TURKISH
CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C
O N T E N T S
No.
16/15 24-26.01.15
1. Cavusoglu: We are ready to work with Syriza Government
2. Eroglu: Turkish Cypriots do not need a solution
3. Davutoglu: The natural gas should go through Turkey in
order to have peace in Cyprus
4. Izcan: The return of the Direct Trade Regulation into
the agenda is wrong
5. How the Turkish Cypriot and the Turkish press covered
SYRIZA’s election victory in Greece
6. The view of the Turkish Cypriots for the solution of
the Cyprus problem has changed; 43.9% view the Greek Cypriots as their
“historical enemy”
7. Information on the population in the occupied area of
Cyprus in 2014
8. The breakaway regime granted work permit to 44,000
persons in 2014
9. The breakaway regime deported 772 persons because they
were suffering from serious illnesses
10. Toros met European officials
11. Turkish Cypriot Businessmen Council is holding
contacts in Holland and Brussels
12. The Turkish Cypriots will register Zivania and other
traditional products in Turkey
13. Gulden PlumerKucuk: Locating missing persons has
become harder
14. Alakopru dam in Turkey to hold water on 26th January
15. The TGNA approves the opening of a coordination office
for the occupied area of Cyprus
16. Erdogan: Turkey will not beg for accession to the EU
17. Turkish court blocks access to Facebook pages that
‘insult’ Prophet Muhammad
1. Cavusoglu: We are ready to work with SyrizaGovernment
Turkish private channel NTV (26.01.15)
broadcast that Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, assessing the
election victory of the Syriza party in Greece, said: "We respect the
decision of the Greek people".
Stating that the decision belongs to the Greek
people, Cavusoglu said: "Everybody should respect this decision. We definitely respect the decision of the
Greek people. We are ready to work with
whatever government comes to power.
Reminding that productive meetings had
previously been held with Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras, Cavusoglu added: "We would
like to continue with these contacts. In particular, we would like to continue
with these meetings in a bid to reduce the tension in the Aegean and the
existing problems. We want the Cyprus
negotiations to resume. We also want for
the drilling work in eastern Mediterranean to be carried out jointly and not
unilaterally. Greece has an important
role to assume on these issues. "
2. Eroglu:
Turkish Cypriots do not need a solution
According to Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris
Postasi Daily News (online, 25.01.15), the independent candidate for the
upcoming “presidential elections” and Turkish Cypriot leader DervisEroglu, pointing to the belief that the Turkish
Cypriots are weak and destitute for a solution, stressed that this is untrue
and claimed that the Turkish Cypriots do not need a solution; they give
importance to stability and peace in the region and to the development of
Turkey-Greece relations. Eroglu added that the Turkish Cypriots also believe
that they will provide positive contributions to the EU and because of this
they are working and putting forward proposals for it.
Speaking during a visit at the occupied
Kampyli, Myrtou and Vasillia, Eroglu
pointed to Cyprus President Anastasiades’ statements for Turkey to
recognise the Greek Cypriot sovereignty (editor’s note: as Eroglu refers to the
Republic of Cyprus) and added that this is not going to happen as the Turkish
Cypriot state exists (editor’s note: the
breakaway regime in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus).
Eroglu has called on the Greek Cypriot
leadership to return to the table with no preconditions as they would only know
if there was going to be a solution or not at the table.
Eroglu also called on the “people” to go to
the polls to elect the person who would protect their rights at the table.
3. Davutoglu:
The natural gas should go through Turkey in order to have peace in Cyprus
According to Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika
(24.01.15), Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking at a dinner
organized for the participants of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday
night, said: “If a solution in Cyprus is being reached, then the natural gas
found around Cyprus should go through Turkey”.
Referring to Turkey’s EU membership,
Davutoglu said: “We are ready to open the 27 chapters. If there are no
political preventions and these chapters are opened we can easily conclude 15
of them. I assure you that Turkey can be ready for full membership in two years
if these political obstacles are removed. We are unfortunately unable to move
forward because of the Cyprus problem and preventative efforts of some member
countries”.
