TURKISH
CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
No. 96/13 23/05/13
C O N T E N T S
1.
Yildiz: “It is a must for Turkey to enable [“TRNC”] to have its share from
these energy sources”
2.
Eroglu: elements which have not been discussed exist in Downer’s document;
Davutoglu postponed his illegal visit to Cyprus
3.
Kucuk replied to Eroglu’s harsh comments against him
4.
Talat evaluated the latest developments in the breakaway regime
5.
Reactions about the illegal distribution of “citizenship” by the so-called
government, continues
6.
Elcil: “They are trying to change the agenda with the ‘early elections’”
7.
NATO’s Air Command in Izmir has been closed down
8.
Deputies eligibility criteria in the Turkish Parliament have been revised
9.
Turkey wins final appeal in Libananco case against Uzan family
10.
Pegasus aims to increase customers with KLM deal
11.
Turkish-Armenian writer sentenced to 13 months for blasphemy in blog post
12.
Chechen honorary consul in Turkey assassinated in Ankara
1. Yildiz: “It is
a must for Turkey to enable [“TRNC”] to have its share from these energy
sources”
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (online, 23.05.13),
under the title “‘Energy reserves’ may assist Cyprus reunion”, reports that as
part of Turkey’s recent efforts to resume talks between Greek and Turkish
Cypriots, reunification of the island was discussed broadly in Washington, a
Turkish diplomat has told the Hurriyet Daily News.
The Turkish side said energy opportunities in the eastern
Mediterranean could be a motive for reunification of Cyprus. “As Greek Cypriots
continue drilling activities in the region, the energy issue should not turn
into a crisis, while it may lead to an opportunity,” the Turkish delegation
told U.S. officials in a bid to urge Washington to apply diplomatic support to
this.
The U.S. administration agreed to resume Cyprus talks,
seeing an opportunity for a solution to the dispute, the diplomat also said.
Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said yesterday the
distribution of Israeli and Greek Cypriot gas to Europe via Turkey was
sustainable. “It is a must for Turkey to enable [“TRNC”] to have its share from
these energy sources. We believe that [Republic of Cyprus] will adopt a
positive position here. We see energy as a peace dividend, not a cause for
conflict,” Anatolia news agency quoted him as saying.
2. Eroglu: Elements
which have not been discussed exist in Downer’s document; Davutoglu postponed
his illegal visit to Cyprus
Turkish Cypriot daily Volkan newspaper
(23.05.13) reports that Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu has alleged that
elements which had not been discussed [during the Cyprus talks] exist in the
document submitted by UN Secretary-General’s special adviser, Alexander Downer
to the community leaders.
Asked yesterday at a press conference whether
there were elements that annoyed him in the document submitted by Downer,
Eroglu replied: “The great majority was ok. He has put himself some things in
the document. We have established these. There were some issues which have not
been discussed. These also entered into this document. He will come to the
island on 27-28 May. We will meet”.
Replying to another question, Eroglu argued
that the accession of Cyprus into NATO will be difficult.
Asked whether he will participate in the
dinner with Downer and President Anastasiades, Eroglu said that he will
participate because “the proposal for a dinner was mine”. Arguing that the date for the dinner has been
determined by taking into consideration the sensitivities of the sides, Eroglu
claimed: “We will not sit and eat only at the dinner. There is a problem which
exists in the area of responsibility of both of us. We have a duty such as
finding a solution to the Cyprus problem. We will, of course, enter into this
issue as well. We are not going to find the solution there, but we will discuss
a road map”.
Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot daily Haberdar
newspaper (23.05.13) reports that replying to another question, Eroglu argued
that the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmet Davutoglu has postponed the
illegal visit he would pay to the occupied area of Cyprus, because he expects
no development at the dinner of the leaders with Downer. Eroglu added that
visits had been postponed in the same manner in the past.
When he was called to comment on the
allegations that self-styled prime minister Kucuk had been invited to the USA
in order to participate in the Turkish parade and exchange views and that the
aim was the discussion of Kucuk’s appointment to the post of the negotiator of
the Turkish Cypriot side at the Cyprus talks after his return, Eroglu said he
did not know who invited Kucuk and added that most probably an association
there had been forced to invite him. “It is not my job to discuss who invited him”,
said Eroglu.
