TURKISH CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
No. 59/13 27/3/13
1. Tatar continues defaming the Republic of Cyprus in
statements to foreign and local media
2. How the Turkish Cypriot press covers the economic
crisis in the government-controlled area of Cyprus
3. How the Turkish press covers the economic crisis in
the government controlled area
4. Turkey halts energy deals with Italian Eni over
Cyprus dispute
5. Airlines may suspend their flights to the occupied
area of the Republic of Cyprus
6. Turkish Cypriot businessmen may attend a business
trip of MUSIAD
7. Ozgurgun said that they will
take an initiative against the Congo Ambassador in Athens who made statements
defaming the illegal universities
8. The economic crisis has allegedly influenced the
crossings and the employment of Turkish Cypriots in the government-controlled
area
9. Erdogan: “Israel apology to shift Mideast balances”
10. TSK denies PKK militants withdrawal from Turkey
11. Barzani signals an energy deal between Ankara and
the so-called KRG; CHP censures a motion against Davutoglu
1. Tatar continues defaming the Republic of Cyprus
in statements to foreign and local media
Turkish Cypriot daily Haberdar newspaper (27.03.13)
reports that Ersin Tatar, self-styled finance minister of the breakaway regime
in the occupied area of Cyprus, has claimed that the main reason for the
economic problems of the Republic of Cyprus derives from allegedly becoming a
center of money laundering. In statements to Al Jazeera and British Channel 4
TV stations, Tatar argued that the accession of “south Cyprus’, as he described
the Republic of Cyprus, into the EU after the referendum on the Annan Plan was
allegedly a mistake.
Tatar argued that the EU had been annoyed by both the
so-called money laundering in the government-controlled area of Cyprus and the
area’s allegedly becoming “an offshore and tax paradise”. Tatar expressed the
view that behind the recent developments is not only the rescue package for
Cyprus, but also the wish of putting an end to the “illegal money” from Russia
and other countries.
Noting that the “haircut” of the deposits in the banks
was something that happened for the first time, Tatar said that this caused
concern in other EU countries.
Tatar argued that at least three thousand persons will
remain unemployed, the corporate tax rate will be increased to the level which
exists in Malta and the economy will shrink by 10%.
Tatar alleged the following: “The Greek Cypriot side
has gone back to the pre-1974 period. All these problems derive from the
unilateral accession of the Greek Cypriots into the EU. They are paying the
price of the injustice they have committed against the TRNC. Many people will unfortunately
remain unemployed by the measures which are taken in corroded south Cyprus and
I think that in the end of the day the Greek Cypriots might regret that they
entered into the EU”.
Tatar alleged that the Russians could seize the
deposits of the Greek Cypriots in Russia and added that the eyes of the whole
world are turned on Cyprus. He noted that in this framework they try to
strengthen the “TRNC”.
Meanwhile, in statements to Turkish Cypriot daily Star
Kibris (27.03.13), Tatar alleged that there have been money transfers between
the Russians and the Greek Cypriots that the EU was not approving. “This
annoyed the EU”, he claimed alleging that “the EU took its revenge from south
Cyprus which did not obey the rules”.
Noting that the number of the unemployed persons in
the government-controlled area of the island will exceed 40 thousands, Tatar
argued that the only rescue of Cyprus would be by adopting its own currency,
taking the risk of devaluation. He said that the demand for jobs that might
come from Greek Cypriots could not be met by the breakaway regime, which has
allegedly the responsibility to secure jobs for its own people. “Greek Cypriots
coming and working here is extraordinary”, he argued.
Responding to a question as to whether it was possible
for Russian capital to flow into the occupied area of Cyprus, Tatar argued that
their doors are open to all legal initiatives and added that they are also open
to Greek Cypriots and foreigners living in the government-controlled area who
might want to open accounts in banks in the occupied area of the island. “Our
door is open to everyone who obeys our rules”, he noted.
(I/Ts.)
2. How the Turkish Cypriot
press covers the economic crisis in the government-controlled area of Cyprus
Most of the Turkish Cypriot daily newspapers of today
(27.03.13) cover on their front pages the developments as regards the economic
crisis in the government-controlled area of the Republic of Cyprus. The papers
give extensive coverage to the issue in their inside pages as well.
Under the title “’Go home’”, Kibris reports that thousands of students gathered in front of the
House of Representatives yesterday, marched towards the Presidential Palace and
expressed their “grudge against the EU”.
Under the title “Rage prevails in the streets”, Havadis reports that students and bank
employees protested in the streets yesterday.