4. Izcan:
The return of the Direct Trade Regulation into the agenda is wrong
Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika (24.01.15)
reported that the leader of the United Cyprus Party (BKP) IzzetIzcan said that
it is wrong to make a turn again to Direct Trade Regulation and in this context
the policy of lifting the “isolation” instead of a comprehensive solution to
the Cyprus problem.
In a written statement, Izcan said that the
Law Office of the Council of Europe has ruled that the Direct Trade Regulation
is not legal and the implementation of this regulation is not possible. He
added that despite this reality, those who bring back into the agenda this
regulation in order to lift the “isolations” are insincere and are deceiving
the community.
Izcan said that the obstacles which are
before the Turkish Cypriot community to make a direct trade, pass through the
simultaneously opening of occupied port
of Famagusta and the occupied airport of Tymbou with the return of fenced off
town of Varosha within the framework of the confidence building measures.
Izcan stressed that everybody should
realize that the essence of the issue is the solution of the Cyprus problem and
added: “If your intention is not the solution, don’t try to deceive both the
Cypriots and the world with wrong information and such kind of manoeuvre, no
one has an intention to be deceived.”
5. How the Turkish Cypriot and the Turkish press covered
SYRIZA’s election victory in Greece
The
majority of the Turkish Cypriot newspapers today (26.01.15) covered on their
first page SYRIZA’s election victory in yesterday’s parliamentary elections in
Greece.
Under the
banner title “New era in Greece”, daily Kibris
reports that “radical left coalition party SYRIZA, which opposes the austerity
policies of the European Union (EU) won the early parliamentary elections held
yesterday in Greece with a percentage higher than 36%”. The paper writes that SYRIZA lost the chance
of establishing a government on its own only for two seats. The paper publishes
also excerpts of SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras’ statement after his party’s
victory saying that “Troika will no more have a say” in Greece. The paper notes
that NeaDimokratia of outgoing Prime Minister Antonis Samaras came in second
place winning 27.99% and 77 seats in the 300-member parliament, followed in the
third place by neo-Nazi ChrysiAvgi party which won 17 seats after securing
6,32% of the votes.
Afrika refers to “revival of the left in Europe
with Syriza” and notes that the left in Greece achieved “a big victory of which
Turkey could not even dream about at the moment”. The paper reports on the
issue on its front page under the banner title “It beat all hollow”.
The other
daily papers cover the issue under the following titles:
YeniDuzen: Left hope in Greece
Havadis: The streets overtook the power in Greece
HalkinSesi: The victory in Greece belongs to the
radical left
Vatan: What Europe feared happened
Ortam: Syriza hurricane in Greece
Kibris Postasi: The victory belongs to Syriza! The first
visit to Cyprus
Diyalog: Heavy blow to the EU – Above the title:
Syriza which carried out its propaganda saying that it will erase the debts
secured the support of the Greek people
Detay and Star Kibris: Great victory by Syriza
In addition
the Turkish Press covered Syriza’s victory as follows:
Hurriyet: “The rebellious kid came to power”. The
paper notes that Tsipras is the winner of the Greek elections and that his
first aim is to help Greece escape from the “EU’s rescue plan”.
Sabah: “Tsipras era in the neighboring country”.
The paper notes that a new page is opened for Greece after Syriza’s victory.
(I/Ts.-CS)
6. The view of the Turkish Cypriots for the solution of the
Cyprus problem has changed; 43.9% view the Greek Cypriots as their “historical
enemy”
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (26.01.15) reports that according to the results
of a survey conducted in the occupied area of Cyprus in December 2014 regarding
the political tendencies of the Turkish Cypriots for the Cyprus problem and the
solution model, the views of the
inhabitants in the occupied area of Cyprus towards the solution have changed.
The survey was conducted by sociologist KudretAkay with the participation of
600 persons. The sampling frame was the so-called TRNC’s “election list”.
Akay said
that the results showed that the Turkish
Cypriots adopt a “solution model based on pragmatic interests rather than on
the concepts of peace, brotherhood and common country”. He argued that the
Turkish Cypriots started to distance themselves from the solution based on the
Annan Plan, after the 2004 referendum and the rejection of the plan by the
Greek Cypriots.
