25/8/14

TURKISH CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW

TURKISH CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW

C O N T E N T S


No. 157/14 23-25.08.14
1. Eroglu in Trabzon: “The Cyprus negotiation process has not collapsed”
2. Nami: “Anastasiades dealt the first blow to the negotiations”
3. Ozersay: The appointment of UNSG’s Special Adviser on Cyprus will give acceleration to the talks; Sports is the less problematic chapter
4. Erdogan to illegally visit the occupied area of Cyprus on September 1st
5. Erdogan discussed the Cyprus problem with Ban
6. Suspicions for Ebola virus incident in occupied area of Cyprus turned wrong
7. Information about constructions in the breakaway regime
8. Cirali argues that they have the capacity to inspect the production of halloumi cheese
9. The breakaway regime exported USD 120.681.239 goods last year; The majority of the exports consist of agriculture products
10. CTP delegates prefer Siber than Talat to be the party’s candidate for the “2015 presidential elections”
11. Leaders from 51 countries to attend Erdogan’s swear-in ceremony


1. Eroglu in Trabzon: “The Cyprus negotiation process has not collapsed”
According to illegal Bayrak television (23.08.14) Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu in a conference he delivered yesterday in the Turkish Black Sea city of Trabzon, titled: “Our National Cause Cyprus”, gave important messages on the Cyprus negotiations process and the nomination of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as Turkey’s new Prime Minister.

Speaking at the conference, Eroglu said that contrary to claims, the ongoing Cyprus negotiations process had not collapsed and that the talks will resume in September following a short summer break.

Eroglu repeated that the Turkish Cypriot side was ready to move on to a process of give and take.

Stating that the Turkish Cypriot side was ready to hold a referendum in the first months of next year, Eroglu said: “I hope our Greek Cypriot neighbors will exercise common sense and change their current stance in the talks”.

Also touching upon the issue of the appointment of Espen Barth Eide as the new UN Special Adviser to Cyprus, Eroglu expressed the hope that the new UN Envoy will preserve his impartiality and will be successful while carrying out his duty.

Eroglu also said that the Turkish Cypriot side will never accept a solution which would not safeguard the interests of the Turkish Cypriot “people” or which would lead to a repetition of the “bitter experiences” of the past. “We will not accept a solution for the sake of proving how peaceful we are”, he said.

Also, commenting during his visits on the nomination of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as Turkey’s new Prime Minister, Eroglu said: “Mr. Davutoglu is to become the leader of a party and Prime Minister of a government which we are in close consultation with. As you all know we are conducting the Cyprus negotiations process in close consultation with the Turkish government. Generally our most important collocutor is the Foreign Ministry. Therefore we are two very close friends who know each other very well. I would like to wish him all the success. Our cooperation will continue as and when he becomes Prime Minister”.

2. Nami: “Anastasiades dealt the first blow to the negotiations”
Turkish Cypriot daily Star Kibris newspaper (23.08.14) reports that Ozdil Nami, self-styled foreign minister of the breakaway regime in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus, has alleged that Turkey has a well-established policy regarding the Cyprus problem and added that the newly elected President of the Republic, Recep Tayyip Erdogan had offered his support to the joint declaration signed between the leaders of the two communities during his term as Prime Minister.


In an interview with Ada TV, Nami alleged that the first blow to the negotiations for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem was dealt by President Anastasiades. “Instead of going to intensive negotiations at the leaders’ level, he went to the National Council and appointed Mavroyiannis to the post of the negotiator and distanced himself from the negotiating table”, he claimed referring to President Anastasiades. He noted that “unfortunately” the Turkish Cypriot side took the same step and recalled that as “foreign minister” he had said that this was wrong and that the level of the negotiations would be degraded.


Nami argued that it was not possible to form a single convergence paper at the current talks and the leaders negotiate on how they will carry out the negotiations.


Referring to the role of Turkey, Nami alleged:
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was informed about the joint declaration and offered his support. Davutoglu also offered his support in the same manner. Turkey has a very well established policy regarding the Cyprus problem. This started to be formed in 2003 and during the period of more than ten years that passed since then, it was further established. We have absolutely no doubt that Davutoglu will succeed in his new duties. We are all interested in the issue of who the new Foreign Minister will be. We will wait and see who the new Foreign Minister will be. We think that when the new Foreign Minister is established to his post, he will carry out his first visit to the TRNC”.
Nami noted that he never becomes pessimist over the Cyprus problem and expressed the belief that the problem “will be solved the one way or the other”.
(I/Ts.)

3. Ozersay: The appointment of UNSG’s Special Adviser on Cyprus will give acceleration to the talks; Sports is the less problematic chapter
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (25.08.14) reports that the Turkish Cypriot negotiator, Kudret Ozersay has said that they welcome as a positive development the appointment of former Norwegian Foreign Minister, Espen Barth Eide to the post of the UN Secretary – General’s Special Adviser for Cyprus. He argued that this is a positive development from the point of view of the disciple of the process and the more active participation of the UN. “We see it as a step which will give acceleration to the process”, he said adding that “the appointment of a Special Adviser will secure the further engagement of the UN Secretary-General in the process”.


Ozersay said that some difficulties exist in the process since February and expressed the view that the UN could “in institutional sense” assist in the overcoming of these difficulties. Ozersay alleged that the Greek Cypriot side submits proposals outside the established UN parameters on some issues. “We are face to face with proposals which will seriously harm the bi-zonality and conditionally the political equality”, he claimed.


Meanwhile, in statements to Kibris, Ozersay referred to the issue of sports and said that when a comprehensive solution is found, sports will be within the scope of the authorities of the “founding states”. “We have agreed that internationally the two founding states should cooperate on issues which enter into the area of power of the founding states. Sports are one of these fields together with health and tourism”, he added.


Ozersay argued that the issue of sports is the less problematic chapter in the ongoing negotiations and added that they submitted a proposal for holding a basketball game or a tournament between teams of disabled persons. He claimed that they submitted this proposal with the aim of “correcting the wrong perception” which exists in the Turkish Cypriot side and derives from the so-called obstacles allegedly put to the Turkish Cypriots in the international contacts especially in the fields of sports, education and culture.


He alleged that if the proposals included in the confidence building measures are materialized, the so-called obstacles in the field of sports could be lifted and they could establish relations as equals without losing their identity.


He said that the above-mentioned proposal was included in the eight confidence building measures discussed between himself and his Greek Cypriot counterpart, Andreas Mavroyiannis during their recent nine-hour meeting before the last meeting between the community leaders.
(I/Ts.)


4. Erdogan to illegally visit the occupied area of Cyprus on September 1st
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (22.08.14) reported that newly elected- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s first trips abroad will be in “north Cyprus” and Azerbaijan on September 1 and 3 respectively, in line with the country’s state traditions.

Erdogan, who will take over the Presidential office on August 28, will visit the occupied area of Cyprus, only three days after the handover ceremony and then will go to Baku to meet Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev and other Azerbaijani officials.

The “TRNC”, stands as Turkey’s national cause and Azerbaijan is regarded as Turkey’s national ally.

Erdogan’s next foreign policy engagement will be at the NATO Summit, which will take place in Wales from September 4-5. It will mark his first multilateral appearance where he is expected to hold bilateral meetings with various prominent leaders of NATO countries.

Erdogan will also participate in the U.N. General Assembly meeting from September 21-26 in New York.

5. Erdogan discussed the Cyprus problem with Ban
According to illegal Bayrak television (23.08.14) the UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon made a series of calls yesterday to a number of key players in the Middle East to discuss the situation in Gaza.

The elected- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was among those who the UN Secretary General spoke with during his phone conversations.

Ban who brought up the issue of Cyprus during his conversation with Erdogan, highlighted Erdogan’s role in reaching a comprehensive solution in Cyprus.

The UN Secretary General told President-elect Erdogan that his “personal engagement and support in reaching a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus was vital.”

He further said that he looks forward to the President-elect’s participation in the upcoming Climate Summit in New York in September this year.

6. Suspicions for Ebola virus incident in occupied area of Cyprus turned wrong
Under the title: “It is not Ebola virus is Typhus”, Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper (25.08.14) reports that panic was caused in the occupied area of Cyprus after suspicions that the Ebola virus has stroked a Nigerian youth living in the occupied area of Cyprus.
As the paper writes, a 21-year old Nigerian youth called Maria Orinya has visited the occupied Famagusta hospital with symptoms of high fever and was placed in a quarantine after suspicions that she was suffering from the Ebola virus, which caused thousands of deaths abroad.

