TURKISH CYPRIOT AND
TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C O N T E N T S
No.
97/14 28.05.14
1. Eroglu describes
Biden’s visit to the occupied area of Cyprus as “extremely
important”
2. Ozersay met with
Pierre Lieve of the French Foreign Ministry
3. Columnist: We are
ashamed of Varosha being decayed
4. Talat, Denktas and
Ozyigit evaluate the EP elections
5. Columnists assess
the statements by the Turkish Cypriot political parties on the EP
elections
6. Proposals on
“constitutional amendments” on hold due to lack of quorum
7. Toros: “Direct
phone calls across the divide will be possible at last”
8. Davutoglu and
Lavrov agreed that improving bilateral relations is key to regional
stability
9. Israel appeals to
Interpol not to implement Turkish court’s ruling
1. Eroglu
describes Biden’s visit to the occupied area of Cyprus as
“extremely important”
Illegal Bayrak television
(28.05.14, online) broadcast that the Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis
Eroglu has described as “extremely important” US Vice President,
Joe Biden’s visit to the occupied area of Cyprus and his so-called
presidency office. In statements yesterday to Bayrak, Eroglu
argued: “This is not an incident to be underestimated. The
statement he made when he landed at Larnaka Airport should not
surprise anyone because he came as guest of the South Cyprus Greek
Administration and in any case there is absolutely no one in the
world who does not know that he recognizes the South Cyprus Greek
Administration. While this is the reality, the fact that he
came to the TRNC and visited us at the presidency is a historic
event, in my view”.
Eroglu claimed that one
should sit at the table with both leaders in order to be able to find
out the content of the Cyprus problem and added that Biden did just
that. “During the negotiations we held with Biden we discussed
confidence building measures, but the issue of Varosha was not
raised”, he said adding that the issue of the occupied fenced
off city of Varosha was raised by President Anastasiades during
the dinner they had at the buffer zone and the Turkish side put
“openly and clearly” onto the table its views on this issue.
Eroglu said that they
agreed on four issues during that dinner and added: “The first was
the meeting of the leaders once every 15 days, the second was to
exert efforts for gathering more information regarding the missing
persons, the third was the technical committees. We said that we have
already technical committees and they have been named. We are ready
in case the Greek Cypriot side completes the naming”.
Eroglu said that Biden
wrote down the agreed issues and alleged that President Anastasiades
raised an objection and did not want the agreements to be announced
to the press. Eroglu noted that he had expressed the view that
the statement should be made and Biden “approved” the necessity
of making this statement.
Responding to the
allegations that Biden had not shaken his hand, Eroglu said that “we
shook hands as soon as Mr Biden came out of the car”.
(I/Ts.)
2. Ozersay
met with Pierre Lieve of the French Foreign Ministry
According to Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi Daily News (online, 27.05.14),
Turkish Cypriot
negotiator Kudret Ozersay who is in France as an official guest
of the French Foreign Ministry, met with Chief of EU Affairs
Department at the French Foreign Ministry Pierre Lievy.
The paper reported that
Ozersay is officially invited by the French Foreign Ministry making
his visit the first one for Turkish Cypriots to be represented at
that level in France.
3. Columnist:
We are ashamed of Varosha being decayed
Under the title “The
buildings will one by one be falling over our head”, Turkish
Cypriot columnist Mert Ozdag assesses in Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni
Duzen newspaper (28.05.14) the issue of confidence building
measures and the occupied fenced off city of Varosha. He reports
that “new dynamics” have been created from the point of view
of the Turkish Cypriot side by putting onto the table a confidence
building measures package in parallel to the on-going negotiations
for finding a comprehensive solution. He writes that it seems
that the issue, which had come onto the agenda prior to US Vice
President, Joe Biden’s visit to Cyprus, “will be developed and
debated within the forthcoming period”. He goes on and reports,
inter alia, the following:
“…For many years, the
Turkish side has not been seeing Varosha as a confidence building
measure. It preferred to comment on it under the chapter of the
comprehensive solution. In this case, a large city we had in our
hands decayed, melted. That is, in time our position at the
table decayed like the buildings of Varosha. Now we are
hesitating, we are ashamed. We are ashamed of this state of decay.
