TURKISH CYPRIOT AND
TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C O N T E N T S
No. 54/14 20.03.14
1. Ozersay: There will be important developments soon
2. Ertug: We are closer to the solution than yesterday
3. Member of Eroglu’s negotiating claims says that the “constituent states”
will be sovereign and have the right of self-determination
4. Eroglu: We expect positive outcome from the negotiations
within 3-5 months
5. Eroglu: The world must see the reality of the
existence of two “peoples” in Cyprus
7. Cicek: “There are
two separate states in Cyprus”
8. Turkey blocks Twitter, after Erdogan vowed
'eradication'; Gul expressed his disagreement
9. Turkey 'may consider' military operation into Syria
to protect the tomb of Suleyman Sah
1. Ozersay: There will be important developments soon
Turkish Cypriot daily Halkin Sesi newspaper (21.03.14) reports that
the Turkish Cypriot negotiator, Kudret
Ozersay has said that “some concrete steps may be taken in the road leading to
the solution” in Cyprus and that “there will be important developments”. In
statements to Halkin Sesi from New York, Ozersay
noted that soon steps could be taken as regards the comprehensive solution and the
cooperation between the sides on some issues that will contribute to their
economy.
Ozersay argued that taking into consideration the recent
developments in Ukraine, Europe, which
is depended on Russia in the field of energy, will be more willing on the issue
of carrying Eastern Mediterranean’s energy resources to the international
markets and this makes inevitable the revaluation of the situation in Cyprus.
He went on and argued: “The need for regional stability had been
secured with long lasting negotiations without a result and with the status
quo, but the latest developments showed once more that this should change now. It
is very important to overcome this long lasting stagnation, which has put the
Turkish Cypriots into a dead-end from the point of view of their status, and
for the people to breathe. The ideal way of solving this is the comprehensive
solution. Only on the way leading to the
solution some concrete steps may be taken. We believe that soon important
developments will happen on these issues”.
After meeting with officials from the US
State Department yesterday in Washington, Ozersay met with Mr Smart, who
according to the paper is President Obama’s advisor, and afterwards departed again for New York, where he is discussing the
latest developments with the Ambassadors of the five permanent members of the
UN Security Council.
(I/Ts.)
2. Ertug: We are closer to the solution than yesterday
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (21.03.14) reports that Osman Ertug, Turkish Cypriot leader’s
advisor on diplomatic affairs and spokesperson, has argued that the solution is closer today than yesterday, but time and the course of the negotiating
process will show the result. Ertug gave a lecture yesterday at the illegal
Near East University (“YDU”) under the title “The Cyprus Negotiations in their
50th Year and the Solution Possibilities”.
Ertug referred to the property issue and said that it should intensively
be discussed in the negotiations and we should say that “some give and take”
will happen. He alleged that the users,
who have created some development on the properties, should be taken into
consideration and added that they exert efforts in this direction on the
negotiating table. He said that “new
conditions” have been created as regards the properties both in the occupied
north and the government-controlled south area of Cyprus during the last 40
years and alleged that the solution should be in a manner that will influence
negatively to the minimum extentthese [conditions].
Ertug claimed that people are worried about what will happen with
their houses and whether they will move again to another place. He said that
they do not want to abandon their places again and live under Greek Cypriot
administration.
Ertug argued that the Greek Cypriot side
wants a great deal of territory and submitted a proposal that takes into
consideration the percentage of population of the communities, noting that the
Greek Cypriots consider the population of the Turkish Cypriot side to be
18%-20% [of the island’s total population] and asks for a population census.
(I/Ts.)
3. Member of Eroglu’s negotiating claims says that the “constituent states”
will be sovereign and have the right of self-determination
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (21.03.14) reports that Oguzhan Hasipoglu, member of the
Turkish Cypriot leader’s negotiating team, has
alleged that the “single sovereignty” concept which is included in the joint
declaration signed between President Anastasiades and the Turkish Cypriot
leader Eroglu exists in absolutely no other federal state’s constitution in the
world.
In statements to Kibris, Hasipoglu noted that this concept has been
clarified in the joint declaration by saying that United Cyprus as member of
the UN and the EU will have single international legal identity and single
sovereignty as it is described in the UN Charter.
“Given that reference is made
to the sovereignty of the UN member states, it would not be wrong to say that
this definition could be interpreted within the Swiss Constitution model, some
articles of which are taken into consideration by the Turkish Cypriot side”,
he alleged adding that this constitution provides that the cantons are
sovereign as long as their sovereignty is not limited by the federal
constitution. He claimed also that the cantons could make international
agreements on issues within their jurisdiction provided that these are not
contrary to the law, the federal interests and the law of the other cantons.
Referring to article 1 of the UN Charter, Hasipoglu alleged: “Given that there is no single people in
Cyprus, according to the UN Charter it is understood that sovereignty includes
an arrangement which gives possibility to the peoples to determine their
equality of rights and their own future”.
Hasipoglu claimed that sovereignty has internal and external
dimension, something which is understood by the opposition in the government
controlled area of Cyprus and on which many local and foreign academicians
agree. He argued that the sovereignty may be single, absolute, inseparable and
unlimited only in unitary states. He claimed that the actual problem is that
the Greek Cypriot side did not abandon its view as regards the transformation
of the Republic of Cyprus into a federation.
