TURKISH CYPRIOT AND
TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C O N T E N T S
No. 145/14 06.08.14
1. CHP: If
Erdogan is elected, he will cause Turkey severe trouble
2. The Military Board appointed new commander for
Gendarmerie
3. Ozyigit calls on Bakirci to resign because of
visiting Marseille on the expenses of a private company
4. Ozgurgun: “The Yorgancioglu government should step
down”
5. Elcil replies to criticism for being a member of
the English School Board of Management
6. The project of opening Cukurona University in
occupied Trikomo may be suspended
7. The water from Turkey will reportedly not be more
expensive than the current water price; It will reportedly come by October
1. CHP: If Erdogan is
elected, he will cause Turkey severe trouble
Journalist
SerkanDemirtas, writing in Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (online,
06.08.14), reports that the election of
Prime Minister RecepTayyip Erdogan to the presidency will cause severe troubles
to Turkey, the leader of the main opposition has said, stressing that his
ethnic and sect-based policies would further drag the country into the Middle
East quagmire.
“I
call on my people: If you want war, if you want our children to be killed in
wars in the Middle East, go and vote for Erdogan. But if you want peace, if you
want Turkey to help the Middle East to resolve its problems, then vote for
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu”, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the Republican People’s
Party (CHP) told Hurriyet Daily News yesterday.
For Kilicdaroglu, the main reason for this is Erdogan’s policy of
importing ethnic and sectarian conflicts from the Middle East to Turkey. “I am
afraid he will drag Turkey into war in the Middle East. He will put Turkey into
severe trouble.”
Recalling
that 49 Turkish citizens, including Turkey’s consul-general in Mosul, have been
kept as hostages by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for nearly
two months, Kilicdaroglu asked: “Have you ever heard Erdogan speaking about
this issue? No, because he does not want to anger ISIL. It was him who supplied weapons to ISIL and to al-Qaeda. And now these
weapons are being used against Turkey and its citizens.”
The main opposition leader suggested that because of Turkey’s poor
foreign policy performance, the country has lost its credibility and influence
in the region to countries such as Iran and Egypt. “No
one is knocking on Turkey’s doors. He [Erdogan] confessed himself that he can’t
talk to [Barack] Obama [the President of the U.S.],” he said, adding that
Turkey’s image has been completely tarnished by Erdogan. “No world leader wants to be seen next to a corrupt President,”
Kilicdaroglu stressed.
With
days left to the elections, Kilicdaroglu shared his optimism that the
opposition’s joint candidate can even win the Aug. 10 election in the first
round. “You never know, he may win it,” Kilicdaroglu stated.
Underlining
that 60% of the society wants an impartial President and that perfectly defines
Ihsanoglu, Kilicdaroglu said, “What is the function of the President? Obviously
not making roads or building bridges. The President is a person representing
the country and its flag. Therefore, he has to be fully transparent and not
corrupt.”
The
law on presidential elections needs to be amended, he said, adding a live
debate between the candidates should be mandatory and implemented in the law.
“He is afraid of appearing together with the other candidates. Because you
know, it’s a common character of
dictators. All dictators are cowards,” he said.
According
to Kilicdaroglu, Erdogan’s strategy for the presidential elections has two
folds. He is trying to turn the presidential polls into general elections in
which political parties are competing and that’s why he is provoking
Kilicdaroglu and Bahceli, the CHP leader said. “He is doing this because he
wants to consolidate his voters,” he said. His second strategy is to chase MHP
votes by using nationalistic language,
Kilicdaroglu maintained, saying, “He depicts himself as the candidate of the
people. What people? He is the candidate
of the corrupt people and of the thieves.”
As for the third candidate, SelahattinDemirtas, Kilicdaroglu used
positive language to describe the presidential candidate of the Peoples’
Democratic Party (HDP), saying he found his campaign messages to be positive.
“I find the messages of Mr Demirtas’ issued and his manners, as well as his
approach of being ‘Turkey’s party’ throughout the election process positive,”
Kilicdaroglu said. But, he added, the number of CHP voters who will decide to
vote for Demirtas on Aug. 10 will be few, contrary to expectations.
When asked if his chairmanship would be affected if the CHP was
not successful in the 2015 general elections, Kilicdaroglu said: “It’s not
right for anybody to insist in staying as the chairman of the party forever.
The party should be able to develop a candidate who can be the party’s future
leaders. Young, better educated potential leaders should not be blocked. That’s
what I believe,” he added.
2. The Military Board appointed new commander for Gendarmerie
According
to Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News
(online, 05.08.14), the Supreme Military
Board (YAS) concluded its annual meetings a day before its schedule and
appointed the current commander of the Aegean Army in Izmir, Gen. Abdullah
Atay, as the new commander for the Gendarmerie Forces.
The
statement for Gen. Atay’s appointment was made by Ahmet Sever, the spokesperson
of President Gul. The decisions taken by the YAS was approved by Gul before the
announcement. Contrary to the expectations, Gendarmerie Forces Commander Gen.
