TURKISH CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
No. 43/13 1/3/13
1.
Eroglu said that he prepares to sent a letter to Ban, asking for the
re-launching of the Cyprus negotiation talks
2. Elections at UBP did not end the rival between
Kucuk and Kasif
3. Inauguration ceremony for a social facility
building in Mesaoria which will serve seventeen thousand persons
4. Murat Kanatli will be YKP’s candidate for the
forthcoming “by-elections” at the occupied Lefkosia municipality
5. Turkey to deliver note to UN in replying to
Greece’s motion
6. İmralı meeting’s minutes were leaked to the press;
allegations for efforts to sabotage the peace process; statements by Erdogan
7. Mayor Boutaris: “Ottoman mosques in Thessaloniki
may be opened to prayers”
8. Illegal YDU rector ranked again among the 100
richest Turks
1. Eroglu said that he prepares to sent a letter to
Ban, asking for the re-launching of the Cyprus negotiation talks
Under
the title: “Eroglu prepares to sent a letter to Ban”, Turkish Cypriot daily
Vatan (01.03.13) reports that the Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu has
stated yesterday that he would convey to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon
the Turkish Cypriot side’s demand for the re-launching of the Cyprus
negotiations talks, adding that he is preparing to sent him a letter with the
conditions of the Turkish Cypriot side.
In
statements to a program broadcasted
live by TRT news, Eroglu said that at the meeting he will have with the UN
Secretary-General’s special adviser for Cyprus, Alexander Downer in March, they
will put forward their desire for the talks to be resumed during Spring, adding
that they will also ask from Downer to persuade the Greek Cypriot leader Nikos
Anastasiades on this.
Referring
to Anastasiades’ election, Eroglu said that they are interested about the
policy that Anastasiades will follow on the negotiation table.
Reiterating
that all aspects of the Cyprus problem were discussed at the negotiation table,
Eroglu said: “We can solve this problem, as long as there will be the mutual
willingness from the opposite side. We are looking for a Cypriot solution the
last four years. All the proposals were submitted by us and were rejected by
the Greek Cypriots. We couldn’t find a solution as Cypriots. Which other
countries are related with the Cyprus problem? What I say is to call them,
let’s call Turkey, Greece and the UK and let’s have a quintet summit. (...)”,
Eroglu said.
Referring
to Anastasiades’ statement in the night he was elected as President of the
Republic of Cyprus, that the Turkish Cypriots are consider as their citizens
[Translator’s note: meaning citizens of the Republic of Cyprus], Eroglu alleged
the following: “In the south there is the Greek Cypriot administration and in
the north is the TRNC state. This state has its own citizens. But, of course,
the Greek Cypriots always make these statements since they want the
continuation of the Republic of Cyprus. The Republic of Cyprus is a state which
was established and based on the partnership of Turkish Cypriot and Greek
Cypriots. We, however, were excluded from this state in 1963. The solution we
exert efforts to find at the negotiation table, is based on a new state to be,
with two founding states based on the bi-zonal, bi-communal political
equality”, Eroglu said.
He
concluded by accusing once more the EU for accepting unilaterally the Greek
Cypriots to the EU and said: “It was not fair for the EU to accept south Cyprus
and Greece, the sides which created the Cyprus problem, as EU members”.
(AK)
2. Elections at UBP did not
end the rival between Kucuk and Kasif
Under the title “Party within the party” Turkish Cypriot
daily Havadis newspaper (01.03.13) reports that Ahmet Kasif, who lost with only
a few votes less by Irsen Kucuk the position of the National unity Party
chairman (UBP), made a statement yesterday indicating that he will continue to
act as an opposition within the party in a very rigorous way.
According to the paper, Kasif
announced the road map he will follow and stated that he will continue to work
for the best interest of the “country” and of UBP.
On the same issue, Turkish daily Volkan (01.03.13)
reports that after safeguarding its victory, Kucuk is now preparing of striping
Kasif supporters of their positions in UBP and the “government”. According to
the paper, Kucuk is thinking of removing from their position persons who openly
supported Kasif and questioned his authority and to replace them with persons
he trusts.
3. Inauguration ceremony for a
social facility building in Mesaoria which will serve seventeen thousand
persons
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (01.03.13)
reports that the inauguration ceremony of a social facility which will be built
in southern Mesaoria region, was laid yesterday during a ceremony in occupied
Cyprus.
The building which will provide
service for 17 thousand persons is located between the occupied villages of
Pergamos and Kondea. The project was financed by the occupied Pergamos
municipality and the European Union. The social facility complex will consist
of cinema and theatre rooms, conference and meeting areas, play area and other
sport facilities..