(I/Ts.)
4. Eroglu: We expect positive outcome from the
negotiations within 3-5 months
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi newspaper
(21.03.14) reports that the Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu stated that
there will be a positive outcome from the Cyprus talks within 3-5 months.
He made these
statements during a meeting he held with a group of students from Estonian
Tartu University. He also told them that the efforts for a solution had been
on-going since 1968 and that the “people of TRNC” got tired of the never ending
process.
5. Eroglu:The world must see the reality of the
existence of two “peoples” in Cyprus.
Turkish Cypriot
daily Star Kibris newspaper (21.03.14) reports that the Turkish Cypriot leader
Dervis Eroglu met with Talip Atalay, the “head of religious affairs in the
breakaway regime. Atalay informed Eroglu on the “Promotion of Dialogue Between
Religious Leaders” meeting he attended in Geneva last week.
During the
meeting, Eroglu stated that Church should not interfere in politics. He also said that the contacts between the
two religious leaders in Cyprus must continue and added that he believes that
the world must see the reality of the existence of two “peoples” in Cyprus.
Atalay on his
part said that religious leaders approach the solution process from a religious
perspective. Speaking about the Geneva meeting, Atalay said that good
activities took place where many firsts were experienced.
7.Cicek: “There are
two separate states in Cyprus”
Under the front page title: “Cicek: There are
two separate states”, Turkish Cypriot daily Vatan newspaper (21.03.14) reports
that the Speaker of the Turkish National Assembly held a meeting with the
so-called ambassador of the breakaway regime in Ankara, Mustafa Lakatamyali and
a delegation of the “association of martyrs
and war veterans of the TRNC”.
In statements during the meeting, Cicek
referred to the Cyprus problem and said that the Cyprus problem is the most
important dispute which was not possible to be solved during the last 50 years.
He also expressed hopes for a solution
to be found soon and added: “There are two equal communities, two equal states
there. Turks are not the minority, but are essential components. We are willing
to reach to a peace solution that will safeguard all legal rights. If it is not
possible to reach to this agreement, we do not consider it right to continue in
this way forever”.
Pointing out that Cyprus is Turkey’s national
policy, Cicek said that no matter which party is in power in Turkey, it will
always be by the side of the “TRNC” and continue putting the “TRNC” into the
agenda during Turkey’s bilateral talks in the international platforms.
AK
8. Turkey blocks Twitter, after Erdogan vowed
'eradication'; Gul expressed his disagreement
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (21.03.14) reports
that Turkey has blocked access to Twitter, hours after Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to close down the social media platform.
"We now have a court order. We'll eradicate
Twitter. I don't care what the international community says. Everyone will
witness the power of the Turkish Republic," Erdogan said at his campaign
rally in the western city of Bursa on March 20, 10 days before the upcoming
local elections.
The Press
Advisory of the Prime Ministry has later in the night clarified Erdogan's
statement, arguing that Twitter officials currently "ignore" some
court rulings in Turkey, which order the social media platform to "remove
some links" as per the complaints filed by Turkish citizens.
Just before
midnight, access to Twitter was already blocked in Turkey. The Communication
Technologies Institution (BTK), which was given extraordinary powers with the
recently passed Internet law, lists three court rulings and one prosecutor
decision on its website as the reason of the outage. Eventually, all Internet service providers (ISP)
in Turkey have abided by the rulings, as Turkish social media users have
started to figure out ways to circumvent the blocking, like DNS-tweaking and
VPN services.
In addition, the paper also reports that Turkish
President Abdullah Gul has expressed his disagreement with the access
restriction of social media websites, in his first remarks on the Twitter ban.
“A total shutdown of social media platforms cannot be
approved,” Gul tweeted via his own account on March 21.
Despite
stressing that no such ban could be fully implemented, Gul expressed his hope
that the government’s move would not last long. “As I have said many times in
the past, at the point where communication technologies have reached today it is technically impossible to entirely
block access to social media platforms used across the world such as Twitter. I
hope this practice will not last long,” he wrote.
Gul had assured
that there was no question of blocking access to social media platforms or
popular sharing websites such as YouTube, following the recent enactment of a
controversial law increasing government control over the Internet.
9. Turkey 'may consider' military operation into
Syria to protect the tomb of Suleyman Sah
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (20.03.14) reported
that opposition and the government in Turkey traded barbs over a possible
operation to protect Turkey's Suleyman Sah tomb in Syria.
"The tomb of Suleyman Sah is a rare place, which
is Turkish land outside Turkey's own borders. There is no difference between
the tomb and Ankara or Sinop. The soil where it is located is Turkish soil. Our
armed forces are ensuring security and protecting it," Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said, responding to earlier statements
by Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
On March 19, Kilicdaroglu
called on the Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel "not to embark on an
adventure" with a military intervention in Syria to protect the tomb.
The tomb for Suleyman
Sah, the founder of the Seljuk Empire in Anatolia who died in 1086, is located
in the governorate of Aleppo. Two Turkish F-16 fighter
jets are reportedly on duty to protect the tomb, from either Syrian government
forces or ISIL.
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