TURKISH CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C O N T E N T S
No. 134/13 18/07/2013
1.
Experts: measures were not taken to prevent environmental disaster in Gastria
area; the regime refused help from the Republic of Cyprus
2.
Big fire in the occupied peninsula of Karpasia
3.
Siber says they will not annul any “citizenship” granted “legally”
4.
Erdogan: “Should we remove the ballot box because Hitler can come out of it?”
5.
Analysts warn of consequences to Turkish PM’s ‘Stop using credit cards’ remark
6.
Turkish FM Davutoğlu calls on UN to act on Syria after border clashes
7.
Poll: Public supportive of cemevis, warm to education in Kurdish; AKP increases
his votes
1.
Experts: measures were not taken to prevent environmental disaster in
Gastria area; the regime refused help from the Republic of Cyprus
Under the title “Great fear”, Turkish
Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper (18.07.13) reports that the dimensions of the
disaster experienced in the sea of occupied Gastria village during the
unloading of oil by a ship at AKSA company’s electric power station in the area
are bigger than it was estimated. Biologists say that dead birds have been
found. Noting that a problem could be experienced in the reproduction of fish,
the paper writes that the fishermen and the shopkeepers in the area are
concerned.
According to experts, absolutely no
measure that should have been taken was taken when the crisis emerged. The
measures which should have been taken within 24 hours were left in suspense and
the spread of the oil spill could not be prevented. The Chamber of
Environmental Engineers described as “tragicomic” everything that happened
after the crisis.
Environmental organizations said that
this was the biggest disaster ever happened in the occupied area of Cyprus and
criticized the fact that AKSA Company’s equipment was inadequate and
inefficient and that the “state” found no way out of the crisis.
Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris
newspaper (18.07.13) reports that self-styled prime minster, Sibel Siber said
yesterday before entering into the meeting of the “cabinet” that the disaster
showed once more that the coasts of the occupied area of Cyprus are closed to
investments such as oil storage installations. She noted that very heavy
sanctions and punishment should be imposed for the danger that exists and added
that only with heavy punishment such accidents could be prevented. She recalled
that there had been leak of oil at Gastria on 12 March 2013 as well and added that
on 1 July 2013 they had launched an effort for preventing such incidents in the
future.
Siber said that the “police” continued
their investigation as to whether there has been negligence on the issue of the
environmental disaster and added that the ship that caused this disaster is not
allowed to leave the port. She noted that the efforts for cleaning the
environmental disaster continued, but the work did not reach yet the desirable
point. Explaining that there were currently 4 vacuum trucks and 40 personnel
involved in the clean-up effort, Siber underlined the need to install a barrier
out at sea but said that they were still waiting for the materials to arrive
from Turkey.
Furthermore, under the title “Exemplary
initiative by the Chamber of Commerce”, Kibris (18.07.13) reports that the
Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce purchased from the government-controlled
area of Cyprus equipment, which is necessary for cleaning up the pollution
created by the many tons of oil leaked into the sea of occupied Gastria. Last
night the chamber handed over the equipment to officials of the regime.
According to the paper, the material purchased from the government-controlled
area of Cyprus was 400 meters of “absorbent boom”, which is described as “sea
surface obstacle that absorbs oil”. It is said that the breakaway regime needed
700 meters of “absorbent boom”.
Moreover, Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika
newspaper (18.07.13) reports that the pollution has been spread to an area of
six kilometres because of the strong wind. It is said that at some places the
pollution goes into a depth of 6-7 meters. According to the paper, it is
expected that the sea will be cleaned within two months. The paper writes also
that the disaster at Gastria has put an end to the debates for establishing an
oil storage installation, but the National Unity Party (UBP)
insists that if it comes to “power”, it will permit such investments to be made
at the coasts of the occupied area of Cyprus.