The result of this shame is president Eroglu’s view that ‘there
should be no Greek Cypriot in the team which will enter Varosha for
preparing a feasibility study’. We are ashamed! We are ashamed
because we gave such a large city to the snakes and the rats for many
years…And we are ashamed because we could gain absolutely nothing
by keeping such a beauty hostage …
Now, with the recent
visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and the Biden
visit, we woke up for a new process. Varosha and Famagusta are now
an issue of bargaining. This is the reality! Davutoglu’s statement
that ‘there should be something in return’ and the initiatives
during Biden’s visit showed us that Varosha is at the table as a
confidence building measure before even the comprehensive solution.
And during a TV program
in which he had participated the day before yesterday, the second
president Mehmet Ali Talat said that he is positive on this
issue. Asked whether we should make Varosha an issue of
bargaining, he replied: ‘We are discussing it any way…When I was
in office I had even proposed to give Varosha, but the other side did
not accept it. I had proposed to give Varosha in return for the
lifting of the isolations…’
…If this opportunity is
not well used by our leadership and the negotiating process, which
was revived with the natural gas process, fails, the decayed
buildings of Varosha will start falling over our heads one by one…”
(I/Ts.)
4. Talat,
Denktas and Ozyigit evaluate the EP elections
Turkish Cypriot daily
Kibris Postasi Daily News (online, 28.05.14) reports that former
Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, evaluating the European
Parliamentary (EP) elections during a TV show, said: “Political
romance is over and the truth is unveiled”.
Noting that the Turkish
Cypriots didn’t take part in the organization of the elections,
Talat said that the Turkish Cypriots, who participated in the
elections, either as a candidate or to vote, did this to contribute
to peace, or to claim Turkish Cypriots’ rights and send them to the
EP.
Talat did not mention his
earlier comment in which he allegedly blamed Turkish Cypriot
candidates for being “spineless”. Talat’s words, unknown where
he said them, created a storm in social media and soon after Cenk
Mutluyakali (Editor in Chief of the Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen)
mentioned this in his column without naming Talat, but saying “I
haven’t seen any spinelessness in anyone that day” in defence of
the Turkish Cypriots who participated in the elections.
Talat continued his
evaluation of the elections by underlying the ethnic division in
Cyprus. According to Talat, there are two different ethnic
communities on this island and the Cyprus problem has its roots in
ethnic division. “Therefore, you didn’t need to be an oracle to
know that no Turkish Cypriot would get elected to the EP”
“As we didn’t go
after this `dream which is not good for your mental health’ (A
Turkish proverb to define unattainable goals) we insisted on
political equality” added Talat.
Moreover, Turkish Cypriot
daily Star Kibris (28.05.14) reports that the leader of the Democrat
Party Serdar Denktas, evaluating domestic policies as well as the EP
elections during a programme at ADA TV, said that the incidents that
happened during the EP elections were ridiculed. He added that their
proposal was to hold the same day their own elections and to elect
their own EP Deputies. He went on: “Maybe they would not have been
accepted, but we would have continued our pressure on the name of the
people”. He claimed that what has happened in the elections it is
the biggest insult to them.
On the same issue, Kibris
Postasi (28.05.14) the leader of the Social Democracy Party (TDP)
Cemal Ozyigit, evaluating also the EP elections during a radio
programme on “BRT”, said that he was really sad, and adding “I
really, sincerely, didn’t want to turn out to be right about my
predictions before the elections. Unfortunately our predictions
became reality, our fears proved to be right. I wish I was wrong.”
Noting that they
discussed a lot before the elections with Deniz Birinci, who resigned
from her Foreign Relations Secretary position from TDP for ethical
reasons and joined the elections, Ozyigit said: “We talked about
all these possible outcomes, but she was assertive and willing; I
wish the result was different”.
He also said: “From the
first day, we said, even in the colonial times, Turkish Cypriots
elected their own representatives. After 1960, we kept electing
our own representatives as it is a constitutional right defined in
the 1960 constitution.