4. Murat Kanatli will be YKP’s
candidate for the forthcoming “by-elections” at the occupied Lefkosia
municipality
Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper (01.03.13)
reports that the number of the candidates for the forthcoming “by-elections” at
the occupied Lefkosia municipality was raised up to seven and adds that Murat
Kanatli will be the candidate of the New Cyprus Party.
The paper further notes that the Baraka Cultural
Center, will also announce its candidate today.
As of now, the following persons are running for the
“mayor’s” position:
Suphi Hudaoglu with Social
Democracy Part.
Kadri Fellahoglu with Repupbican Turkish Party.
Mustafa Arabacioglu with Democratic Party.
Hasan Sertoglu with National Unity Party.
Murat Kanatli with the New Cyprus Party.
Zehar Cengiz with Cyprus Socialist Party.
Arif Salif Kirdag independent.
Kadri Fellahoglu with Repupbican Turkish Party.
Mustafa Arabacioglu with Democratic Party.
Hasan Sertoglu with National Unity Party.
Murat Kanatli with the New Cyprus Party.
Zehar Cengiz with Cyprus Socialist Party.
Arif Salif Kirdag independent.
5. Turkey to deliver note to UN in replying to Greece’s motion
Turkish
daily Hurriyet Daily News (01.03.13) reports that Turkey will deliver a verbal
note to the United Nations in reply to a recent Greek motion that argued that
the areas Turkey had granted exploration permits in the Mediterranean, were
deemed to fall within the Greek continental shelf.
The
note, which will be submitted in the near future, will say the Greek claims
have no ground under international law.
Ankara’s
note to the U.N. will stress that the licenses that Turkey has given to the
Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) since 2007, are within the boundaries of
the Turkish continental shelf in the eastern Mediterranean.
It
will also express that Turkey has sovereign rights concerning exploration and
drilling for natural resources in these fields that it will continue under
international law.
Greek
Foreign Minister Demitris Avramopoulos said the areas in which Turkey had
granted exploration permits in the Mediterranean were deemed to fall within the
Greek continental shelf. Greek officials informed their Turkish counterparts
before they submitted the verbal note to the U.N. However, Greece failed to
respond to Ankara’s warning to the Greek government to avoid taking such a
step.
The
Greek initiative at the U.N., which came ahead of the High-Level Cooperation
Council meeting between Athens and Ankara, is seen by Turkey as the new Greek
government’s move to satisfy their public over promises given in their election
campaign.
6. İmralı meeting’s minutes were leaked to the press;
allegations for efforts to sabotage the peace process; statements by Erdogan
Turkish
daily Today’s Zaman (28.02.13) reported that the minutes of a recent meeting
between three pro-Kurdish Deputies and the jailed leader of the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), were leaked to the press on Thursday, in what has been
interpreted as an apparent move to sabotage the positive atmosphere around
Turkey's latest effort to end the decades-long conflict that has engulfed the
country's southeast.
The
minutes were made public on Thursday by the Milliyet daily, at a time when
Turkey is going through a process often described as being very fragile but
also having a great potential to end the conflict which has claimed more than
40,000 lives since the PKK's establishment more than three decades ago.
The
leaked minutes come from a meeting last week between PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan
and Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) members Pervin Buldan, Altan Tan and Sırrı
Sureyya Onder, who were allowed to visit him on İmralı Island, where the PKK
chief is serving a life sentence, as part of the government's recent move to
settle the Kurdish issue through dialogue. The BDP Deputies met with Ocalan in
the İmralı prison on February 23.
Questions
emerged on Thursday as to who leaked the minutes to the press and why, with the
parties involved in the process accusing each other. The original minutes of
the meeting are reportedly longer than what appeared in the Milliyet daily,
raising suspicions that certain parts of the minutes were purposefully leaked
in order to sway public opinion against the ongoing talks. Sources say the
government holds the BDP responsible for the minutes being made public and
maintains that the leaked minutes were from the Deputies' notes.
Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan complained on Thursday that BDP deputies have not
been as tight-lipped as they should have been during the peace process. “You
should have noticed that I am trying not to make frequent comments on this
issue. However, the BDP deputies unfortunately made statements about their
notes [from the meeting]. I am not sure this is honest and healthy [for the
process],” Erdogan told a group of journalists.
The
BDP, however, denies having leaked the minutes, while agreeing that the move
aims to sabotage the peace talks. “We have not given the minutes to the press.
It is impossible for us to know whether the minutes were given by the
government or others. It is the responsibility of the government to shed light
on this,” BDP parliamentary group Deputy Chairman İdris Baluken said.
(…)
The
most talked-about parts in the minutes, which appeared in Milliyet in full two
pages, include Ocalan's full support for the National Intelligence Organization
(MİT) on a variety of issues, his support for Erdogan in the short run while
threatening him with “declaring war with 50,000 people” in the long run if the
Prime Minister cannot solve the Kurdish issue and his claim that the
faith-based Gulen movement has been working against both the government and
MİT.
In
the published minutes, Ocalan claims that the PKK “served ruling power to the
government on a silver plate,” implying that the Justice and Development Party
(AK Party) owes being in power for 10 years to Ocalan. He also says the PKK
could support Erdogan's possible bid for Presidency, if the country switches to
a presidential system. “We would support Tayyip Bey's Presidency. But the
presidential system [he would introduce] would need to be like that of the US,”
Ocalan says.
According
to the minutes, Ocalan wants the peace process to go on under his own control,
as he reveals his three-stage roadmap for the solution. “All of us will be
free,” he says, if the peace process is successful. However, if the process
fails, he threatens to wage a “war” with 50, 000 people against the Turkish
state.
He
accuses the AK Party of seeking “hegemony.” “The AK Party is after hegemony.
But we cannot allow this,” he says.
Ocalan
claimed there was a secret attempt to “overthrow” Hakan Fidan, the MİT
undersecretary. He said journalists Emre Uslu and Mehmet Baransu have actively
targeted MİT, adding that these journalists were supported by a “colossal”
power.
Uslu
and Baransu have claimed that the lethal bombing of civilian Kurdish villagers
in Turkey's Uludere district on December 28, 2011, was based on inaccurate
intelligence provided by MİT.
He
also said that Uslu “and the like” were trained in “Utah,” which he said is the
“new” center for controlling secret groups inside Turkey. He suggested that the
“colossal power” behind those targeting MİT is the Gulen movement, which he
claimed is backed by the US.
Uslu,
commenting on Ocalan's statements, told Today's Zaman that Ocalan's claims are
a “typical” example of what is called “andıc” in Turkish -- a press or public
statement made under orders or pressure from the military or a state security
agency. Uslu argued that MİT, or certain groups within that organization,
targeted him and Baransu for their outing of the facts behind the Uludere
massacre. Uslu said Ocalan is being used by MİT to attack him and Baransu.
Baransu,
also in comments to Today's Zaman, agrees that Ocalan's remarks are a typical
example of andıc. He recalled that in the past, state agencies made additions
to statements from Semdin Sakık -- a former PKK leader -- to make some
journalists appear as if they were affiliated with the PKK. He said MİT was
using Ocalan to get back at him for what he wrote regarding Uludere. He also
said it “meant something” that Ocalan was silent on the Uludere killings, a
deeply significant matter for many Kurds. He also said the government was in
the know about the press campaign against him, as he had recently been warned
by a former interior minister to expect something like this.
(…)According
to the minutes, Ocalan also targeted Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen and accused
his movement of conspiring against the government and MİT, although Gulen was
among the first figures who voiced support for the government's peace talks.
(…)
7. Mayor Boutaris: “Ottoman mosques in Thessaloniki
may be opened to prayers”
Ankara
Anatolia news agency (28.02.13) reported from Ankara that the Mayor of
Thessaloniki, Yiannis Boutaris said on Thursday that Ottoman mosques in
Thessaloniki may be opened to prayers.
Speaking
to reporters in Ankara as part of the Turkish-Greek Tourism Forum, Mayor
Boutaris indicated that it was up to the Greek government to open mosques to
prayers. "I consider myself a brother of the Turks. I consider myself a
partner with the Europeans", Boutaris also said.
Also,
the Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism, Omer Celik met on Thursday with
the Mayor of Thessaloniki, Yiannis Boutaris in the Turkish capital of Ankara.
Celik
thanked Boutaris for the sensitivity displayed in protecting Turkish and
Ottoman artifacts in Thessaloniki. "The restoration of Ataturk's Home in
Thessaloniki has been completed. An inauguration will take place for the home
in April," Celik noted.
“We
request from Mayor Boutaris to name a square by the home as the ‘Square of Gazi
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’, Celik also said.
8. Illegal YDU rector ranked
again among the 100 richest Turks
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (01.03.13)
reports that Suat Gunsel the rector of the illegal Near East University (YDU) was
ranked among the 100 richest Turks in a catalogue prepared by Turkish Forbes
Magazine.
According to the paper, Gunsel
ranks 36th. His fortune is estimated to 1.1.billion dollars.
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