The
findings of the survey are as following:
62.7% of the participants in the survey want a bi-zonal,
bi-communal solution as it is generally described by the UN, but 60.1%
believe that such a solution will not be found.
93.7% believe that a solution which Turkey does not approve is not
possible.
63.1% are in favour for Turkey’s guarantees to continue unchanged.
57.5% said that they want a powerful presence of the Turkish army
in Cyprus even after the solution of the Cyprus problem.
78.8% are against the return of occupied Morfou to its legal Greek
Cypriot inhabitants for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem, while 83.7%
oppose the settling of Greek Cypriots in occupied Karpasia.
67.1% are
against Greek Cypriots living in the area under Turkish administration after
the solution and 60.5% are against the
return of property to the Greek Cypriots.
46.3% want
to become citizens of the “new state” which will be established after the
solution. 72.4% want this state to have a rotating presidency.
77.7% said that they want the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish
Cypriots to have a separate sovereignty after the
solution, while 51% are in favor of the occupied fenced off city of Varosha to
remain under its current status until an overall solution to the Cyprus problem
is reached.
The most preferable solution model for the 47.2% of the
respondents is a federal Cyprus comprised by two constituent states. 43.9%
think that this solution model is the most possible.
60.1% is in favor of the sharing of the hydrocarbon resources
after the solution of the Cyprus problem and 9% approve the actions of the
Republic of Cyprus on this issue.
68.3% of the
respondents is not satisfied with the actions of the self-styled government of
the regime after October 2014.
44% of the
respondents described the “TRNC” [the breakaway regime in the occupied area of
Cyprus] as their homeland, while 23.3% said that their homeland is “TRNC” and
Turkey. 28.4% described the whole Cyprus as their homeland, which 3.3% said
that their homeland is only Turkey. 53.2% called Turkey as their “motherland”.
43.9% of the participants described the Greek Cypriots as their
“historical enemy”, 0.8% as their “friend”, 20.6% as their “neighbor” and 30.8%
as “Cypriots speaking a different language”.
(I/Ts.)
7. Information on the population in the occupied area of Cyprus
in 2014
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (24.01.15) reported that according to the annual
report of the self-styled ministry of interior, for the first 10 months of
2014, 3,674 children were born in the breakaway regime while 1,124 persons died
during the same period.
The paper
writes that 998 children were born in occupied Lefkosia, 813 in Famagusta, 512
in Keryneia, 101 in Morfou-Lefka and 9 in Trikomo. In addition, 587 persosn
died in occupied Lefkosia, 205 in Famagusta, 83 in Keryneia, 56 in Morfou- Lefka,
44 in Trikomo and 149 persons died abroad.
In
addition, 11,684 persons issued an identity card for the first time and 1,124
persons were granted the “TRNC citizenship”.
8. The breakaway regime granted work permit to 44,000 persons
in 2014
Turkish Cypriot
daily Kibris newspaper (26.01.15) reports that according to an annual report of
the “ministry of labour and social security” 44,000 persons were granted
working permit in the breakaway regime in 2014.
According
to the paper, 14,529 persons were granted working permit for the first time,
while 20,843 persons got their work permit prolonged and 7,130 persons got a
work permit in order to change the nature or the place of their employment.
9. The breakaway regime deported 772 persons because they were suffering from serious
illnesses
Turkish
Cypriot daily Diyalog newspaper (25.01.15) reported that 772 persons were
deported from the breakaway regime during the last year because they were
suffering from various illnesses.
According
to the paper, 163 out of the 772 persons had AIDs while the rest of them
suffered from Hepatitis C and Tuberculosis.
Speaking to
the paper, Urologist AlperSozuoz stated that this is a huge number for such a
small place like the breakaway regime but this kind of action must be taken on
health reasons.
10. Toros met European officials
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (25.01.15) reports that FikriToros, chairman of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce, has
met with the EU Commission’s Deputy Director General Responsible for Regional
Policies, NormundsPopens and the Head of the EU Commission’s Office for the
Turkish Cypriots, Michele Di Bucci.