ServetYoruk is retired. The handover will take place late August.
Except
for Yoruk, the military echelon remained same as Chief of General Staff Gen.
NecdetOzel has another year in office.
The
promotions of military officials are expected to be announced by the office of
the Chief of General Staff.
3. Ozyigit calls onBakirci to resign because of visiting
Marseille on the expenses of a private company
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (06.08.14)
reports that CemalOzyigit, chairman
of the Social Democracy Party (TDP) has
called on the self-styled minister of environment HamitBakirci to apologize and
resign because of visiting Marseille with “bureaucrats from his ministry” on
the expenses of a private stone queries company.
In a written statement issued yesterday, Ozyigit said
that this is “unacceptable” and added that in an interview with a private news
website, Bakirci confessed that all the expenses of the visit, except for those
of his wife, were covered by the above-mentioned company. Ozyigit described
Bakirci’s act as “unethical” and “lacking moral values”.
Ozyigit noted that the matter does not concern Bakirci
only and argued that the self-styled prime ministerOzkanYorgancioglu and the
so-called deputy prime minister SerdarDenktas should make a statement on the
issue. He said that Bakirci failed in his job until today both with his actions
and with what he did not do. Ozyigit
noted that in spite of the fact that from the very first day he came on duty
Bakirci had said that “5-6 stone quarries are enough” in the occupied area of
Cyprus, he undertook no initiative on the issue.
(I/Ts.)
4. Ozgurgun: “The Yorgancioglu government should step down”
According
to Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi Daily News (online, 05.08.14), the leader
of the National Unity Party (UBP) Huseyin Ozgurgun criticised the self-styled
prime minister OzkanYorgancioglu's and his “government's” performance, saying
that “ending the suffering of our people should not be a dream to the main
opposition party UBP but it should be an aim, a mission”. According to
Ozgurgun, “The Yorgancioglu government should step down”.
Ozgurgun
further said: “Cyprus’ first and foremost issue is to discard the Yorgancioglu
government. There is no effective government, and it has reached to the end. To
insist on continuing with this government is equal to the continuation of our
people’s suffering.”
He
noted that all the unions are protesting and that a collective protest plan is
prepared, adding: “The prime minister still thinks that he is sufficiently
ruling north Cyprus and via the party newspapers he is trying to form a false
public opinion. Mr Yorgancioglu is trying to blame the Cyprus problem for all
the inefficiencies they have, including the changing of the constitution, so that
he can escape all responsibility.”
5. Elcil replies to criticism for being a member of the English
School Board of Management
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi newspaper
(06.08.14) reports that SenerElcil,
general secretary of the Turkish Cypriot Teachers’ Trade Union (KTOS), has
replied to criticism against him in the press because of his membership in the
Board of Management of the English School in the government-controlled area of
Nicosia.
In a statement yesterday Elcil noted: “I have been carrying
out this duty for one year. This is not a paid job. Let everyone knows his
limits. The duty I perform in a school
where 146 Turkish Cypriot students attend, should, if anything, be a source of
pride”.
He said that the Republic of Cyprus does
not belong only to the Greek Cypriots and that the Turkish Cypriots have also
rights in it. “And I am using this right”, he added.
(I/Ts.)
6. The project of opening Cukurona University in occupied
Trikomo may be suspended
According
to Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris (06.08.14), self-styled minister of education
Mustafa Arabacioglu, in a meeting with the union of tradesmen and craftsmen of
occupied Trikomo, announced that although a
land of 600 donums (land measure of about 1000 m2) has been allotted
to the Turkish university of Cukurova, it may be suspended due to the
change of the Dean at the University.
Arabacioglu
also said that a delegation from the breakaway regime is currently carrying out
contacts at the Cukurova University and this issue will be at the agenda again.
He added that their aim is for the “TRNC” (transl. note: the breakaway regime
in the occupied area of the Rpeublic of Cyprus) to become a “country of
universities”.
The
chairman of the union EnginSerhanComert conveyed to Arabacioglu their request
of the opening of the university in the occupied area of Trikomo.
7. The water from Turkey will reportedly not be more expensive
than the current water price; It will reportedly come by October
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (06.08.14)
reports that the work for completing the
infrastructure for the water which will be carried from Turkey to the occupied
area of Cyprus with undersea pipelines continues. According to the paper, the cost of the water from Turkey will not
be higher than the price paid today.
TurgayHursoz, “director” of the so-called
water affairs department stated that the 45 out of the 63.8 kilometer-long
pipeline are completed.
Hursoz said that the water from Turkey
will come in September or October. He said
that the work on the shore of Turkey and the occupied area of Cyprus ended and
added that they are waiting for the weather to be improved for the pipelines’
passing through the sea. He noted that 80% of the pipelines in occupied Nicosia
were completed and that 98% of the network was renovated. He also said that the
reservoirs which will supply occupied Nicosia are at the stage of being
completed.
(I/Ts.)
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TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION
