TURKISH CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C O N T E N T S
No. 02/15 03-05.01.15
1. Eroglu: The Turkish Cypriot side will continue on its own way
2. Siber: There could be no migration and migrants in a good
solution to the Cyprus problem
3. Akinci: Turkey’s role in relations with the Greek Cypriot side
should be of a negotiating role
4. Ozersay continues his “election campaign”
5. Ozgurgun called on Yorgancioglu to authorize the TPAO’s NAVTEX
6. A Turkish warship still follows the SAIPEM-10000 drilling
platform
7. Former deputy director of the “antiquities department” tries to
explain why churches in the occupied area of Cyprus were turned into barns
8. SenerLevent: We could still not find out who committed the
“crime of the bathroom” in Christmas 1963
9. Ozgur: “TRNC’s Troika is Turkey”
10. Twenty two hotels were closed down in occupied area of the
Republic of Cyprus
11. Tasyapi construction company will begin the extension project
for occupied airport of Tymvou
12. The spreading of small amounts of radiation from Akkuyu
nuclear plant will affect Cyprus
1. Eroglu: The Turkish Cypriot side will continue on its own
way
According
to Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi Daily News (online, 04.01.15), Turkish
Cypriot leader DervisEroglu claimed that the Greek Cypriot side had run from
the negotiating table and it was uncertain whether or not they would return. He
added that “the Turkish Cypriot side will continue on its own way whether there
is a settlement or not”.
Speaking at
the dinner on the 41st anniversary of the establishment of the
“families of war veterans and martyrs association”, Eroglu said that the
existence of the “TRNC” (editor’s note: the breakaway regime in the occupied
area of the Republic of Cyprus) is their strongest power at the negotiating
table. He noted that the UN parameters and an agreement on bi-communal bi-zonal
federation with two equal founding states are there.
In his
speech, Eroglu claimed that the Greek Cypriot side does not want to share but
to turn the Turkish Cypriots into a minority.
On the same
issue, Eroglu repeated that the Turkish Cypriot side is at the negotiating
table still and continues to look for a settlement that they believe it is
viable. Despite the reportedly high demands of the Greek Cypriot side, Eroglu
said this is a negotiation and not everyone will got what they want – the Greek
Cypriot side should know that.
2. Siber: There could be no migration and migrants in a good
solution to the Cyprus problem
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (04.01.15) reports that SibelSiber, self-styled speaker of the “assembly” and candidate of
the Republican Turkish party (CTP) in the forthcoming “presidential elections”
in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus, has argued that the solution of the Cyprus problem will not be a
“return to the 1960 Republic of Cyprus” and alleged that “the Republic of
Cyprus model was a functional federation model and its life lasted for three
years”.
Addressing
a round table meeting with the participation of students from the illegal
“American University of Keryneia’ (“GAU”), Siber
said that after the solution of the Cyprus problem, no problem should be
experienced on the issue of migration and citizenship, because “it is not
possible for a migration and migrants problem to exist in a good solution”.
Referring
to the territorial adjustments after a possible solution, Siber alleged that “territorial concession will come onto the agenda in
a possible solution, but the important thing is for what and in return of what
this will happen”.Siber alleged that during
former Turkish Cypriot leaders RaufDenktas and Mehmet Ali Talat periods a
proposal had been submitted to the Greek Cypriots for the opening of the
occupied fenced off city of Varosha under the UN control in return of the
lifting of the so-called embargoes and isolations allegedly implemented on the
Turkish Cypriots and the opening of the occupied seaports and airports. She
argued that the Greek Cypriots rejected this proposal.
Siber
argued that a positive image exists about the Greek Cypriot leader in the world
and a negative image for the Turkish Cypriot leader, because the former had
said “yes” the Annan Plan in 2004 and the latter voted “no”. She said that this
perception still exists in spite of the fact that President Anastasiades
allegedly abandoned the negotiating table and not enough international pressure
is exerted on him to return to the table.
She also expressed the view that a more proactive policy should be
followed and alleged that the Turkish Cypriots are the side that is right on
the Cyprus problem, but they have to explain this better to the outside world.