Furthermore, Turkish Cypriot daily Star Kibris
newspaper (23.05.13) reports that responding to accusations by Kucuk against
him as regards the Cyprus problem, Eroglu said that he had held countless
meetings with the UN Secretary-General and his Special Adviser, and
participated in five summits on the Cyprus problem in New York, Geneva and the
Greentree. He noted that in visits to New York at a period during which the UN
General Assembly was held, he met with officials from many countries such as
Turkey, Qatar, Azerbaijan, the UN Secretary-General and the General Secretary
of the Islamic Cooperation Organization.
Eroglu said also that in Europe, he met with
the EU Commissioner for the Enlargement, Stefan Fule, the President of the Commission
Jose Manuel Barosso, the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, Spain, Germany, Sweden
and Finland and other officials.
Eroglu noted that Alexander Downer had
submitted to the Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides a document on 30 April. He
argued that Downer wanted this document to be leaked and added that he told
Downer that the Turkish side would definitely not leak the document, but “it
could be leaked from the south”. “Downer put some different things in the
document in order to understand who leaked it in case there was a leakage”, he
argued adding that “when it leaked they understood that the Greek Cypriots did
it”.
(I/Ts.)
3. Kucuk replied to Eroglu’s harsh comments against him
Turkish Cypriot daily
Gunes newspaper (23.05.13) reports that Irsen Kucuk, the self-styled prime
minister of the breakaway regime, gave a press conference yesterday in which he
replied to the statements made and the criticism against him by the Turkish Cypriot
leader, Dervis Eroglu.
Kucuk stated that he is not in fight with
anyone; he referred to Eroglu’s question about the existence of persons who
harm the National Unity Party (UBP), and said that Eroglu must address this
question to himself.
Commenting on Eroglu’s criticism who said that
he supported Kucuk only to see him turned against him, Kucuk stated that he
rose to UBP’s hierarchy by himself and added that he has been a member of the
party since 1976. He also said that Eroglu held conflicts with previous UBP
leaders and mentioned the names of Ertugrul Hasipoglu, Enver Emin and Tahsin
Ertugruloglu with whom Eroglu also had conflicts in the past and managed to
isolate them from UBP.
Kucuk also said that his party is ready for
the forthcoming “early elections”.
Regarding his contacts in the USA, Kucuk
stated that he went to Washington seeking to have a meeting neither to
President Barack Obama nor UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon. However, he said
that he held a meeting with Eric Rubin, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the US
Department of State’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, who according to
Kucuk influences USA foreign policy and who is visiting Cyprus on May 27.
4. Talat evaluated the
latest developments in the breakaway regime
Under the title, “Nobody believes these” Turkish Cypriot daily Star Kibris newspaper (23.05.13) publishes an interview with the former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, who evaluated the latest developments in the breakaway regime and criticized the statements of the Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu regarding its involvement in the crisis of the National Unity Party (UBP).
Under the title, “Nobody believes these” Turkish Cypriot daily Star Kibris newspaper (23.05.13) publishes an interview with the former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, who evaluated the latest developments in the breakaway regime and criticized the statements of the Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu regarding its involvement in the crisis of the National Unity Party (UBP).
Talat supported that Eroglu is lying when says
that he did not know about the meeting that the eight UBP eight
opposition-members of UBP held with the leader of a political party and added
that the recent developments inside UBP are taking place under the impact of
Eroglu. Talat said that Eroglu with his actions and statements is one of the
main responsible for the political crisis that the breakaway is currently
facing.
In addition, Talat also criticized the current
visit of the self-styled prime minister Irsen Kucuk to the ESA and the contacts
he held. Talat said that the “prime minister” cannot be accepted as the
community’s leader and stated: “Like it or not […] Eroglu is the Turkish
Cypriots’ leader and the person that represents the Turkish Cypriots at the
international arena”.
Talat said that in order for the solution of
the Cyprus problem to come into the agenda, the international factors must come
forward and claimed that the Greek Cypriot side must abandon the efforts for
postponing the negotiations.