According to the paper, after three hours of examinations, it was found out that the youth from Nigeria was suffering from Typhus and not Ebola virus.
(AK)

7. Information about constructions in the breakaway regime
Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper (24.08.14) reports that the chairman of the Turkish Cypriot Contractors Association Cafer Gurcafer stated that in 2007, 20.000 constructions were delivered in the breakaway regime and added that 16.000 of them contributed back to the economy. He also said that 4.000 of the constructions are not in active use, adding that the “government” must take action so that these constructions to contribute to the economy as well.

Gurcafer also claimed that there is demand from Russia, China, Middle East and Arab countries for these constructions. He went on and added that the solution is a condition for foreign investments to be made in the “country”, adding that the main problem as regards the construction industry is the issue of property which remains unclear as long as there is no solution of the Cyprus problem.

8. Cirali argues that they have the capacity to inspect the production of halloumi cheese
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (24.08.14) reports that Ali Cirali, chairman of the Turkish Cypriot chamber of industry, has said that his organization is ready to carry out inspections on the issue of the production of halloumi cheese in the occupied area of Cyprus and argued that they have the capacity for this.


In statements to Kibris, Cirali recalled that the Republic of Cyprus has applied to the EU for registering halloumi-hellim internationally and said that every product which is registered should have an organ that carries out inspections as regards its production. Noting that this organ for the Republic of Cyprus is the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Cirali referred to Protocol 10 of Cyprus’ Treaty of Accession to the EU and alleged: “With this protocol it was defined that the authority of the Republic of Cyprus’ government is not valid in the north. According to this, the Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources cannot carry out inspections in the north. When he cannot carry out inspections, our products will not be able to use this name. As Chamber of Industry, we say that we are ready to carry out this duty so that this problem is overcome. We have the capacity of carrying out inspections”.


Cirali argued that the geographical registration of halloumi is valid in the occupied area of Cyprus and Turkey. He noted that in order for the producers in Turkey to be stopped [from producing halloumi], a lawsuit should be filed in court, but they do not intent to do this. He noted that they demand from the producers in Turkey to stop using this name, but without these producers being victimized.


When asked what the latest situation on the issue of halloumi is and which their next steps will be, Cirali noted that there is a period of three months for making evaluations after an application to the EU is filed and then the issue is published in the official gazette and a period for objections is given. He said: “This is an 8-10-month procedure. We will undertake our initiatives in this period. We will visit the EU. We will go to look for our rights in Brussels with officials and parties concerned. Our demand is that the moment on which the registration is signed, the day and the time it will enter into effect, the inspections in the north should also be determined”.
(I/Ts.)

9. The breakaway regime exported USD 120.681.239 goods last year; The majority of the exports consist of agriculture products
Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen newspaper (24.08.14) reported on the exports of the breakaway regime and writes that last year it exported USD 120.681.239 goods.

The paper notes that USD 80.4 million goods that are the 67% of the goods exported, were agriculture products adding that the most popular goods for exportation were halloumi, potatoes and citrus fruits. The breakaway regime exports goods to the following countries: Turkey, Iraq, Russia, Ukraine, Kuwait, Syria, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar.
In addition, the paper published data about previous years’ exportation which is as follows:
Year
Year
Year
2009
2012
2013
$99.064.564
$116.267.128
$120.681.239

Information for 2010 and 2011 were not provided, according to Yeni Duzen.

10. CTP delegates prefer Siber than Talat to be the party’s candidate for the “2015 presidential elections”
Turkish Cypriot daily Detay newspaper (24.08.14) reports that the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) which decided some time ago that it will participate in the “2015 presidential elections” with its own candidate, conducted an opinion poll in order to take the first reactions as regards who should be the CTP candidate.

According to the paper, Sibel Siber, Mehmet Ali Talat and Ozdil Nami are the three CTP officials that collected the most votes of the persons participated in the opinion poll, which was conducted by the Red Border Research Company with the participation of 1.471 CTP delegates.