Siber
reiterated the Turkish allegation that the motivation of the Greek Cypriot side
for a solution is very low, something which derives from “the fact that the
Greek Cypriots are internationally recognized”. She also alleged that the
Turkish Cypriots are not a part of the international community and are isolated
as they cannot participate in international sport and cultural events.
Explaining
how the solution to the Cyprus problem should be according to her point of
view, Siber argued: “The solution on the
island should not be a return to the 1960 Republic of Cyprus, but on the basis
of a new bi-communal, bi-zonal federal system based on equality in the light of
the UN Security Council Resolutions, the 1977-79 agreements, the 23 May and 1
July agreements. The Republic of Cyprus
model was a functional federation model and its life lasted for three
years”.
Meanwhile,
according to Kibris (05.01.15), addressing a meeting of her party in occupied
Vouno village, and obviously accusing Turkish Cypriot leader DervisEroglu,
Siber said that it was wrong to bring
onto the agenda the issue of territory which has never been discussed after the
referendum and cause concern in the people by carrying out propaganda with
time-worn methods during the pre-“election” campaign. She noted that this
is nothing else than becoming guardian of the existing status quo and thinking
of the interests of a small group of people rather than the entire
“people”.
(I/Ts.)
3. Akinci: Turkey’s role in relations with the Greek Cypriot
side should be of a negotiating role
According
to Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi Daily News (online, 03.01.15), the
independent “candidate” for the upcoming “presidential elections” Mustafa
Akinci, speaking on a TV programme on Friday, noted that Turkey had not fully
carried out the necessities for recognition of the “TRNC” (editor’s note: the
breakaway regime in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus) and by this
the essence of the Turkish Cypriot community had worn.
Commenting
on reports that Turkey was unofficially holding discussions with the Greek
Cypriot side, Akinci said that Turkey is part of many platforms of which the
Greek Cypriot side too is a member therefore they have no choice in the matter.
He added however that Turkey’s role in relations with the Greek Cypriot side
should be of a negotiating role; in this lay the principle of mutual respect to
each other’s rights he said.
Akinci
refuted claims that he will be a partisan as he is a political person who will
not deny his roots; Akinci said that it is true that he will not deny his
political roots but noted that he has never been a partisan and he has proved
this on many occasions.
On the
Cyprus issue, Akinci said that he believed the Turkish Cypriot public had no
hope any longer; this however did not reflect the fact that they no longer
wanted a solution as this was untrue.
He reminded
that he would be holding a press conference on the 14th of January to brief on
his visions of the “presidency".
4. Ozersay continues his “election campaign”
According
to Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi Daily News (online, 04.01.15), the
so-called presidential candidate KudretOzersay, speaking on visits in occupied
villages during his “election campaign”, said that those who believed they are
ruling the “country” until now had not only upset the citizens but pushed them
towards hopelessness. He said that the “country” is in need of a leader who
will seriously help the “country” to develop a state policy rather than own
personal or political gains.
5. Ozgurgun called on Yorgancioglu to authorize the TPAO’s
NAVTEX
According
to Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi Daily News (online, 04.01.15), the
leader of the National Unity Party (UBP) Huseyin Ozgurgun claimed that the
Cyprus President Anastasiades has once again shed light to the non-solution of
the Cyprus issue.
In a
written statement, Ozgurgun alleged that Anastasiades’ positions at present did
not take into consideration the UN parameters and noted that these positions
are supported by the Greek Cypriot political parties as well.
Commenting
on Anastasiades’ insistence to the recognition of the Republic of Cyprus
sovereignty, Ozgurgun said that it came as no surprise that Anastasiades used
the Barbaros exploration ship as an excuse to abandon the table and said that
his misfortune statement ‘removed’ the
federation parameters from the table.
Ozgurgun
called on the Yorgancioglu “administration” to stand up for the Turkish Cypriot
side’s rights and authorize the Turkish Petroleum company’s NAVTEX once more.
He also called on Turkish Cypriot leader DervisEroglu to remind the “2011
TRNC-Turkey agreement” signed in New York on this issue.