Ortam reports that “after the acceptance of the Eurogroup’s
severe conditions in the south part of Cyprus the banks came face to face with
their clients”. The paper notes that protests started against the “trustees”
appointed for Laiki Bank and the Bank of Cyprus and that the director and the
administrative council of the Bank of Cyprus resigned. The paper refers also to
statements by the Finance Minister Sarris that the “haircut” of the deposits
might reach 40% and notes that the banks will remain close until tomorrow.
Kibrisli covers the developments under the title “Trustee for
the Greek Cypriot banks!”
Vatan writes that “Things do not calm down in south Cyprus”
and Volkan that “Greek Cypriot young
people went out in the streets”.
HalkinSesi refers to “Pain and rage”, YeniDuzen to “Indignation” and Heberdar
to “Riot”.
Noting that “absolutely nothing will be as it had used
to be”, Afrika covers the
developments under the title “The storm in the south does not stop”.
Under the title “The EU took its revenge”, Star Kibris publishes statements made
on the issue by the self-styled finance minister of the regime, Ersin
Tatar.
(I/Ts.)
3. How the Turkish press
covers the economic crisis in the government controlled area
The Turkish press today (27.03.13) covers as follows
the economic crisis in the free area of the Republic of Cyprus:
Under the title “Police protection for the Greek
Cypriot banks”, Milliyet reports in its front page that the whole country is
waiting for the banks to open tomorrow. It also claims that people avoided
replying to the papers question about the crisis, saying that this is an
internal problem.
Under the title “Mess in southern Cyprus”, Radikal
reports that after the rescue package and the statements by the Ministry of
Finance that Cyprus will not abandon the euro, 1.500 students demonstrated
yesterday.
Hurriyet reports on the same issue under the title “15
billion euro will go away”, publishes statements by Minister of Finance
Michalis Sarris who said that upon the opening of the banks, 15 billion euro
will go away from Cyprus.
The paper also publishes statements of Archbishop
Chrysostomos B who said that the Cyprus Church lost a big amount of money due to
the haircut.
Taraf (26.03.13) reports on the same issue under the
title “Cyprus was convinced by threads” and writes that President Anastasiades
was bargaining for ten hours with Troika.
4. Turkey halts energy deals with Italian Eni over
Cyprus dispute
Turkish
daily Hurriyet Daily News (online, 27.03.13) reports the following:
“Turkey
has decided to suspend energy projects with Italian giant Eni in retaliation
against the company’s involvement in oil and gas drilling off the coast of
Greek Cyprus [Trans. note: government controlled area of the Republic of
Cyprus], Anatolia news agency quoted Energy Minister Taner Yıldız as saying
today.
‘We
have decided not to work with Eni in Turkey, including suspending their ongoing
projects,’ Taner Yildiz said.
Turkey
had repeatedly declared in the past that it would cut cooperation with
companies that are involved in disputed Mediterranean fuel exploration and
production with Greek Cyprus.
Turkey
said it will reconsider Eni’s investments in Turkey if the Italian energy
company cooperates with Greek Cyprus in exploring oil fields in the Eastern
Mediterranean Sea, Yildiz said last year.
Eni
has a share in the Samsun-Ceyhan, the crude pipeline planned to span Turkey
from the Black Sea province of Samsun to the oil hub Ceyhan in the south. Eni,
Russia’s Rosneft and Transneft and Turkey’s Calik are partners in the project.
Yildiz
said today that Turkey might consider cancelling the Samsun-Ceyhan deal.
‘I
don’t know whether Calik will find a new partner or not but we might suspend
the project if they prefer to continue their partnership with Eni,’ he said
during a televised interview.
Eni
is also a partner to the Blue Stream, a transport system running beneath the
Black Sea that supplies Russian natural gas to Turkey. With a transport
capacity of 16 billion cubic meters annually, it is the main Russian natural
gas link to Turkey and owned and operated by Blue Stream Pipeline Company BV
(BSPC), a joint venture between Eni and Russian Gazprom. (…)”
5. Airlines may suspend their flights to the occupied
area of the Republic of Cyprus
Turkish
Cypriot daily Havadis (27.03.13) reports that the top managers of the airlines
Pegasus, Onur Air and Atlas Jet criticized the new prices at the illegal
airport of Tymbou (Ercan) and warned the occupation regime that if they do not
step back, they may even suspend their flights.
According
to the paper, the top managers of the three airlines held a joint press
conference yesterday at Merit hotel in the occupied part of Lefkosia, where
they reacted to the new price policy at the illegal airport of Tymbou. They
stressed that with this new policy the “TRNC is squeezing its own leg”, adding
that they will also sabotage the air carrying agent, which contributes to the
90% of their economy. It is also reported that the illegal airport of Tymbou is
the most expensive airport from all airports in Turkey.