According
to a statement issued by the Chamber, Toros
explained to Popens the Turkish Cypriot “urgent” expectations on the Direct
Trade Regulation, the registration of the halloumi cheese and expanding the
provisions of the Green Line Regulation. Noting that the Direct Trade
Regulation has paved the way for the Turkish Cypriots trading directly with the
EU, Toros described as “saddening” the fact that a humanitarian issue such as
the direct trade of the Turkish Cypriots, who are EU citizens”, is politicized.
He argued that such a trade would motivate everyone for reaching the EU
standards and added that another means which would prepare the Turkish Cypriots
for the solution of the Cyprus problem is the Green Line Regulation, which
should be revised and improved. He
expressed the view that if the commercial vehicles and processed food were
permitted to cross over to the government-controlled area of the island, this
would have a very significant contribution to the volume of trade within the
framework of this regulation.
Toros further claimed that if the EU does not develop a mechanism
for the Turkish Cypriot producers when registering the halloumi cheese, this
will harm the trade of this product which constitutes one fourth of the
regime’s exports and will have negative effects on the Turkish Cypriot economy. He
alleged that this will also contradict to the promises given by the EU to the
Turkish Cypriots and complained that the EU has not kept the promise it gave
last year to intensify the harmonization of the Turkish Cypriots with the
Union.
According
to the chamber’s statement, Popens said
that their cooperation will continue and increase and expressed his
satisfaction with his briefing by Toros, describing the Turkish Cypriot Chamber
of Commerce as the “EU’s most important partner here”.
(I/Ts.)
11. Turkish Cypriot Businessmen Council is holding contacts in
Holland and Brussels
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (26.01.15) reports that a delegation of the
Turkish Cypriot Businessmen Council (KTIAK) will hold contacts in Holland and Brussels.
According
to the KTIAK chairman IlkerZugurt, KTIAK which is exerting efforts for the
recognition of the “TRNC”, as he said, is going to Zurich in order to sign a
cooperation protocol with the European Turkish World Work Confederation
(UNITEE) which is having a conference in Holland these days.
In addition
the delegation will have meetings with European Parliamentarians in Brussels
where it will hold lobby activities for the halloumi/ hellim issue.
12. The Turkish Cypriots will register Zivania and other
traditional products in Turkey
Turkish
Cypriot daily HalkinSesi newspaper (25.01.15) reports that the Turkish Cypriot “Chamber of Industry” has launched efforts to
register the Cypriot traditional Zivania drink in Turkey. The “chamber” has
already filed the necessary applications to the Turkish Patent Institute and is
currently waiting for the results. It is said that after registering
Zivania the registration of other traditional products will follow, such as
tsamarella [dried meat with a lot of salt and seasoned with thyme], walnut
spoon sweet, sheftali kebab, eliestsakistes [crushed olives which are harvested
when green and prepared in a special way] and molasses from occupied Kazafani
village.
The chairman of the “chamber”, Ali Cirali told the paper that
after the registration Zivania could become a trade mark in high demand in
Turkey and other countries and added that they could promote this
drink and make it an important trade mark in many countries.
(I/Ts.)
13. Gulden
PlumerKucuk: Locating missing persons has become harder
According to illegal Bayrak television
(online, 24.01.15), the Turkish Cypriot member of the Committee on Missing
Persons in Cyprus Gulden PlumerKucuk has pointed out that chances of finding
the remains of missing persons has fallen over the years.
She said that chances of finding missing
persons had dropped from 43% in 2006 to 17% in 2015.
Speaking to the Turkish Cypriot “TAK news
agency”, Kucuk said that the fact that most of the identified burial places had
been excavated and the fact that many people who knew information about
possible burial sites had passed away were reasons why chances of finding new
remains are diminishing.
Reminding that the identity of anyone who
comes forward and provided information about possible burial sites is kept
anonymous, Kucuk urged anyone with information on possible burial sites to talk
to CMP investigators before it is too late for them. She said that any
information is vital for the families of the missing.
Also touching upon the burial sites defined
as military areas, the Turkish Cypriot member said that the Committee has a
good cooperative relationship with the military.