6. A Turkish warship still follows the SAIPEM-10000 drilling
platform
Turkish
Cypriot daily Volkan newspaper (03.01.15) reports that the Turkish General
Staff has announced that Turkish TCG
Gediz warship is in the area south of Cyprus following the work of SAIPEM-10000
drilling platform which is carrying out natural gas and oil explorations in the
Republic of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Meanwhile,
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi Daily News (online, 05.01.15) reports that
the Barbaros Hayrettin Pasa seismic exploration vessel, which has been anchored
off the coast of occupied Famagusta, has now docked in the occupied port of
Famagusta.
It is
reported that the ship docked in order to restock on supplies. No statement has
been released as to the ships’ next voyage, whether it will return to Turkey or
back out to sea for more exploration work.
(I/Ts.)
7. Former deputy director of the “antiquities department” tries
to explain why churches in the occupied area of Cyprus were turned into
barns
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (03.01.15) reports that TuncerBagiskan, former
deputy director of the so-called antiquities and museums department of the
breakaway regime in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus, has said that
during the periods he had been working at the “department” they carried out
various examinations and established that frescoes had been ripped out and had
been stolen from churches in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus.
In statements to Kibris on the occasion of the decision of a court in Germany
to return to Cyprus antiquities stolen by the well-known Turkish smuggler
AydinDikmen from the occupied area of the island, Bagiskan gave as examples of the frescoes in the church in occupied
Lysi and KomatouYialou villages.
Pointing out that Dikmen had been given the “citizenship” of the
breakaway regime in spite of the fact that it was known that he was carrying
out smuggling of antiquities, he noted that they had said this in the past and
warned that persons like Dikmen “damage TRNC’s identity abroad”.
Bagiskan said that according to the “antiquities law” the
“antiquities department” has the duty of carrying out the maintenance of the
“historical churches”, but the “council of ministers” decided that this duty
should be transferred to the EVKAF religious foundation. “For
example, Apostolos Andreas is a historic church and became a property of EVKAF.
This time a dilemma is emerging”, he noted arguing that it isbecause of this that the churches “were left homeless”. According
to Bagiskan, it is because of this contradiction that the churches were and
still are used as barns.
Bagiskan
said also that in the 1980’s the icons
of the unused churches had been transferred to the depot of the “antiquities
department”. “As long they remained there [Translator’s note: in the
occupied churches], the appetite of the pillagers was raising. We had to take
away the icons from the unused churches”, he noted.
The paper
writes that Bagiskan served in the “department” at various duties during the
period 1975-2000. Bagiskan told Kibris that during the period he was deputy
director of the “department”, the icons
from the churches in occupied Famagusta area were preserved in
ApostolosVarnavas monastery’s depot, the icons from the churches of occupied
Keryneia area at the Castle of Keryneia and the icons from the churches in
occupied Morfou area in the warehouses next to Saint Mamas church.
Referring
to the trial in Germany, the paper writes that the Turkish Cypriot side did not
follow the process since it had sent a letter in 1997 asking for the stolen
antiquities to be returned to the occupied area of Cyprus, but the answer by
the German authorities was negative due to the fact that the regime is
non-recognized.
(I/Ts.)
8. SenerLevent: We could still not find out who committed the
“crime of the bathroom” in Christmas 1963
Writing in
his column in Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper (04.01.15), SenerLevent continues a series of articles
regarding the murder of the wife and the three children of a Turkish army major
in a house at Kumsal area of Nicosia in [December] 1963. Levent reports that we have not been able
to definitely find out until today who committed this crime. At the front page
of his paper Levent covers the issue under the title “50 years of lies”,
pointing out that those who know something about the issue do not talk and it
cannot be understood who is lying and who is not lying.