SertacHaybat,
General Director of Pegasus airlines, said that it is not correct to increase
the service prices without increasing also the service quality in the airport.
He also said that they are against the privatization of the airport, adding
that that they were not informed on this issue.
6. Turkish Cypriot businessmen may attend a business
trip of MUSIAD
Turkish
Cypriot daily Havadis (27.03.13) reports that it is announced that limited
positions have been given to the Turkish Cypriots entrepreneurs for the
business trip of the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association's
(MUSIAD) that will be held between 1-5 May in Turkey-Latvia and
Turkey-Lithuania under the auspices of Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul.
7. Ozgurgun said that they
will take an initiative against the Congo Ambassador in Athens who made
statements defaming the illegal universities
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (27.03.13)
reports that the self-styled minister of foreign affairs of the breakaway
regime Huseyin Ozgurgun, evaluated the recent statements of the Congo Ambassador
in Athens, who called on students not to study at the illegal Keryneia American
University (GAU)of the breakaway regime and said that these statements are sad.
Ozgurgun, who held a meeting yesterday with a
delegation of GAUalleged that the statements aimed to deliberately hurt the
breakaway regime and GAU and claimed that the Greek Cypriot side watches
anxiously the developments concerning education in the occupied area of Cyprus.
He went on and added that “as foreign ministry” they
will undertake an initiative on the issue and said that it is unacceptable that
such statements to be issued by an Embassy.
8. The economic crisis has
allegedly influenced the crossings and the employment of Turkish Cypriots in
the government-controlled area
Turkish Cypriot daily YeniDuzen newspaper (27.03.13)
reports that after the economic crisis in the government-controlled area of the
Republic of Cyprus, the crossings to the occupied area of the island have
significantly decreased. Citing information acquired from people working at the
barricades, the paper writes that no serious change has been observed in the
number of people who cross from the occupied to the government-controlled area
of the island.
Moreover, citing statements by Mehmet Seyis, chairman
of Dev-Is trade union, the paper reports that the number of the Turkish
Cypriots employed in the government-controlled area is “scarcely any”. The
paper writes that this number had once reached seven thousands and decreased to
around 1.500 last May.
(I/Ts.)
9. Erdogan: “Israel apology to shift Mideast balances”
Turkish
daily Hurriyet Daily News (27.03.13) reports that Prime Minister Recep Tayyio
Erdogan has said that an Israeli apology to Turkey over the Mavi Marmara
incident changed equation in the Middle East peace process as the bilateral
deal obligates Israel to cooperate with the Turkish government over this
process.
Addressing
his lawmakers yesterday at the Parliament Erdogan said: “The point we have arrived
at as a result of our consultations with all our brothers in Palestine and
peripheral countries is increasing our responsibility with regard to solving
the Palestinian question and thus is bringing about a new equation”. Erdogan
added that Israel agreed to begin cooperation with Turkey on carrying out talks
with Palestine for the Middle East peace process.
He
said that all his regional interlocutors, including Khaled Mashaal of the
Hamas, admit that a new era has begun in the Middle East in what they all call
after Turkish victory on Israeli apology.
Erdogan
outlined the details of his phone conversations with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama that brought about the
long-expected Israeli apology to Turkey over the killings of nine Turkish
citizens on board of the Mavi Marmara vessel which was carrying humanitarian
aid to Gaza. Erdogan said his conversation with Netanyahu took place in the
presence of Obama.
“I
talked to him and we have reviewed the text and confirmed the (apology)
process. We have therefore accomplished this process in Obama’s presence,”
Erdogan said, adding that this phone conversation has also been recorded
alongside with written statements issued from all three sides. “We have made
the process safe.”
Erdogan
repeated that they will closely follow the implementation of this deal and he
would visit Gaza and the West Bank in April in order to witness the blockade
imposed by the Israeli government. “Turkey will continue to do its best for the
reconstruction of Gaza and for overcoming humanitarian problems,” he said,
underlining that Turkey’s approach towards the Israel will depend on Israeli
fulfilment of its commitments.
(…)
President
Abdullah Gul also made a statement on the Israeli apology during his joint
press conference with visiting Cameroon President Paul Biya yesterday,
depicting rather a more cautious stance. “Israel did what it had to do.
Therefore I express my contentment of it,” he said but he also added: “The
issue is still very fresh, let’s all wait. This is just a first step.”
