TURKISH CYPRIOT AND
TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C O N T E N T S
No. 189/13 04 -07.10.13
1.
Nami will meet with Davutoglu
2. Nami said the aim of the negotiations is a referendum to be
conducted in March
3. Eroglu met with Downer
4. Izcan
accused AKP of imposing Islamic lifestyle to Turkish Cypriots
5.
Kilicdaroglu congratulated Yorgancioglu
6.
Korkmazhan: The sides should be sincere and constructive
7.
Yorgancioglu agreed to implement the economic package; only problem the
“electricity authority”
8.
Fellahoglu met with British MPs
9. More info about the applications to the “Immovable compensation
committee” by the Greek Cypriots
10.
A cruise boat carried tourists from Larnaca to Alanya
11.Latest scenario: One more term with President Gul
12. Research show that Turks increasingly less interested in joining
EU
13. Poll shows that Turkish people overwhelmingly support democracy
as answer to Kurdish issue
14.
New law to permit Turkish police to detain ‘possible’ protesters
1. Nami
will meet with Davutoglu
According to illegal Bayrak television
(online, 06.10.13), self-styled minister of foreign affairs OzdilNami will fly
to Ankara on Tuesday to brief the Committee on Foreign Affairs of Turkey’s
Assembly on the Cyprus problem.
HuseyinOzel, “director of the personnel of
the foreign ministry”, announced to “BRT” that Nami will fly to Ankara on
Tuesday at 14.00 and meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
Later, Nami will also brief the Committee
on Foreign Affairs of Turkey’s Assembly on the latest developments of the
Cyprus problem.
2. Nami said the aim of the negotiations is a referendum to be
conducted in March
Illegal Bayrak television
(05.10.13) broadcast that the self-styled foreign minister OzdilNami claimed
that the Turkish Cypriot side’s stance towards the Cyprus problem is parallel
to the United Nations’.
Speaking to the Anatolian News Agency, Nami
said that their position was conveyed to the United Nations Secretary General
Ban Ki-Moon during their meeting in New York.
Stating that the Cyprus negotiations
process which has been continuing for 50 years has a symbolic significance,
Nami alleged the following: “We would restart the negotiations on October and
conclude it on March. I hope to see the Yes vote in the referendum and the
problem would get out of the UN’s agenda after 50 years. This would be a very
meaningful message for the international community”.
Reporting on the same issue, Turkish
Cypriot YeniDuzen newspaper (05.10.13) reports that Nami also said that
confederation is not on the Agenda of the Turkish Cypriot side. On the Varosha
issue he claimed that it is a territory issue adding that these kinds of issues
are part of a comprehensive solution.
3. Eroglu met with Downer
Illegal Bayrak television
(05.10.13) reports that the Turkish Cypriot leader DervisEroglu met with the UN
Secretary General’s Special Advisor for Cyprus Alexander Downer in occupied Nicosia
on Friday. The UN Advisor was
accompanied by a large group including the UN Secretary Generals Special
Representative for Cyprus Lisa Buttenheim.
Eroglu’s special representative
and spokesman Osman Ertug, “presidential undersecretary” HasanGungor and
SerdarHoca, OguzhanHasipoglu, GulfemVezirogluSevgili and GuneşOnar from the
Turkish Cypriot negotiating team were present at the meeting.
Making a statement to the press after the
one hour meeting Downer said that he had found the opportunity to receive
extensive information regarding Eroglu’s visit to New York.
He also underlined the need for the two
leaders to work towards what steps they will be taking from now on.
4. Izcan
accused AKP of imposing Islamic lifestyle to Turkish Cypriots Turkish Cypriot daily YeniDuzen newspaper (06.10.13) reports that
the general secretary of the United Cyprus Party (BKP) IzzetIzcan participated
in the European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE-NGL) meeting which was held
in Istanbul between 2-4 of October.
Speaking during the meeting, Izcan stated
that the democratization of Turkey and the solution of the Kurdish problem will
also help to the solution of the Cyprus problem and for the establishment of
peace in the region.
