TURKISH CYPRIOT AND
TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C O N T E N T S
No.
192/13 10.10.13
1.
Davutoglu: level of meetings of Mavroyiannis and Ertug in Ankara and Athens
respectively may be upgraded
2. Nami informed the Foreign Relations Committee of the Turkish
Grand National Assembly on Cyprus negotiations
3. Atalay: Turkey has always maintained the solidarity with the
breakaway regime
4.
Ertug said that their aim is to bring the leaders together
5. Cicek expressed to his Korean counterpart his distress for the
participation of a Korean firm to hydrocarbon tender of Cyprus
6. Eroglu met with the ambassadors of Austria and Denmark
7. The breakaway regime instead of spending money in schools, is
building mosques
8. Leaking on the EU Report of Turkey
1. Davutoglu:
level of meetings of Mavroyiannis and Ertug in Ankara and Athens respectively
may be upgraded
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris (10.10.13),
under the title “A new window of opportunity”, reports that during a joint
press conference with the self-styled minister of foreign affairs OzdilNami,
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, replying to a question how the
meetings of the negotiators to Ankara and Athens will affect the process of the
Cyprus talks and whether a multilateral conference will be held, repeated that
the latest development means that psychological thresholds have been crossed.
Reminding that Turkey and Greece, which are
guarantor countries, have special status in the process, Davutoglu said:
“Unfortunately, until now, the contacts and the reciprocal meetings have been
always held on a horizontal level; either between the two communities in the
island, or Turkey with ‘TRNC’, or Greece with the ‘Greek Cypriot
administration’. The possibility of Turkey to see the perspective of a
representative from the ‘Greek Cypriot administration’ or Greece to see
directly the perspective of ‘TRNC’ would not be done until now.”
Davutoglu went on: “After this, this level
may be upgraded, the meetings may take place in different forms, it is wished
that we can sit and talk in a four-way meeting. This geography is our
geography. The people of Greece and Turkey, Greek Cypriots and Turkish
Cypriots, who have been living together and next to each other for centuries
now, will take the most correct decision together. I see this as the
beginning”.
Meanwhile, ServetYanatma, writing in
Turkish daily Zaman (online, 10.10.13), citing diplomatic sources, reports that
the reciprocal meetings of the two negotiators in Athens and Ankara will happen
on the same level. At this stage, it’s not a level of ministers, but a meeting
at the level of undersecretary and deputy undersecretary that’s being planned.
However, Ankara has no reservation for a meeting at the level of ministers.
After these meetings which Turkey may upgrade in time, Turkey’s aim is to
arrange an international meeting. However, the Greek Cypriot and Greek sides
have approached so far this proposal, negatively.
2. Nami informed the Foreign Relations Committee of the Turkish
Grand National Assembly on Cyprus negotiations
Illegal Bayrak television
(09.10.13) reports that the self-styled foreign minister OzdilNami who is
currently paying an “official visit” to Ankara, informed members of the Foreign
Relations Committee of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on the latest phase
reached at the Cyprus negotiations process.
“Nami told the members of the Commission
that the Turkish Cypriot side is targeting to have a new plan for a
comprehensive solution in Cyprus by the beginning of next year and to reach a
positive conclusion after putting the solution plan to a referendum”, Bayrak
reported.
Noting that the Cyprus problem has
currently reached an important stage, Nami said that “the international
community also started to talk about final efforts towards the solution of the
Cyprus issue”
Finally Nami thanked “motherland Turkey” for
its support to the breakaway regime.
3. Atalay: Turkey has always maintained the solidarity with the
breakaway regime
Ankara Anatolia news agency
(10.10.13) reports that Turkish Deputy PM BesirAtalay met with self-styled
foreign minister OzdilNami who is currently visiting Ankara.
Atalay stressed that Turkey has always
maintained the solidarity with the breakaway regime and the Turkish Cypriots would
always continue to do so.
Nami reminded that a “government” has been
formed in the breakaway regime adding: "The governments in TRNC are able
to change, but Turkey's support to TRNC never changes. Pointing out the close
alliance with Turkey, Nami said that Turkey and the breakaway regime will work
together “to uplift TRNC as it was before”.
4. Ertug
said that their aim is to bring the leaders together
According to Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris
(10.10.13), Turkish Cypriot leader DervisEroglu’s special representative Osman
Ertug said, after yesterday’s meeting with Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis,
that their aim is to bring the two leaders to the negotiation table. He said
they also support that the two leaders should come together even without a
joint declaration. Ertug denied disclosing confidential details regarding the
issues that they have or have not agreed with Mavroyiannis.
Commenting on the latest call of Cyprus
President Anastasiades to Turkey to lift the embargo on Cypriot vessels, Ertug
described the statement as “ironic”, given the so-called embargoes imposed to
the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus. Ertug argued that they cannot get
anywhere with this mentality.
Referring to the visit of US Undersecretary
of State Eric Rubin, Ertug said that the heighted interest of the USA over the
Cyprus problem means that they see a window for opportunity for a Cyprus
settlement.
Moreover, speaking to Turkish daily Today's
Zaman (online, 09.10.13) in an exclusive telephone interview, Ertug indicated
that the special representatives' visits will definitely take place; however, he
added the dates are not yet clear.
“We consider these visits an important
development. They have a symbolic and psychological significance. It is
important to overcome psychological barriers by making the special envoy an
interlocutor. We wish the visits to take place after the Eid al-Adha [Feast of
the Sacrifice] holiday,” Ertug said.
Stating that such a visit would be the
first in history, Ertug noted that the goal is to bring the leaders of the two
sides to the negotiating table.
5. Cicek expressed to his Korean counterpart his distress for the
participation of a Korean firm to hydrocarbon tender of Cyprus
Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis
newspaper (10.10.13) reports that the Speaker of the Turkish Grand National
Assembly CemilCicek stated that intensive efforts are needed for the reaching
of a comprehensive and permanent solution for the Cyprus problem.
He made these statements during a meeting
he held with the Speaker of the Korean Assembly Kang Changhee.
Cicekadded that Turkey felt sad because the
Korean Kogaz Firm participated in the hydrocarbon tender of the Republic of
Cyprus. “This really made us sad and the relations between Korean and Turkish
firms could enter a trouble period because of this” he stated. He went on and
said that he is saying this in a friendly matter adding that the “embargoes”
imposed on the breakaway regime are unjust and must be lifted.
6.Eroglu met with the ambassadors of Austria and Denmark
Illegal Bayrak television
(09.10.13) broadcast that the Turkish Cypriot leader DervisEroglu met with the
Austrian Ambassador to Lefkosia Karl Muelle on Tuesday. No statements were made after the meeting.
In addition, Eroglu met on
Wednesday with the Danish Ambassador toLefkosia KirstenRosenvoldGeelan.
The meeting was held behind closed doors
and no statement was issued before or after the meeting.
7. The breakaway regime instead of spending money in schools, is
building mosques
Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika
newspaper (10.10.13) reports that Turkish Cypriot Primary and Secondary School
Teachers' Trade Unions, KTOS and KTOEOS respectively, organized a protest
yesterday in front of the self-styled minister of finance of the breakaway
regime.
The two organizations were protesting for
the lacking of teachers, headmasters, caretakers and infrastructure at the
schools in occupied Cyprus, noting that the regime does not spend money in
schools but spend money in building mosques.
8. Leaking on the EU Report of Turkey
Turkish media report todays
(10.10.13) on leaking of the EU Report of Turkey.
Ankara Anatolia news agency reports that
Turkey's democratization package is positive that a comprehensive reform of
rules and procedures of the Parliament was launched to move beyond a
confrontational approach and to improve Parliament's functioning, the European
Commission (EU) said in its draft report on Turkey.
Turkish government announced a democratization
package on September 30. The draft report, obtained by Ankara Anatolıa news Agency,
praised the democratization package but cautioned for more attention. It opens
the perspective for changes to the 10% threshold for representation in
Parliament and provides for the decrease of the threshold for budget support to
political parties, the report said.
"More attention needs to be paid to
the adoption of an inclusive approach to law making, with systematic
consultation of all stakeholders, including on sensitive issues," it said.
It said the legal framework on elections and
political parties’ needs to be aligned with European standards.
Reporting on the same Turkish daily Today’s
Zaman newspaper writes that EU will praise the Turkish government for its
commitment to political reforms and democratization but will strongly criticize
the way it handled the Gezi Park events as well as limits on freedom of
expression and the media, according to a draft of the EU's progress report
obtained by Today's Zaman.
The draft of the report, which will be
published on Oct. 16, does not call on EU members to postpone the talks on
Chapter 22. The chapter was officially opened in late June, but its actual
launch was postponed until after the progress report.
The EU's draft welcomes the Sept. 30
democratization package, saying: "For the implementation of the package,
both legislation and decrees will need to be adopted by Parliament and the
government respectively. The package opens the perspective for changes to the
current 10 percent threshold for representation in Parliament and provides for
the decrease of the threshold for budget support to political parties, the
easing of conditions for the establishment of political parties and the removal
of restrictions on political party membership. It would also allow the conduct
of political activity in languages and dialects other than Turkish, education
in languages and dialects other than Turkish in private schools, the removal of
criminal sanctions for the use of letters 'Q,' 'X' and 'W' used in Kurdish and
the change of names of villages back to the versions which preceded the 1980
coup."
Although the draft says the Constitutional
Reconciliation Commission had reached a consensus in principle on close to 60
articles, there was no consensus on key political issues such as the separation
of powers or a new definition of citizenship without ethnic references, a key
demand of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).
The government is also praised in the
report for its civilian-military relations and settlement process. However, the
EU strongly criticized the government on the Gezi Park events. "A divisive
political climate prevailed; the government notably adopted overall an
uncompromising stance during the protest[s in] late May and early June,
including a polarizing tone towards citizens, civil society organization and
businesses. The government did not conduct sufficient consultations with
stake-holders on the adoption of key policies and legislation and failed to
carry out adequate impact assessments," the report draft says.
9. Protesters opposing Turkish PM during Middle East Technical
University event indicted on terror charges
Ankara Anatolia news agency (10.10.13)
reports that Ankara Prosecutor’s office has pressed charges against 11 people
involved in the clashes following a protest against Prime Minister RecepTayyip
Erdogan in Ankara’s Middle East Technical University (ODTU) campus at the
launching ceremony of the Gokturk-2 satellite on Dec. 18, 2012.
All the 11 people, including members of
several leftist student collectives, were indicted on terrorism-related
charges.
The indictment said that security forces
were aware that groups such as DEV-YOL (The revolutionary left) were planning a
demonstration during the ceremony, adding that the group attacked the police
“with stones and sticks,” setting up barricades and damaging public buildings.
“It is known that terror organizations are
driving university youth to violent acts under the pretense of the innocent
seeking of rights such as tuition fees, democratic education, education in
mother tongue, etc.” the indictment said, adding that “similar” activities were
seen in recent nationwide demonstrations, in reference to the Gezi Park
protests across Turkey.
“Similarly to the incident brought up in
the indictment, in the demonstrations held during the last [months] across the
country, the terror organizations, acting together, damaged public property
through violence in public statements, marches, open air debates, or protests
[…] aimed to create a chaotic environment in accordance with ideology, strategy
and goals,” the indictment said.
Police used tear gas and water cannon
against the protesting students, who were not allowed to approach the ceremony
hall. A total of 26 students were detained while five were injured as a result
of the police’s use of tear gas.
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