(…)
10. TSK denies PKK militants withdrawal from Turkey
Turkish
daily Today’s Zaman (26.03.13) reported that the Turkish military has denied a
news report which claimed that an initial group of militants from the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) has withdrawn from Turkey after a call by the group's
jailed leader last week.
The
Aksam daily claimed on Tuesday that the first group had crossed the Turkish
border into northern Iraq under the surveillance of Turkish military jets. The
General Staff in a written statement on Tuesday said that the report is untrue,
noting that Turkish reconnaissance jets flew over 13 locations in northern Iraq
on Tuesday for reconnaissance purposes only.
The
statement also denied another news report which claimed that the Turkish
military ceased its operations against the PKK three months ago. The General
Staff said the military has been performing its duties as stipulated by law.
PKK
leader Abdullah Ocalan called on PKK forces for a cease-fire and withdrawal
from Turkey in a long-awaited historic announcement during the celebrations of
Nevruz, a spring festival, in the south-eastern province of Diyarbakir last
Thursday.
(…)
11. Barzani signals an energy deal between Ankara and
the so-called KRG; CHP censures a motion against Davutoglu
Turkish
daily Hurriyet Daily News (27.03.13) reports that “Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional
Government” (KRG) “Prime Minister” Nechirvan Barzani has said the “KRG” has
“started a process with Turkey” on an energy deal, underlining that the process
is within the framework of the Iraqi Constitution.
“We
have started a process with Turkey and whatever we do, will end for the benefit
of the whole of Iraq,” Barzani told reporters yesterday, in response to a
question on whether Turkey and the “KRG” were close to reaching a deal, which
is objected to by both the United States and the central government in Baghdad.
“Whatever we have done and whatever we will be doing is within the [Iraqi]
constitutional framework,” he said.
“The
agreement with Turkey about energy is not a new one,” Barzani added, in the
wake of his meeting in Ankara with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in
which Energy Minister Taner Yıldız and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also
participated.
Officials
from the Turkish Energy Ministry did not confirm that Turkey and the “KRG” had
finalized an energy deal during Barzani’s visit, despite speculations on the
matter. “There are private sector deals,” Yıldız told reporters, stressing that
Turkey respected the unity of the Iraqi state.
When
reminded of the U.S. objection to an energy deal between the “KRG” and Turkey
exclusive of Baghdad, Yıldız again referred to the private sector. “The private
sector cannot remain indifferent to projects in Iraq … There are projects that
we undertook two years ago. There are [oil and gas] areas in the east and west
[of northern Iraq] that we will work on,” he said.
A
broad energy partnership between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds regarding the
exploration and extension of oil-gas export pipelines from north Iraq to
Turkish territory has been in effect since last year.
Meanwhile,
the “KRG Prime Minister” also expressed support to Turkey’s ongoing efforts to
find the Kurdish issue a peaceful solution.
On
the same issue, Turkish daily Today’s Zaman (26.03.13) reported that the main
opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has presented a censure motion
against Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu over an energy deal with “Iraq's
autonomous Kurdish administration”, saying it could lead to the disintegration
of Iraq and spark instability in the Middle East.
Turkey
and the “Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)” reached a deal in 2012 to build
pipelines that will export oil and gas directly from fields in northern Iraq.
The planned pipelines are reportedly due to become operational by 2014. The US
is concerned that the growth of energy exports from northern Iraq to Turkey
could further destabilize Iraq's already fragile politics. An Iraqi official
recently warned that deeper energy cooperation between Turkey and the “KRG”
could result in Iraq being split into two.
Aytun
Cıray, a CHP Deputy, said that the partnership is a “project” coordinated by
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Davutoglu and Energy
Minister Taner Yıldız and said that it was clear that such a deal could lead to
the disintegration of Iraq and Turkey and become a new source of instability in
the Middle East.
Cıray,
speaking at a news conference at Parliament on Monday, also said that the deal
would benefit companies involved in the planned energy import from the
“KRG”-run northern Iraq. “In sum, state privileges are being used to serve the
interests of certain companies. Open and secret deals that might endanger our
national security and result in the disintegration of Iraq and of our country
have been signed,” he said.
Prime
Minister Erdogan, addressing a parliamentary meeting of his Justice and
Development Party (AK Party), played down the censure motion and said that the
CHP was targeting the wrong person since the motion should have been directed
at the Energy Minister and not the Foreign Minister.
The
CHP has introduced censure motions against Davutoglu in the past, criticizing
his “adventurist” policies in the Middle East, though none have succeeded. A
censure motion needs to be approved by at least half of the deputies in
Parliament. The AK Party controls 327 seats in the 550-member Parliament.
---------------------------
TURKISH
AFFAIRS SECTION
/EI