In this last round we
agreed that we can have Turkish Cypriot candidates or they can vote
as part of their democratic rights, but it could only stay at the
personal level. Our interest as a community was not served. We
never oppose anyone running in the elections but just warned them
that ‘this might serve a different purpose than your real aim’.
We told this to the
officials in Brussels that it’s EU’s job to make sure two Turkish
Cypriots are elected to the parliament. However we were told to
go and tell this to Kassoulides. We have nothing to discuss with the
Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister (translator’s note: as he refers to
the Cyprus Foreign Minister), it should have been the EU sorting
things out.”
5. Columnists
assess the statements by the Turkish Cypriot political parties on the
EP elections
Under the title “They
have the TRNC”, Turkish Cypriot columnist Ali Osman assesses in
Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper (28.05.14) the
statements made by Turkish Cypriot politicians on the participation
of the Turkish Cypriots in the European Parliament (EP) elections
held on Sunday.
Noting that the Turkish
Cypriot leader Eroglu, the former Turkish Cypriot leader Talat and
the self-styled prime minister of the breakaway regime, Ozkan
Yorgancioglu started making statements saying essentially the same
thing, Osman writes, inter alia, the following:
“…The choir is
magnificent. Eroglu [said]: ‘The elections are elections of the
south’. The reaction from Talat and Yorgancioglu are of the same
kind! They had stated from before that in case one of the Turkish
Cypriots was elected in these elections, this person would not be
representing the Turkish Cypriots. However, if this right had
been recognized to those who are holders of the TRNC identity card,
they would have respected it.
Turkey is continuously
preparing plans for annihilating the Turkish Cypriots. Everyone
who is a Turkish Cypriot can understand this. I think that they are
clever enough to make this assessment... More correctly, is it not
announced that 95 thousand Turkish Cypriots hold in their pockets
identity cards of the Republic of Cyprus? Then why should these
elections not interest the Turkish Cypriots? Is it because the TRNC
exists? Let them return the identity cards of the Republic of Cyprus
and let them live with the TRNC identity cards! No one will have
anything to say about this… If we explain it a little bit more, the
British identity cards are EU citizens’ identity cards and belong
to those who live within Britain’s geographical area. The same
think is valid for Cyprus. Even though the EU laws are not valid
in the north because this place is under Turkish occupation, this is
an EU territory. The fact that the elections were held in the other
half of the island is due to the abnormal situation in the north.
It is tragicomic to say that ‘I will elect two parliamentarians
among the TRNC citizens in the north and I am in this job if this is
accepted’…”
Meanwhile, writing also
in Afrika, Mehmet Levent reports that even if half of the
58.637 registered Turkish Cypriot voters went to the ballot and used
their right to vote, the Turkish Cypriots would have definitely taken
one of the two seats in the EP, which they allege belongs to them.
He noted that they lost this opportunity and “playthings of the
official policies imposed on us by Ankara through its puppets here
and the politicians”.
Alleging that the Greek
Cypriots usurped the right to vote of 30 thousand Turkish Cypriots in
order not to let the Turkish Cypriots take two seat in the EP, Levent
admits the following: “However, we should not forget that they
gave the right to vote to 58,637 Turkish Cypriots and they published
it in the voters’ lists which they prepared”.
Noting that only 1869
Turkish Cypriots went to vote, Levent writes that “from now on
we have no right to make a fuss saying ‘they usurped the two seats
of ours at the EP’”.
(I/Ts.)
6. Proposals
on “constitutional amendments” on hold due to lack of quorum
According to Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi Daily News (online, 27.05.14), the
self-styled assembly of the breakaway regime in the occupied area of
the Republic of Cyprus was due to convene for an extraordinary
session on Tuesday in order to discuss proposals on “constitutional
amendments”. However due to a lack of quorum the “assembly” is
postponed to Thursday.
The amendments which were
going to be discussed foresee changes to 19 “bylaws” and 4 more
“additional bylaws” which were approved by the “committee
working on the amendments” on May 24th.
The “bylaws are on
fundamental rights, increasing the reliability of parliament and
strengthening control and accountability mechanisms”.
