turkey supports the least
successful and the worse “government” of the breakaway regime.
Talat, who made
statements to a television program, said that “there is no government, the
peoples is leaving a trauma”.
Talat went on
and said that the reason that Turkey supports this “government” is because it
is against the Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu who has no good relations
with Ankara.
7.Akansoy
comments on Atalay’s recent statements on economy
Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen
(23.01.13) reports that the Republican Turkish Party general secretary, Asim
Akansoy, in statement yesterday at a televised program broadcast by Kanal Sim,
evaluated the issues which are into the agenda of the occupation regime.
Referring to recent statements by
Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister, Responsible for Cyprus Affairs, Besir Atalay
about the occupation regime’s economy [Translator’s note: see Turkish and
Turkish Cypriot Media Review, 19 - 21/01/2013, item 3], Akansoy said that some
evaluations do not reflect the reality. Akansoy said that nothing goes well in
the “country” and added: “The economy is collapsing. It is said that the first
economic package was successful, and in contrary, the poverty in the country
increased. There are no investments. The private sector is not standing on its
own feet. We cannot understand how they evaluate the things”.
In his statements, CTP’s general
secretary, Asim Akansoy said that the three-year economic cooperation
“protocol” signed between Turkey and the breakaway regime will not bring
prosperity and happiness to the “people”. He noted that it is the duty of the
political parties to come out with alternative proposals in front of the
community. He noted that as CTP they are aware of the fact that they could not
continue living in the existing system and that they must create a new system
in the political, “legal” and public sectors.
8. New nuclear plant deal on the Sinop pipeline for
Turkey
Turkish daily
Hurriyet Daily News (23.01.13) reports that Turkey has arrived at the last
phase of selecting a firm for the second nuclear power plant that will be
constructed in the Black Sea province of Sinop, with the competition split
between frontrunners between China, Japan and South Korea.
Energy Minister
Taner Yıldız told a panel discussion yesterday that they expected to make their
decision by the end of January, unless extra time was needed to consider new
offers.
“We see
particularly that China, Japan and South Korea have approached our demands
differently. I can say that the competition between them has accelerated,”
Yıldız said.
He said talks
had been held with Japan for the second plant before the Fukushima accident,
but the incident had caused the suspension of negotiations and had cost Turkey
a year. He stressed that after an agreement is reached with a firm, the
permission of land research for a third plant in order to compensate the
previous time loss will be passed quickly.
Yıldız also took
the opportunity to remind that Turkey’s installed power in energy, had
increased by 8.1 percent last year, as the country’s economy grew by 3.2
percent. He said the nuclear power plant deal signed with Russia in 2010 to
build the first power plant at Akkuyu in the southern Mersin province means
Turkey that will not be dependent on Russia, which is a major natural gas
supplier.
The nuclear
power plants in Akkuyu and Sinop will generate electricity that could
substitute Turkey’s natural gas imports worth $7.2 billion, he said.
9. Bagis said Turkey was ready to open chapters 23
and 24
Ankara Anatolia
news agency (22.01.13) reports that the Turkish EU minister and Chief
Negotiator Egemen Bagis said on Tuesday that Turkey was ready to open two
chapters which according to its allegations were “blocked by the Greek
Cypriots”.
Speaking to AA
correspondent in Dublin, EU Minister said that they expected that the European
Commission and the Council of Europe would take into consideration callings
from the European Parliament for opening of 23rd and 24th chapters. Bagis said that his first visit in 2013 was
to Sweden and the second one was to Ireland for the informal ministerial
meeting of the EU.
"We saw
that many countries support Turkey in opening of chapters," he said.
"I think
that there is a consensus on opening of the chapter on regional policy, one of
the chapters blocked by France," he added.
In addition,
Turkish daily Today’s Zaman newspaper (23.01.13) reports that Bagis said that “Ireland
has maturity to carry EU term presidency”.
“It has the
experience, background and maturity to lead the EU”, he said.
Bagıs was
attending an informal ministerial meeting of the EU, held in Dublin on Tuesday.
"We held
meetings that were important for assessing the future of the EU and discussing
current issues. It was clear that the contributions of candidate countries were
as important as member countries,” said Bagıs.
Bagıs said that he
was in Dublin to attend a meeting that Turkey had been looking forward to taking
part in since its EU accession process started.
He added that
Turkey hadn't attended EU meetings in the past six months as the country “did
not recognize a Greek Cypriot EU term presidency”.
10. Bahceli on the Kurdish peace progress: We will
resist the process like grey wolves”
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (23.01.13) reports that Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli strongly criticized the government, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) over the ongoing peace process on the Kurdish issue. “We will resist the process like grey wolves,” Bahceli said, addressing his deputies in Parliament yesterday.
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (23.01.13) reports that Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli strongly criticized the government, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) over the ongoing peace process on the Kurdish issue. “We will resist the process like grey wolves,” Bahceli said, addressing his deputies in Parliament yesterday.
Eras of
destruction in Turkish history are trying to be repeated, he alleged, pointing
the finger at the government and accusing other opposition parties as
“collaborators.”
Turkey is being
“sold of step by step” and accounts that remained unrealized in the Treaty of
Sevres are being realized by the government under the name of the “national
unity and brotherhood project,” Bahceli claimed.
Day by day, the
government is replying to the demands of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(PKK), he claimed, citing legislation related to education in mother tongues,
which is set to be discussed in Parliament this week. “Has the PKK become the
interlocutor, equivalent to the Turkish state? Will they call it a ‘solution’
when Turkey is divided?” Bahceli asked.
11.The
occupation regime to participate at the EMITT tourism fair in Istanbul
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris (23.01.13)
reports that the occupation regime will participate at the 17th EMITT tourism
fair [EMITT- East Mediterranean International Travel and Tourism Exhibition],
which will take place in Istanbul and is the world's 5th biggest fair and an
important event for the global tourism industry.
As the paper writes, the fair will open
on Thursday in Istanbul and will last 4 days. More than 4500 participants from
70 countries will participate, writes the paper.
The occupation regime will participate
to the fair with its own stand of 100 meters squares. Also the so-called
minister of tourism, environment and culture Unal Ustel will deliver a speech
at the fair.
The paper underlines that the occupation
regime will promote with its stand its “health tourism”, eco-tourism, the
coffee culture of the “country” and its cuisine.
More information about the fair can be
found at the official website of EMITT.
(AK)
12.Increase
at the minimum wage in the occupied area of Cyprus; the gross minimum wage has
reached to 1415 TL
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris (23.01.13)
reports that the “committee for the determination of the minimum wage” which is
composed by representatives of the “state”, the workers and the employers in
occupied Cyprus, has increased the gross minimum wage from 1300 TL to 1415 TL.
According to the decision which was
taken unanimously despite of the rejecting vote of the employers’ wing, the net
minimum was has been increased to 1231 TL from 1131 TL that it was, thus the
increase is 100 TL.
The new minimum wages will come into
force after it will be first be approved by the so-called council of ministers
and published at the “official gazette” of the occupation regime.
In statements on the issue, the director
of the “department of reserve fund” and chairman of the “committee for the
determination of the minimum wage” Mehmet Metcooglu, has said that the new
minimum wages will be valid as of January 1st, 2013.
(AK)
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TURKISH
AFFAIRS SECTION
/EI