Levent
writes, inter alia, the following in his column:
“We do not
say that this [crime] was committed by Turkish extremists in order to secure
Turkey’s intervention in the island. The official propaganda says that this is
a barbarity of the Greeks. If the Greeks are really the ones who did this, we
are investigating how this was done. The
Greek Cypriot national guards, who captured everyone as hostage, killed nobody
else that night at Kumsal [area] except for Erdogan Rifat who had come in front
of them with a hunting rifle. Why they killed this mother and her children? There
are more questions like this. Were they
killed in the bath or outside the bath? The official propaganda says that they
were killed in the bathtub in which they hide. However, the picture we obtained
and published fifty years afterwards proves that they were not killed in the
bathtub.There is no blood in the bath! […]
We obtained
now this picture and we published it now. If we had found it earlier we would
have published it earlier. […]
Who had
taken the picture we published? Yesterday we found out that it was ‘Foto Osman
Rekor’. Osman Rekor is one of our oldest and experienced photographers and
journalists. He has a very wealthy archive. Photographs which have not been
published anywhere. Thousands of photographs. Does he have other pictures taken
from the crime in the bath? I do not know that. If someone buys his archive,
maybe we will find out then. […]”
(I/Ts.)
9. Ozgur: “TRNC’s Troika is Turkey”
Accoding to
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi Daily News (online, 05.01.15), the
self-styled deputy with the Republican Turkish Party BirikimOzgur has indicated
that “things are different in Cyprus”, whilst reports of the economic crisis
coupled with early elections in Greece are carried.
In a report
in Kibris Postasi by Vatan Mehmet, Ozgur said that the “TRNC’s (editor’sn note:
the breakaway regime in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus) Troika is
Turkey and an impasse with them of any sort is out of the question. He added
that there has not been any pressure as such on the Turkish Cypriot side to pay
the debt within a given time frame.
Ozgur said
that in his opinion there are serious differences between the present period in
Greece now and the political and economic conditions in the “TRNC”.
10. Twenty two hotels were closed down in occupied area of the
Republic of Cyprus
Turkish
Cypriot daily Havadis (05.01.15), in its front page under the title “22 hotels
were closed down”, reports that the chairman of the “Turkish Cypriot hoteliers
association (KTOB)” HuseyinAktig said that the mistakes in the tourism policy
have been the reason for the closure of 22 hotels in the occupied area of the
Republic of Cyprus. He added that the incentive system was implemented wrongly.
The hotels that were closed down were of one, two, three or four stars hotels.
Meanwhile,
the paper reports that despite 34,543 companies are “registered” in the “TRNC”,
only 21,997 companies are active accordingly to the “social security
department”. The active companies are increased by 505 compared to 22,502 in
2013.
11. Tasyapi construction company will begin the extension
project for occupied airport of Tymvou
According
to Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi Daily News (online, 04.01.15), the
self-styled minister of transport and public works, Hasan Tacoy announced that
they will sign a contract with TasyapiInsaat (construction company) for a 4
year extension project for the occupied airport of Tymvou.
The
contract will entail lengthening of the apron by 500ms, building a parallel
apron of 3ms next to the existing one and the construction of a new terminal
building. In addition to this a 500metre tunnel to reach the new terminal will
also be built.
Tacoy said
the new terminal and apron will be completed in 4 years. In order to completely
hand over the airport to Tasyapi various steps needed to be taken, like the
evacuating of the military zone and the hangar used by Istanbul Handling Ltd.
Tacoy
visited the occupied airport on Sunday to witness the demolition of the hangar
used by Istanbul Handling.
12. The spreading of small amounts of radiation from Akkuyu
nuclear plant will affect Cyprus
According
to Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi Daily News (online, 04.01.15), the head
of the board for the Turkish Chamber of Electrical Engineers Mersin Branch, SeyfettinAtar,
said that it is time for Cyprus to wake up to the idea of the nuclear plant at
Akkuyu as the sharp end of the sword touches Cyprus more than anyone.
KIBRIS
POSTASI reporter Hasan Yikici spoke to Atar who said that “Cyprus needs to wake
up from its beauty sleep!”, adding that it is time to fight together for our
future.
Atar stated
that the establishment of a nuclear plant in Akkuyu will not only have local
difficulties but regional issues as well. Despite Akkuyu being 180kms away from
Mersin, it is only 90kms away from Cyprus; any accident will affect the Cypriot
public and its tourism directly. Atar said that it is not only accidents but
also the spreading of small amounts of radiation that will affect the island
based on weather conditions. He called on those opposed to the nuclear plant to
be more active.
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