Referring to the Cyprus problem Izcan
stated that the price of the non-solution and of the continuation of the status
quo in Cyprus is paid by the Turkish Cypriots who became a minority in occupied
Cyprus. He also accused the ruling in Turkey Justice and Development party
(AKP) for interfering in every aspect of live in the breakaway regime and for
imposing the Sunni Islam lifestyle to occupied Cyprus.
5. Kilicdaroglu
congratulated Yorgancioglu
Turkish Cypriot daily Vatan (06.10.13)
reported that the leader of Republican People’s Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu
called the newly “prime minister” OzkanYorgancioglu to congratulate him on his
new post.
They also evaluated the relations between
Turkey and the breakaway regime, as well as the problems in the region.
6. Korkmazhan:
The sides should be sincere and constructive
Turkish Cypriot daily YeniDuzen (07.10.13)
reports that general secretary of the United Cyprus Party (BKP) Abdullah
Korkmazhan said that the sides should contribute to the process in a more
sincere and constructive way in order to have an early solution. He also called
on the ruling government of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) as well as
the Turkish Cypriot side to give an end to the game that they are one step in
front.
In a written statement, Korkmazhan said that
the sides have not decided yet when the negotiations will start or which the
ground for the negotiations will be, however, he added they make no realistic
statements like there will be a solution in 3 months or a referendum in 2014.
7. Yorgancioglu
agreed to implement the economic package; only problem the “electricity
authority”
Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis (07.10.13)
reports that according to confidential sources of the paper, the so-called
prime minister OzkanYorgancioglu agreed both written and verbally with HalilIbrahim
Akca - Turkey's so-called ambassador to the occupied part of Lefkosia – to
implement the “economic programme 2013-15”.
The only uncertainty in the agreed
programme is the issue of the “electricity authority” (“KIB-TEK”). The package
envisages the preparation of the privatization of “KIB-TEK”, however, the
“government” insists on to make it autonomous, the paper reports.
According to the programme, the new
employments in the “public sector” will be appointed mutually with the Turkish
“embassy” in the occupied part of Lefkosia.
8. Fellahoglu
met with British MPs
Turkish Cypriot daily YeniDuzen (07.10.13)
reports that the “mayor” of the occupied municipality of
LefkosiaKadriFellahoglu met with Nick de Bois - Conservative MP for Enfield
North - and Andy Love -Labour MP for Edmonton. The British MPs were accompanied
by Alessandra Viezzer, head of the programme support team of the EU and Mary
Southcott, coordinator of the group Friends of Cyprus at the British
Parliament.
Fellahoglu briefed the British Deputies on
their relations with the Nicosia Municipality and their joint projects. Bois
and Love, who wanted to brief in detail regarding the joint project of the
sewage treatment and water supply in the occupied village Mia Milia, visited
and inspected the facilities.
9. More info about the applications to the “Immovable
compensation committee” by the Greek Cypriots
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris
newspaper (07.10.13) reports in its economic papers that during the last nine
months, 988 applications were made to the “compensation committee” in the
breakaway regime. The paper writes that the committee paid almost 38 million
sterling pounds as compensation.
The paper, which sites information from the
committee website, publishes the following as regards the number of the
applications and the money paid by the committee since 2006 that the committee
started to operate:
|
Year
|
Number of application
|
Compensation (£)
|
|
2006
|
100
|
2.221.000
|
|
2007
|
197
|
3.147.000
|
|
2008
|
76
|
1.646.600
|
|
2009
|
70
|
31.047.000
|
|
2010
|
397
|
12.724.900
|
|
2011
|
1926
|
12.980.440
|
|
2012
|
1601
|
33.952.775
|
|
2013 (*first nine months)
|
988
|
37.702.836
|
|
Total
|
5355
|
135.422.551
|
10. A
cruise boat carried tourists from Larnaca to Alanya
According to Turkish Cypriot daily
HalkinSesi (05.10.13), a cruise boat carried 2,042 tourists from Larnaca to
Atalya, in Turkey. The majority of the tourists were French, German, Israeli,
British and Spanish.
11.Latest scenario: One more term with President Gul
Under the above title, Turkish
daily Hurriyet Daily News (07.10.13) reports that while addressing members of
the Parliament on the occasion of the opening of the new legislative year,
Turkish President Abdullah Gul made very clear that nobody should dismiss him
in predicting who will be the Cankaya Presidential Palace’s next tenant, who
will be named in August 2014 elections.