Reporting on the same issue, Turkish Cypriot daily Volkan (25.08.14) writes that the results of the opinion poll, as regards who should be the CTP candidate, is as follows: 48% Sibel Siber, 37% Mehmet Ali Talat, 15% Ozdil Nami.

Volkan further reports that Siber, Talat and Nami were informed about the opinion poll results and this is the reason that led Siber to state recently that she can be her party’s candidate for the “2015 presidential elections” and Nami to announce that he will not be interested to be a candidate.

11. Leaders from 51 countries to attend Erdogan’s swear-in ceremony
Turkish daily Today’s Zaman (24.08.14) reported that Ankara will be hosting the leaders of 51 countries and officials from eight international organizations during President-elect Recep Tayyip Erdogan's inauguration ceremony on August 28, while the leaders of Israel and Egypt, two countries that Turkey is at odds with, are not among those invited to participate in the ceremony.

A number of foreign leaders have been invited by Turkey to the inauguration ceremony of Erdogan following his win in the nation's first Presidential election by popular vote, which took place on August 10.

The Turkish press reported on Sunday that US President Barack Obama will not be attending the ceremony, but a US delegation will be there to represent him. However, It is not clear what the level of representation of the US delegation will be. China will also be sending a special representative.
Russia, Germany and the Netherlands will be sending Ministers as representatives to the ceremony.

Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has not been invited to the ceremony either as Turkey does not recognize him as the legitimate leader of Syria, but the president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, Hadi al-Bahra, is among those invited.

According to the reports, a number of guests have confirmed their attendance. Among the confirmed are Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, Beninese President Thomas Boni Yayi, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Togolese President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, President of the Libyan Council of Deputies Aguila Saleh Issa Quaider, Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev, Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov, Albanian President Bujor Nishani, Somali President Hasan Mahmud, Kosovar President Atifete Jahjaga, Gambian Vice President Isatau Nije Saidy, the “TRNC’s president”, Dervis Eroglu, Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome Wirtu and Bosnia and Herzegovina's Chairman of the Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic.

Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker Ogtay Asadov, Ivory Coast Parliament Speaker Guillaume Kigbafori Soro and Ghanaian Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur will also be among the participants.

Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta, Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail V. Myasnikovich, Gabonese Prime Minister Daniel Ona Ondo, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rasulzoda and Nigerian Prime Minister Brigi Rafini have also confirmed that they will be attending Erdogan's inauguration ceremony.

From Germany, Interior Minister Karl Ernst Thomas de Maiziere will be attending the ceremony. Another group of attendees will include Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Shahriar Alam, Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Burkinabe Foreign Minister Djibril Bassole, Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf Bin Alawi, South Sudanese Foreign and International Cooperation Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin, Mexican Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Meade Kuribrena, Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Tibor Navracsics, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Nizar bin Obaid Madani, Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Khafizovich Kamilov, Tunisian Presidency Spokesman Adnen Manser, Maldivian Islamic Affairs Minister Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, Venezuelan Transportation Minister Haiman El Troudi, Djiboutian Education Minister Djama Elmi Okieh and Indonesian State Minister Dipo Alam.

Moreover, representatives from a number of international organizations will also attend Erdogan's inauguration ceremony.
Black Sea Economic Cooperation Parliamentary Assembly (KEİPA) Secretary-General Kyrylo Tretiak, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Secretary-General Dmitry Fyodorovich Mezentsev, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Secretary-General Lamberto Zannier, Developing 8 countries for Economic Cooperation (D-8) Secretary-General Seyed Ali Mohammad Mousavi, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General Jose Angel Gurria, Economic Cooperation Organization Secretary-General Shamil Aleskerov, Turkic Council Secretary-General Halil Akıncı, and Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Executive Director Gong Jianwei have confirmed their attendance.

A delegation of three from the Mongolian Ministry of Defense will also be attending the ceremony.

The inauguration ceremony will be held on August 28 in Ankara. Erdogan won 51.8% of the popular vote on August 10th elections.
Erdogan's swearing-in ceremony at Parliament will be “one of a kind,” with many foreign leaders from around the world having been invited. Previously, Presidents have been elected by Parliament, and the swearing-in ceremony had been a formality and was not considered a special event.
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