5. Reactions about the illegal distribution of “citizenship”
by the so-called government, continues
Under
the front-page title: “This is the seriousness of the ‘citizenship’”, Turkish
Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen (23.05.13) reports that an “officer” of the so-called
“migration department’s citizenship unit” in the occupied area of Cyprus,
confessed to the paper that the so-called minister of interior and local
administration, Nazim Cavusoglu gives instructions for the “citizenship” to be
given to several persons.
The
paper points out to the fact that a lot of “citizens” waited yesterday from the
morning hours in queues at the “immigration department”, in order to make the
necessary procedures to take the “citizenship”. The paper adds that the issue
of the distribution of “citizenships” is something very common especially in a
“pro-election” period.
Meanwhile,
according to Turkish Cypriot daily Vatan (23.05.13), reacting about the issue
of the “citizenships”, Ozkan Yorgancioglu, chairman of the main opposition
Republican Turkish Party (CTP) issued a written statement yesterday accused those
who are in “power” of using their state “authority” and of accelerating the
procedures so that to distribute “citizenships”. “Besides the issue of
citizenships, the distribution of plots of land is also into the agenda”,
Yorgancioglu said, adding, that those who take instructions and those who
implement those instructions are responsible and will be called to account when
they will come into power. Yorgancioglu went on and called the so-called UBP
government to stop this kind of actions.
On
the same issue, in a written statement yesterday, the secretary general of the
United Cyprus Party (BKP) Izzet Izcan, accused the Republican Turkish Party
(CTP) of preventing the so-called UBP government from resigning and of giving
to the “government” the opportunity to use all the potentials. “We will
consider the CTP administration to be the responsible for the new citizenships
to be distributed by the UBP government. And that because it is the CTP
administration which gave the opportunity to the UBP government to stay in
power”, Izcan, inter alia, said.
Also,
commenting on the “citizenships” issue, the so-called prime minister Irsen
Kucuk, speaking during the press conference he organized yesterday before the
meeting of the so-called council of ministers, said that the allegations that “
they gave instructions for 4000 new citizenships to be given”, are groundless.
As regards the distribution of plots of land, Kucuk pointed out that this is a
part of the program for the “countryside” which belongs to the policy of the
party, adding, that this program has been postponed when the issue of the
“early elections” came into the agenda.
Reactions
about the illegal distribution of the occupation regime’s citizenship were also
expressed yesterday by several trade unions in the occupied area of Cyprus.
According
to Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis (23.05.13), the chairman of Turk-Sen trade union,
Arslan Bicakli called the opposition parties to undertake initiatives in order
to prevent the “government”, which has lost its “authorities” from distributing
illegally “citizenships”.
Also,
the chairman of Kamu-Sen trade union Mehmet Ozkardas reacted to efforts exerted
by the so-called government to intensify the distribution of the “citizenship”,
and said: “In every election process, we watch the same film”. Ozkardas went on
adding that all the political parties have the same responsibilities with the
“government” on the “citizenship issue”.
Similar
statements were also made by Mehmet Seyis, chairman of Dev-Is trade union who
said, inter alia, that the issue of the “citizenship” is a part of the
classical and unmoral behaviour followed by the UBP.
(AK)
6. Elcil: “They are trying to change the agenda with the
‘early elections’”
According
to Turkish Cypriot daily Vatan (23.05.13), the secretary general the Turkish
Cypriot Primary School Teachers Union (KTOS) Sener Elcil, issuing a written
statement yesterday, said that with the “early elections” that will take place,
an effort is exerted to change the agenda.
Elcil
went on and alleged that some are implementing the assimilation and integration
policies in Cyprus by hiding behind the word “solution”.
Referring
to the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey and the National Unity
Party (UBP) in the occupied area of Cyprus, Elcil accused them of leading the
UBP to the congress and of bringing the issue of the “early elections” into the
agenda. He went on and said that they are misleading the international
community and the Turkish Cypriots by saying that they are in favour of the
solution and added: “Why the Turkish Republic is putting obstacles for the
solution on the issue of the returning of Maras (fenced off town of Varosha) to
its legal owners and on the issue of the opening of Famagusta port?, And why do
you continue hiding the officials results of the population census. It is you
that you are in favour of the solution that you made the island your colony
since 1974 and by refusing to withdraw not even one soldier? (...)”, Elcil
further said.
(AK)
7. NATO’s Air Command in Izmir has
been closed down
According
to Ankara Anatolia news agency (22.05.13), closing ceremony (deactivation) for
NATO Air Command was held in Turkey's western Izmir province on Wednesday.
Serving
since August 11, 2004 in "Orgeneral Vecihi Akin" headquarters in Buca
town of Izmir, NATO Air Command would close as a result of NATO's new
organizational settlement and Izmir would give service as single centre in its
land forces.
Commander
of NATO Allied Joint Force Command Naples Admiral Bruce Clingan delivered a
speech at the closing ceremony where he stated that Izmir hosted NATO
commanders in an excellent way since 1952.
The
soldiers would begin serving in their new places of duty as of June 1 and
allied land forces command, serving since December 1, 2012 in Izmir, was
expected to reach the beginning capacity via increasing its personnel.
With
the new received decision in NATO, land forces command was built in Izmir in
place of the air command. Izmir was to serve as one of three main headquarters,
directly allied air commands of Mons province of Brussels as well as to be the
single land forces command of NATO. Thereunder, the land forces both in Germany
and Spain delegated their duties to Izmir.
New
structure of the alliance provides for overcoming the "clumsy and
costly" construction, for closing four main bases and decreasing 30% of
its personnel. Besides, NATO's air commands are to be hosted by Germany and
naval forces by Britain in new NATO.
8. Deputies eligibility criteria in
the Turkish Parliament have been revised
Under
the title “No spot for abusers in Parliament”, Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily
News (online, 23.05.13) reports that Parliament’s Constitution Conciliation
Commission revised the deputy eligibility criteria; adopting additional
restrictions based on history of violence, while also addressing the
prerequisites for becoming a candidate.
All
four parties in the commission, that is to say the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP), the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP),
the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP),
agreed on the following clause during their meeting on May 21: “Those who lack
literacy, who are restricted by law, who were sentenced to more than two years
except for involuntary crimes, who committed any one of the crimes of
embezzlement, extortion, bribery, theft, fraud, forgery, exploitation of
belief, fraudulent bankruptcy, smuggling, rigging a bid, rigging execution of
an act, crimes against sexual assault, violence against women and children,
torture or crimes against humanity” shall not be elected as deputies.
The
most remarkable restriction was the newly defined section “crimes against
sexual immunity, violence against women and children, torture or crimes against
humanity,” while some other changes included increasing the maximum number of
years sentenced from one to two years, replacing the primary education
requirement with literacy and omitting the part “offences related to the
disclosure of state secrets, of involvement in acts of terrorism, or incitement
and encouragement of such activities.”
Another
change to be implemented following yet another unanimous decision was that
resignation from public service will no longer be a prerequisite for deputy
candidacy. Thus, public servants running for elections will be designated as on
leave without payment. Yet, judges and prosecutors, members of the Armed Forces
and law enforcement officers, those who work for intelligence services, civil
authorities, ambassadors and rectors will have to resign in advance of putting
forward their candidacy.
9. Turkey wins final appeal in
Libananco case against Uzan family
Turkish
daily Hurriyet Daily News (online, 23.05.13) reports that Turkey has won the
final appeal trial in the Libananco trial over the Uzan family, Energy Minister
Taner Yildiz announced May 22. He added that Turkey would have had to pay up to
$23.5 billion with the accumulated interest if it had lost the trial.
“Some
useless leeches had tried to suck the blood of this country but we ended the
struggle for our people without a stain,” Yildiz told reporters adding that the
case was definitely over after the ruling of an Arbitration board. “Now the
Uzan family has lost any right of appeal. The process going on [since 2006] is
finalized. The trust for truth in Turkey has been highlighted.”
In
2003, Turkey’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources seized the Uzan Group’s
CEAS and Kepez companies after their patent rights had been outlawed in light
of an application by Turkey’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority. Following
this development, Libananco Holdings Co. Ltd., which introduced itself as a
company operating in the southern part of Cyprus [Edit. Note: government
controlled area of the Republic of Cyprus], claimed that it was a partner of
the said companies and had thus suffered losses due to the seizure. The company
carried the issue to the U.S.-based International Centre for the Settlement of
Investment Disputes (ICSID) and filed a $10 billion lawsuit against Turkey.
Turkey,
meanwhile, maintains that Libananco is a front company of the Uzan group, once
among the country’s most powerful conglomerates. The ICSID had ruled in favour
of Turkey in 2011.
The
owner of the Uzan group, Turkish businessman Cem Uzan, who currently lives in
the French capital of Paris, was sentenced to 18 years and five months in
prison for embezzlement last march. The businessman, turned politician before
the 2001 parliamentary elections, was accused of channelling money deposits
kept in Imar Bank to construction companies owned by the Uzan family.
Uzan
was the former owner of Star TV, the first private broadcaster of the country,
as well as the Telsim cellular phone operator and Imar Bank.
10. Pegasus aims to increase
customers with KLM deal
According
to Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (online, 22.05.13), Pegasus Airlines is
looking to increase its passenger numbers with a new codeshare cooperation deal
with Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM), the company announced at an Istanbul press
conference today.
“We
expect 35 to 40 new customers daily for our two flights from Istanbul’s Sabiha
Gokcen Airport to Amsterdam. We expect around 10% additional customers with
this cooperation,” Guliz Ozturk, senior vice president at Pegasus, told the
Hurriyet Daily News.
Pegasus
is seeking to increase the number of its customers and flight destinations with
its new codeshare agreement with KLM. The Dutch airline will start selling
tickets on May 27 for flights from Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport and Izmir’s
Adnan Menderes Airport to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport before transferring the
customers to the United States and Canada on one ticket, Ozturk told the press
conference in Istanbul, which was hosted by the Dutch Consulate.
KLM
is also aiming for more customers from Turkey. “We hope to find a lot of KLM
customers on Pegasus flights in the domestic market, Turkey. We see a figure of
40,000 to 50,000 [additional] passengers on a yearly basis,” Pieter Bootsma,
executive vice president of marketing and revenue management and network for
Air France and KLM, told the Daily News.
The
firms said their price policies would not change with the collaboration.
Customers will travel under one ticket from international destinations to
Turkey and vice versa,
11. Turkish-Armenian writer
sentenced to 13 months for blasphemy in blog post
According
to Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (online, 22.05.13), an Istanbul court has
sentenced Turkish-Armenian writer Sevan Nisanyan to 58 weeks in prison for an
alleged insult to the Prophet Muhammad in a blog post.
The
prosecutor had been seeking one and a half years of jail time for Nisanyan on
charges of “insulting the religious beliefs held by a section of the society.”
The
sentence cannot be converted to a financial penalty, but Nisanyan has the right
to appeal.
He
was charged with blasphemy after writing a blog post titled, “[We] need to fight
hate speech.”
“Making
fun of an Arab leader who claimed he contacted Allah hundreds of years ago and
received political, financial and sexual benefits is not hate speech,” Nisanyan
said in his post last year. “It is an almost kindergarten-level test of what is
called freedom of expression.”
On
May 22, the day of the sentencing, Nisanyan re-tweeted his blog post, writing,
“Let’s share the article that was sentenced to 13-and-a-half months at the
Istanbul 10th Criminal Court for insulting religious bla-bla.”
12. Chechen honorary consul in
Turkey assassinated in Ankara
Turkish
daily Today’s Zaman (online, 23.05.13) reports that Chechnya's honorary consul
in Turkey, Medet Unlu, was shot dead on Thursday in the Turkish capital of
Ankara.
Unlu
was shot multiple times at the consulate building in Ankara's Balgat
neighbourhood and died at the scene. His body was taken to the Forensic
Medicine Council (ATK) for an autopsy and police conducted an inspection at the
scene of the incident.
Unlu's
relatives have claimed that Chechen leader Ramazan Kadirov, the son of former
Chechen President Ahmed Kadirov, is behind the murder.
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