In a speech delivered Oct. 1, Gul
underlined that it was his “last address ... during my term,” and that
following the end of his term, he would “continue to be in the service of our
nation.”
Only days later, in an interview with
private news television A Haber late on Oct. 3, Prime Minister RecepTayyip Erdogan
also felt the need to deliver clear-cut remarks on the very same issue.
Refuting suggestions that he and the incumbent president could come head to
head in a showdown for the presidency, Erdogan said: “I don’t believe there
will be a decision that will lead to us parting ways. What I mean is we will do
the necessary consultation and negotiation among ourselves if needed.”
“As a matter of fact, through these
remarks, both Gul and Erdogan revealed the difficulty of making future plans
for each of them while ignoring the other. In this way, they have also declared
that they had to name the presidential candidate from the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) through “consultation.””, writes the paper adding that
as there are various scenarios under given conditions, the results of local
elections scheduled for March 2014 will be a decisive element in picking the
final scenario.
The likeliness of the scenario of “one more
term with Gul” rises when taking into consideration probabilities such as: Erdogan,
as such a dominant character, may not like to be at Cankaya with the current
presidential authorities, especially when taking probable conflicts with Gul
into account.
Or if there is a decrease in the ruling
party’s votes in the local elections, he may prefer to offer an opportunity to
Gul for a second term at Cankaya while taking the chances of not being able to
get elected as president into account.
12. Research
show that Turks increasingly less interested in joining EU
Turkish daily Today’sZaman newspaper (07.10.13) reports that the Turks' desire to join the European Union is decreasing with every passing day, according to research carried out by the Turkey-Europe Education and Scientific Research Foundation (TAVAK).
Turkish daily Today’sZaman newspaper (07.10.13) reports that the Turks' desire to join the European Union is decreasing with every passing day, according to research carried out by the Turkey-Europe Education and Scientific Research Foundation (TAVAK).
The recently announced results of the
research say that although public desire to become a full member of the EU
increased by 1% compared to in 2012, the EU bid has started to decrease in
importance on the agenda of the Turkish people.
The three-year study finds that the main
reason of this loss of desire is increasing self-confidence because of economic
expansion in recent years and the ability of the economic crisis -- which began
in 2008 in Hungary and Romania and spread to Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy
and will likely continue in Belgium, Slovenia and some Eastern Europe countries
in 2014 -- to affect Turkish economic welfare.
Aside from fears about the economy, among
the main factors that have changed the Turks' feelings towards the EU are
negative signals that have been coming from EU countries, particularly from
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has taken a hard line on Turkey becoming
an EU member.
Islamophobia, racism and Turkophobia also
rank among the negative factors that have changed Turkish public opinion about
the EU. The research indicates that if developments on Turkey's EU candidacy
continue in a negative way, the number of people who want to see Turkey as part
of the EU will decline even further next year.
The research says that the growing strength
of the Turkish economy has given Turkey confidence.
On the upcoming of the annual progress
report of Turkey that will be published on Oct. 16, the research shows that
Turkey does not expect to receive positive signals. The research also states
that the EU report's being negative each year and the EU not moving forward on
Turkey's bid, also affect public opinion.
The 2013 research reveals that Turkey
desires to develop close relations with BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa). As well as Turkey turning towards BRICS countries
rather than the EU in recent years, the research says that Turkey is also
taking the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) into consideration for
further cooperation.
The study says there are increasing numbers
of those who believe Turkey does not need the EU and declining numbers of those
who want Turkey to be an EU country.
The TAVAK research also reveals that if
Turkey can be a full member of the EU in 2014, the EU will supply 2 billion
euros every year.
13. Poll shows that Turkish people overwhelmingly support
democracy as answer to Kurdish issue
Turkish daily Today’s Zaman
newspaper (07.10.13) reports that about 90% of the Turkish public believe the
Kurdish question cannot be settled through military means but by
democratization, and that expanding cultural rights and negotiating are the
answers that will finally produce a settlement for Turkey’s decades-long
problem with separatist terrorism, according to a recent survey conducted by
pollster MetroPOLL.
The results of MetroPOLL’s research come
from two surveys: one conducted in 31 provinces on Sept. 21-27 among 1,208
individuals via telephone and another one on Sept. 5-13 only in Ankara among
1,800 individuals. The poll conducted in Ankara focused specifically on voting
patterns of the respondents. The research team was led by Professor OzerSencar
and included academics IhsanDagi, DoguErgil, SitkiYildiz and VahapCoskun.
The most outstanding finding of the poll
was that a majority of the respondents say democratizing reforms are the only
viable way to solve the decades-long Kurdish issue. In response to a question
on how the Kurdish issue can be solved permanently, 36 percent replied,
“Through dialogue and negotiations,” while 50% said, “Democratizing reforms
without talking directly to the Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK].” Only 8% agreed
with “armed fight by the military” as a valid method. The researchers say this
is a significant finding, indicating that nearly 90% of the population do not
believe any more in security-oriented approaches but supports negotiations and
democratization reforms as viable options for a settlement. Even among
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) supporters, the weight of those who supported
fighting the PKK as the right way to deal with separatism was only 17%.
The respondents also believe there should
be red lines in negotiations. Seventy-one percent responded negatively to a
question inquiring whether the state should improve the prison conditions of
PKK's jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, with only 18% believing it should. The PKK
has named better conditions for Ocalan as a primarily issue of importance in
the ongoing settlement process, which started in the form of talks between the
government and Ocalan in late 2012. Not surprisingly, 79% of Peace and
Democracy Party (BDP) voters said Ocalan's conditions should be improved. Ocalan
has been in solitary confinement on Imrali, an island off İstanbul's coast,
although several inmates were moved to the island at some point. The BDP and
the PKK want Ocalan to serve the rest of his life sentence under house arrest.
Fifty-four percent of respondents believe
the settlement process has strengthened the PKK, while 30% believe it has
weakened it. The PKK announced a cease-fire in March this year, which was
supposed to be followed by a withdrawal of its militants from Turkish soil, but
this has not happened to a satisfactory extent as of yet. The researchers also
noted that the idea that the PKK has gained an upper hand since the start of
the process is higher among those with higher levels of educational background.
Only 21% of respondents with lower levels of education agreed that the process
made the PKK stronger, while 67% of those with a university education or higher
agreed with this view. The researchers concluded that the higher a person's
education level, the more prevalent the perception of the PKK as a threat.
The survey study included questions about
confidence and trust felt towards Ocalan and the PKK. Seventy-six percent
replied that they did not believe that Ocalan and the PKK will carry out their
end of the deal in the talks for a settlement. Only 15% expressed trust in the
PKK. Certainly, that ratio was higher among BDP voters, 79% of whom said they
have confidence in the PKK. In response to a question on whether the PKK should
be allowed to turn into a legitimate political party, 34% responded positively,
which the researchers say is a significant percentage and notes that this
further confirms that violence and military options are no longer legitimate
for Turkish society and that there is potential for the PKK to eventually become
a political actor.
The study also found that there has been an
11% increase compared with a similar survey in 2012 in the percentage of those
who support the idea of allowing Kurds to be schooled in Kurdish. Forty-eight
percent said they were in favour of Kurdish being a language of education along
with Turkish, while 47% said they are against.
14. New
law to permit Turkish police to detain ‘possible’ protesters
Turkish daily Hurriyet newspaper (06.10.13)
reports that a new regulation will allow
Turkish police to detain those who possess the “risk of conducting a protest”
from 12 to 24 hours without the demand of a prosecutor or a judge, prompting
acute worries from opposition deputies.
The new regulations that will be conducted
jointly by the justice and interior ministries will allow the police to detain
a suspect who “may hold a protest” for up to 24 hours without any court
decision while also increasing the penalties for resistance to police and
damaging public property.
The move to strengthen police powers was
precipitated by the countrywide Gezi Park protests, which began at the end of
May.
Organizations which “tend to hold protests”
will be monitored and their members could be detained by police if intelligence
reports suggest they are planning to conduct a demonstration or action.
The regulations will also increase the
penalties for resistance to police and damage to public property. Those who
possess Molotov cocktails might be sentenced up to five years in prison under
the new regulations. The draft also includes a board to regulate security
forces, which will monitor malpractice within the institutions.
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TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION
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