In addition, Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni
Duzen newspaper (18.07.13) reports that 500 meter-long coast is full with oil
at the area known as “Thalassa Beach”, where the biggest pollution exists. AKSA
Energy Company continues its efforts to clean up the pollution with its own
means. Within this framework five sewage trucks try to absorb the oil from the
coast. At the same time 25 temporary workers of AKSA try to clean the area by
putting absorbent pads on the coast. AKSA power station director, Murat Captug
said they cleaned more of the half of the pollution from the sea during the
past couple of days, that the pollution spread to the area due to the wind and
that they have the barriers to prevent this. He noted that the teams from
Turkey will arrive today and noted that from the very first day of the
incident, experts from Turkey are in the occupied area and coordinate their
efforts with them.
Finally, Turkish Cypriot daily Halkin
Sesi newspaper (18.07.13) reports that the officials of the regime asked help
from the government-controlled area of the Republic of Cyprus through the
United Nations when the disaster happened at Gastria, but they changed their
mind afterwards. According to the paper, the vehicle which set off to go to the
area escorted by the UN, returned back after the officials of the regime called
the UN and said that they did not need it because a cleaning vehicle would be
brought from Turkey. The paper reports that many citizens who found out about
this incident said that they find it difficult to understand why the demand for
help was withdrawn afterwards.
(I/Ts.)
2.
Big fire in the occupied peninsula of Karpasia
Under the title “Big fire in Karpasia”,
Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper (18.07.13) reports that a disaster has
been experienced onshore in the occupied peninsula of Karpasia after the
environmental disaster at the sea. A fire that started yesterday at 13.00 hours
in an area between occupied Gialousa and Rizokarpaso villages, burned 500-600
donums [Translator’s note: a land measure of around 1000 square meters] of pine
trees, juniper trees and scrub. The fire, which lasted three hours, was taken
under control with the assistance of helicopters that came from Turkey. A fire-fighter
was poisoned and taken to hospital because of the smoke he breathed during his
efforts of extinguishing the fire.
(I/Ts.)
3.
Siber says they will not annul any “citizenship” granted “legally”
Turkish Cypriot daily Haberdar newspaper
(18.07.13) reports that the self-styled prime minster of the breakaway regime
in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus, Sibel Siber said yesterday
before entering into the meeting of the “cabinet”, that no one who had been
“legally” granted “citizenship” should fear that his “citizenship” will be
annulled.
Noting that nearly 100 persons had been
granted the “citizenship” in May upon a decision of the “council of ministers”,
Siber pointed out that in all countries persons who would bring economic,
cultural, social, and commercial gain are granted the citizenship upon decision
of the cabinet and gave some examples from the applications approved in May.
She added though, that 90% of these applications said that they lived for many
years in the occupied area of the island and that they wished to take the
“citizenship”. She wondered which the ground of such applications could be and
added that the “cabinet” could not and should not have such authorities. She
concluded by saying that the “laws” and “regulations” must definitely be
implemented.
(I/Ts.)
4.
Erdogan: “Should we remove the ballot box because Hitler can come out of
it?” Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (online,
17.07.13) reports that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has once again
slammed the military takeover in Egypt, saying that the argument that Germany’s
totalitarian dictator Adolf Hitler came to power thanks to elections is
“ill-willed,” while confirming that he rejected a meeting request from Egypt’s
newly appointed Vice-President Mohamed ElBaradei.
“The ballot box exists to prevent the
minority imposing on the majority. They say that Hitler came out of the ballot
box. So what, should we remove the ballot box because Hitler can come out of
it?” Erdoğan asked supporters during a fast-breaking dinner organized by the
ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara July 17.
He added that he rejected ElBaradei's
request on a meeting over the phone, telling him in a letter that he would not
hold talks with officials who did not come to power by elections. "You had
1.5% of the votes in the elections, Morsi had 52%," he said.
Erdoğan also warned over plots that
aimed to create unrest in Turkey, particularly emphasizing that there were
attempts “to deepen” the problems between Alevis and Sunnis. “What does being
Alevi or Sunni mean? If being Alevi means loving the caliph Ali, I am a perfect
Alevi. I am trying to live the way he did,” he said, referring to the
son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad from whom the term “Alevi” is derived.
Erdoğan also defended the projects
undertaken in Istanbul, particularly slamming the criticism against the
construction of a third bridge over the Bosphorus on the grounds that it would
destroy huge forestry areas around the metropolis. He said that there had been
people against the first bridge when it was built in the 1970s, but now even
those who were against are using it.
“So don’t use them, cross [the
Bosphorus] with sandals. But they will say no, and then they would benefit from
them. May nobody play with Turkey’s future with different sort of plots,” he
said, while he also defended his so-called “crazy project” of constructing a
canal on Istanbul’s European shores that would connect the Marmara Sea to the
Black Sea.
“If you are environmentalists and you
have dignity: We are making Canal Istanbul to save our Bosphorus Straight from
an environmental massacre. Don’t forget that tankers burned in the Bosphorus.
That’s why we are building it,” he said.
Erdoğan also touched on the
Constitution-making process, criticizing the opposition for rejecting or only
accepting with conditions his proposition to accelerate the process by
submitting to the Parliament for approval the 48 articles upon which all four
parties have reached a consensus. He especially targeted the Nationalist
Movement Party (MHP) which
retracted its initial support for his proposition.
“Despite having 326 deputies, we have
accepted to be represented with three deputies in the [Constitution
Conciliation] Commission while you are also represented with three deputies
although you only have 51 MPs. Shame on you,” Erdoğan said.
Erdoğan had also proposed that the
commission extend its work during the summer to finish a draft by the new
Parliamentary year. But the opposition criticized him for pushing for a
transition to a presidential system and for not being willing to lower the 10%
threshold in parliamentary elections.
5.
Analysts warn of consequences to Turkish PM’s ‘Stop using credit cards’
remark
Turkish daily Hürriyet Daily News
(online, 17.07.13) with the above title reports that Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdoğan told citizens to stop using credit cards, publicly slamming
banks for collecting a lot of money from the “poor,” amid analysts’ warnings
against the consequences of picking on banks at a time of foreign capital
outflow risks.
“Those credit cards: Don’t have them. If
everybody spends as much as they [banks] want, they would not even be able to
earn that income. They could never be satiated,” Erdoğan said during a
fast-breaking dinner in Ankara July 16.
During his speech, he particularly
picked on one bank, saying it earned annually 600 million Turkish Liras in
non-interest income – commissions and fees – without specifying a name.
“Meanwhile, total [non-interest]
revenues of [state-owned banks] Ziraat, Halk and Vakıf are 600 million liras.
Do you see how big the game being played is?” he asked.
The high fees banks charge have
attracted a lot of attention from consumers and unions, and the government has
taken a step with a new law obliging banks to offer a fee-free credit card
option and raising the penalty on banks that try to earn undeserved income
through commissions to 5 million liras.
However, Uğur Gürses, an economics
journalist at daily Radikal, said he thought the reason behind the Prime
Minister’s scolding was not people using the cards for daily shopping, but
rather that he was furious that citizens are using credit cards as a borrowing
instrument.
“I think the prime minister sees the
situation as banks striping citizens,” he told the Hürriyet Daily News in a
telephone interview July 17, adding that the way to combat this is not to say
stop using credit cards. “If one would take measures that increase the
competition between banks instead of complaining about this, credit card
commissions would drop. Secondly, the government could ensure more conscious
usage of credit cards by the citizens.”
“If the prime minister is suffering from
this issue a lot, there are state banks under his authority, he can instruct
these banks and request decreased commissions,” he also said in separate
interview with daily Hürriyet.
6.
Turkish FM Davutoğlu calls on UN to act on Syria after border clashes
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News
(online, 18.07.13) with the above title reported that the Turkish government
has reiterated its call for the international community to take urgent action
concerning the crisis in Syria. The call comes after a man was killed and a
15-year-old boy seriously wounded by stray bullets shot from Syria into a
Turkish border town, with Kurdish militants having expelled jihadists from the
Syrian flashpoint frontier town of Ras al-Ayn and the nearby border crossing
with Turkey.
“This is a striking picture that shows
the extent to which the crisis in Syria can affect our citizens and us. We are
calling on the international community once more, immediately and rapidly: If
the U.N. Security Council is to fulfil the requirements of being the U.N.
Security Council, then this is the moment. The time for saying ‘stop’ to this
cruel massacre in Syria has already passed. Otherwise, the meaning of a lot of
international organization missions, in particular of the U.N. Security
Council, will disappear,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said late on July 17
at an iftar gathering with bureaucrats from his hometown Konya.
Meanwhile, Turkish daily Today’s Zaman
(online, 17.07.13), under the title “Turkey should be alarmed by PYD's
declaration, experts say”, reported that Ankara should be alarmed by a
declaration from the Democratic Union Party (PYD), a political offshoot of the
reportedly terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Syria, announcing that
it will declare its autonomy in Syria's northern region, experts say, as this
development at Turkey's southern border may pose a huge security problem.
The PYD has been fighting against
opposition fighters in northern Syria for months in an effort to gain an
advantage and declare autonomy in a nation rocked by a war between President
Bashar al-Assad's regime forces and opposition groups.
Syria's Kurds have come closer to their
aspiration for autonomy now that al-Assad's forces have left the country's
north to Kurdish militants. Although many Kurds say they are distancing
themselves from both sides because they do not want to be included in violence,
some groups, like the PYD, are thought to be collaborating with al-Assad's
regime. Opposition forces have accused Kurds of taking sides with al-Assad's
forces.
With these developments on the ground,
the PYD's declaration of autonomy, which will go into effect on July 19, can
bring great risks for Turkey, which is already suffering from a decades-old
terrorism problem and has been witness to severe clashes between the PKK and
the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). In
a bid to solve the terrorism problem, the Turkish government recently launched
a settlement process with the PKK, yet the process is still in its early phases
with PKK terrorists starting to leave Turkey.
Dr. Nihat Ali Özcan, a specialist on the
PKK, says the establishment of a Kurdish autonomous region in northern Syria is
not an unexpected development as the PYD has been working for this political
end since the beginning of the Syrian uprising.
7.
Poll: Public supportive of cemevis, warm to education in Kurdish; AKP
increases his votes
Turkish daily Today’s Zaman (online,
17.07.13) reports that a recent survey by the Ankara-based MetroPOLL Strategic
and Social Research Centre, has shown that the majority of the public approves
of the possible recognition of cemevis as Alevi places of worship and is now
more receptive to the idea of providing an education in their mother tongue for
the Kurdish population.
A
large-scale survey was conducted by the MetroPOLL Strategic and Social Research
Centre to determine the Turkish public's attitudes on some domestic and
international issues that have topped the nation's agenda over the last few
months.
One of the subjects that have been
intensely debated in recent months is the issue of whether the Alevis' cemevis
should be recognized by the state as places of worship. The debate intensified
after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in February that cemevis are
places of cultural activity rather than worship, drawing harsh reactions from
the Alevi communities in Turkey. In response to a question about whether
cemevis should be recognized as Alevi houses of worship in the MetroPOLL
survey, 68.1% of respondents support the official recognition of cemevis while
19.7% object. Another 12.2% of respondents expressed no opinion on the issue.
Another hot item on the Turkish agenda
is the right to receive an education in one's mother tongue, which is a key
issue for the Kurdish people. The MetroPOLL survey reveals that the Turkish
public has warmed to the idea. When asked whether people should be able to
receive an education in the Kurdish language in predominantly Kurdish-populated
areas, 48.2% of survey participants responded favourably, while 47.9% responded
negatively. In terms of support from political parties' voters, the survey
indicates that 92.5% of pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) voters
support providing for an education in their mother tongue and only 7.5% do not.
Of the respondents who vote for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP),
52% say they support the idea while 43.4% say they do not. The survey also
shows 41.8% of main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) voters support having the opportunity for an
education in the Kurdish language while 55.6% of CHP
voters oppose this. Similarly, only 27.7% of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) voters support the right of receiving
education in mother tongue while 71.4% of them don't support the idea.
The Gezi protests, which erupted in late
May over the government's plan to demolish Gezi Park in İstanbul's famed Taksim
Square, are another major issue that has recently held a place on the Turkish
agenda. In response to the question whether they evaluate the protests as a
democratic movement or an attempted coup d'état against the government, 57.5%
of all voters say they consider the Gezi protests an attempted coup while only
33% say the Gezi protests were a democratic movement. In terms of support by
political party, 82.4% of AKP voters say they think the protests were an
attempted coup against the government and only 9.9% identify them as a
democratic initiative. Of the CHP
respondents, 78.5% believe the Gezi protests originated from democratic
motivations and 14.8% say the protests were an attempted coup. Of MHP voters, 49.6% indicate that the protests were
an attempted coup while 42.9% say the protesters had democratic intentions.
Among BDP voters, 47.8% say the protests were an attempted coup while 35.8%
said the protests were a democratic movement. Sencar says this result shows
that the majority of the public agrees with the government's conspiracy claims
regarding the Gezi Park protests.
The survey also produced important
results about the distribution of party affinity. When asked which political
party they would vote for if parliamentary elections were held this Sunday,
43.2% of respondents in the MetroPOLL survey say they would vote for the ruling
AKP while 20.4% say they would vote for the main opposition CHP. The MHP
received 13.9% support and 6.5% say they would vote for the BDP. Another 2.5%
say they would vote for other political parties, 5.8% say they are undecided,
4.7% did not respond to the question and 3.0% were recorded as providing
protest votes.
Analyzing this recent distribution of
likely votes, Professor Sencar recalled the results of another MetroPOLL survey
conducted in early June in which the AK Party's potential support was measured
at 35.3%, adding that there has been a 7.9% increase in the potential votes for
the AKP in a month. Stating that the June survey was conducted during the
hottest period of the Gezi protests, Sencar gave three reasons for the
increase. He says: “The public started to become annoyed with the Gezi
protests, as they began to last a long time. Even the people who sympathized
with the protests at the beginning started to become irritated with the
protests in time when they saw that the protests were misused by some groups
and that some protesters caused great damage to the cities. Some of these
people started to support the government for its firm stance against the
protests. Another reason for the increase might the effective arguments that
Erdoğan used during the rallies and meetings during and following the Gezi
protests. One of those arguments was attributing the Gezi protests to some
external conspiracies against the development of Turkey. The majority of the
public agreed with this argument. Erdoğan also sought to gain the support of
religious people by accusing the Gezi protesters of drinking alcohol inside a mosque
[Dolmabahçe Mosque near Taksim Square]. The latest results show he was
successful in defending his arguments.”
Sencar added that the third reason
behind the increase in the votes of AKP in the survey might be the firm stance
that Erdoğan took on a recent military coup in Egypt. He said: “While most
Western countries supported the Egyptian military coup directly or indirectly,
Erdoğan took a clear stance against the coup. This led him to gain the support
of anti-coup people in Anatolia. As Turkey has a history full of military
coups, the people in Anatolia have some fears over any possible return of coups
to Turkey. The coup in Egypt reminded those people of the difficulties they had
during the coup period. Therefore, these people started to support the AKP for
its firm anti-coup policies.”
Furthermore, when asked whether they
believe Turkey has been isolated in the Middle East region in the last two
years, 51.4% of respondents responded positively while 44.4% disagreed. The
survey suggests that the opposition parties are highly critical of Turkey's
foreign policy in the Middle East. According to the results, 79.1% of CHP voters and 73.9% of MHP
voters say they believe Turkey has been isolated in the region in the last two
years.
The polling took place from July 6-10
with the participation of 1,335 adults residing in 31 provinces. The Computer
Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) method was used to conduct the survey. The
margin for error for the complete poll is 2.7% points and the confidence level
is 95%.
-------------------------------------------------------------
TURKISH
AFFAIRS SECTION