“Constitutional
amendments” require 34 “deputy” votes to pass. If the amendment
passes from the “assembly”, the breakaway regime aims to hold a
referendum during the upcoming local elections.
7. Toros:
“Direct phone calls across the divide will be possible at last”
According to Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi Daily News (online, 27.05.14), the
Chairman of the Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Commerce Fikri Toros,
speaking to Al Jazeera Turkish, said that “direct calls will be
possible across the divide in Cyprus with mobile phones and the
substructure work is expected to be completed in May”. He
added that all the barriers in front of direct phone calls between
the occupied area and the government controlled area of the Republic
of Cyprus will be lifted very soon.
Toros noted that both
Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot Chambers of Commerce have been
jointly putting an effort for making direct calls through mobile
phones possible.
Speaking on the
background of the latest development, Toros said “Before the last
round of talks started we discussed about the issue with the Chairman
of the Greek Cypriot Chamber of Commerce in Malta in 2013. In that
period we couldn’t make any progress. However, we haven’t given
up and we pushed for it.”
According to Toros most
of the challenges were technical issues about where to install the
base stations and the arrangement of tariffs.
Toros underlined that
this project has been approved by both leaders.
8. Davutoglu
and Lavrov agreed that improving bilateral relations is key to
regional stability
According to Turkish
daily Sabah (online, 27.05.14), Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu
met with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, to
exchange views on the recent developments in Ukraine and Syria as
well as the Iranian nuclear program along with bilateral relations.
In a joint press
conference, Davutoglu said that bilateral relations have been
gradually improving after holding meetings on joint strategic
planning groups despite a divergence over the regional and
international developments.
According to Ankara
Anatolia news agency reports, Davutoglu underscored the importance of
their evaluation on significant regional issues, adding that "We
would be happy to focus on actual problems in the Middle East, North
Africa, and the Black Sea region. Ukraine is our neighbour and we
would also point to the ongoing problems in Ukraine."
Lavrov also pointed out
that the cooperation council, a key aspect in improving the bilateral
relations, would provide a great opportunity for future relations
between the two countries.
Lavrov continued saying
that the current regional issue, the mutual cooperation in Ukraine,
Black Sea and North Caucasus were the major topics in the
discussions.
Regarding both
leaders' opposing stance over the regional developments, it is
important to note that enhancing the current bilateral relations
increases the possibility of achieving a common ground and prevents
the political differences from deteriorating.
In addition, the Syrian
crisis demanded considerable attention from both parties during
yesterday's meeting. Experts warn that as the two countries have
adopted opposing sides on the Syrian crisis, how their dispute over
the Syrian crisis would impact the two countries' relation is of
significant importance. Regarding Syrian war crimes, Davutoglu
pointed out the significant role Russia should play in achieving
regional stability in the Middle East in order to put an end to
ongoing crimes against humanity. Strengthening bilateral ties are
crucial for both parties as the two countries have become strategic
partners planning to maintain regional stability.
9. Israel
appeals to Interpol not to implement Turkish court’s ruling
Turkish daily Hurriyet
Daily News (online, 27.05.14) reports that Israel has appealed to
Interpol not to honour a ruling from a Turkish court that issued
arrest warrants on May 26 for four former Israeli military commanders
on trial in absentia over the 2010 killing of nine Turks on the
Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara.
In its appeal to
Interpol, Israel suggested that the Turkish court’s ruling was
“tainted by political motives” and that Interpol should
accordingly not carry it out, leading English-language Israeli daily
The Jerusalem Post reported yesterday.
In its report, citing
Hebrew-language daily newspaper Ma’ariv, The Jerusalem Post
cited Interpol statutes saying the force does not intervene in
proceedings related to political or military affairs. According to
The Jerusalem Post, “it is more than likely that they will
not put out international arrest warrants for the four officers.”
But in Ankara, Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan argued that the ruling would not have
an impact on the ongoing normalization process between his country
and Israel.
Erdogan, speaking to
reporters on May 27, recalled that the normalization process was an
initiative by the executive body. The court cases against Israeli
officials, however, were initiated by families of victims or of those
who were wounded in the attack, meaning they should be assessed as a
separate process, he said.
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