She said that they had succeeded in
obtaining permission to carry out digs in 25 different areas located within
military areas to this date with two of these excavations are currently
continuing. “We file a request and we are then given permission” she said.
Stating that some original burial sites
both in the “South” (editor’s note: the government controlled area of the
Republic of Cyprus) and the “TRNC” (editor’s note: the breakaway regime in the
occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus) had been changed, Kucuk said that a
similar procedure had happened during the Balkan War. She said it was harder to
locate any remains once this was done because eye witnesses were more reluctant
to talk about these issues.
Pointing out that similar excavation and
exhumation work was carried out in many parts of the world,Kucuk said that
Cyprus is the only geography where operations are being carried out before the
conflict is resolved.
14. Alakopru
dam in Turkey to hold water on 26th January
According to illegal Bayrak television
(online, 24.01.15), the Alakopru dam in Turkey will start holding water as of
Monday, the 26th of January; it has been announced by the Turkish Minister for
Forestry and Water Works VeyselEroglu.
Eroglu said that an important stage will be
reached in the project once the Alakopru dam starts holding water from the
Dragon stream.
In a written statement issued, the Turkish
Minister said that construction on land facilities in both Turkey and the
“TRNC” (editor’s note: the breakaway regime in the occupied area of the
Republic of Cyprus) had been completed and that 55 km of the 80km pipeline over
the sea remained to be installed.
Reminding that the project, once completed,
will be the first of its kind in the world, the Turkish Forestry and Water
Works Minister said that the stretch of the pipeline between mainland Turkey
and the island will be suspended 250 meters underwater.
He said that the project, including water
treatment facilities and distribution networks, which will cost 1.255 billion Turkish
Liras to complete, will become operational on the 20th of July.
15. The TGNA approves the opening of a coordination office for the occupied area of Cyprus
Turkish
Cypriot daily Gunes newspaper (24.01.15) reports that the Turkish Grand
National Assembly (TGNA) approved on Friday the draft-laws as regards
agreements with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the
“TRNC” [breakaway regime in the occupied are of Cyprus] respectively for Turkey
to be given the status of CERN’s associate member and for the Turkish Ministry
of Youth and Sports opening a “coordination office abroad”.
(I/Ts.)
16. Erdogan:
Turkey will not beg for accession to the EU
According to Turkish daily Sabah (online,
24.01.15), Turkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan, speaking at a joint press
conference with President Ismail Omar Guelleh in Djibouti, said that Turkey is
not a country that could beg for accession to the European Union, alluding to
the lasting resistance of Europe to approve Turkey's accession to the bloc.
Guelleh and Erdogan announced that they
signed eight agreements following one-on-one talks the duo had, during a joint
press conference they held. Erdogan, touching on Turkey's ongoing talks to join
the European Union, has said: "Will Europe allow accession of Turkey with
its Muslim population? You have to accept [Turkey's membership] unless you are
against Islamophobia. If you deem Turkey as a country which will beg at your
door, it is not a country that begs. Either it is accepted [in the EU] or it
draws its own roadmap."
"It does not really matter whether they
accept Turkey's accession in the EU. We are indeed testing Europe."
Erdogan was quoted as saying.
17. Turkish
court blocks access to Facebook pages that ‘insult’ Prophet Muhammad
According to Ankara Anatolia news agency
(26.01.15), a Turkish court ordered Sunday a block on access to a number of
Facebook pages that share materials insulting Prophet Mohammad. The court
decided that Facebook, the world's biggest social network, would be blocked by
Turkey if Facebook fails to implement the order.
The
court's decision has been forwarded to the Presidency of Telecommunication and
Communication (TİB) and to the Access Provider Association.
Previously, a court in Turkey's
southeastern Diyarbakır province ruled on Jan. 14 to block access to web pages
showing Charlie Hebdo's latest cover featuring a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad.
The cover depicts Prophet Muhammad in a
white dress and shedding a tear, holding up a sign reading, "Je suis
Charlie" -- a slogan popularized after the Paris attacks -- below the
headline "All is forgiven."
----------------------------------------------------
TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION
