TURKISH
CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C
O N T E N T S
No.
68/15 15.04.15
1.
Protest marks the ground breaking ceremony for Turkey’s first nuclear power
plant
2. Eroglu’s announcement on his wealth is reportedly
not convincing
3. Ertugruloglu clarifies why he supports Eroglu
4. The construction of a sewage plant next to the
occupied Bellapais Monastery has been suspended after a “court decision”
5.
Children for nine countries to visit the breakaway regime for the 23 April
celebrations
6. Suspicions for “Creutzfeldt Jacobs- mad cow's
disease” in the occupied area of Cyprus
7.
Erdogan warns Pope Francis not to repeat ‘mistake’ about the Armenian genocide
1. Protest
marks the ground breaking ceremony for Turkey’s first nuclear power plant
Turkish Hurriyet newspaper (15.04.15) reports that a group of protesters had locked the attendees of the ground breaking
ceremony for Turkey’s first nuclear power plant to protest the construction of
the plant in the southern province of Mersin.
Environmentalists from Mersin’s Gulnar neighborhood
locked the iron doors of the nuclear facility in the Akkuyu district on April
14, isolating several guests and journalists.
Carrying banners comparing the Akkuyu power plant with Japan’s Fukushima
power plant, protesters had gathered near the venue hours before the ceremony
for the ground breaking of the future plant’s marine hydro-technical
facilities.
According to CNN Turk television, police called on the
activists to halt the protest and unlock the doors, as “they had already
managed to make their voices heard by the media.” When demonstrators refused to
oblige, police briefly used a water cannon on some of the protesters. They
unlocked the door and ended the protest after 20 minutes.
2. Eroglu’s announcement on his wealth is
reportedly not convincing
Turkish Cypriot
daily Havadis newspaper (15.04.15) reports that Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu announced his wealth speaking
to illegal Bayrak television last night and responding to a question by
Huseyin Ekmekci, editing director of Havadis.Eroglu said thathe has ahouse at
Kizilbas area in the occupied part of Nicosia, where he is currently living, a
plot of land at Kizilbas area in occupied Nicosia that belongs to his spouse, a
house in occupied Famagusta where he is living, a plot of land next to the
house taken with “points of equal value” [Translator’s note: these are points
given by the breakaway regime from Turkish Cypriot property located in the
government-controlled area of the island], a plot of land at Agios Loukas area
taken with “points of equivalent value”, four apartments and a shop built on a
plot of land at Agios Loukas area taken with “points of equivalent value” in
occupied Famagusta, a plot of land in occupied Keryneia, 600 thousand Turkish
liras (TL) in “Cooperative Central Bank”, 462 thousand TL in Iktisat Bank, 410
thousand TL in Vakiflar Bank, 275 thousand pound sterling in Vakiflar Bank, 407
thousand US dollars in Vakiflar Bank, a BMW car model of 2008 and a plot of
land in occupied Famagusta purchased before 1974.
Eroglu defended
himself saying that “God willing I will buy a 2015-model car” and that everyone
in the “country” seems to have a house and a car.
Turkish Cypriot
daily Halkin Sesi newspaper (15.04.15) also refers to the issue under the
banner front-page title “Where did this wealth come from?” and reports that
Eroglu refrained from saying from where he had acquired this wealth. Noting that Eroglu argued that this wealth
is his earnings from his 40-year long political life and that the majority of
this property is acquired as a return of “points of equivalent value”, the
paper writes that this statement is not convincing.
(I/Ts.)
3. Ertugruloglu clarifies why he supports Eroglu
Turkish Cypriot
daily Afrika newspaper (15.04.15) reports that Tahsin Ertugruloglu, self-styled deputy with the National Unity
Party (UBP), has announced his support
to Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu in the “presidential elections” to
be held on Sunday 19 April, 2015 in the occupied area of the Republic of
Cyprus.
Ertugruloglu,
who had strongly criticized Eroglu in the past, said replying to those who
accuse him of supporting Eroglu now, the following: “Now is not the time for personal resentments. We do not have this
right. I am supporting the criticism I had made in the past and I do not regret
it. However, now let the TRNC continue its way with President Dervis Eroglu who
believes in its cause”.
Noting that they
have never disagreed with Eroglu on the Cyprus problem, Ertugruloglu argued
that Eroglu and his team have successfully carried out this struggle and the
negotiations and if Eroglu is reelected he will continue with the same
performance.
(I/Ts.)
4. The construction of a sewage plant next to the
occupied Bellapais Monastery has been suspended after a “court decision”
Turkish Cypriot daily Detay (15.04.15) reports that the “supreme administrative court” in the
occupied area of Cyprus has ruled out for the suspension of the construction
works of a sewage plant near the occupied Bellapais monastery, citing that the
occupied Keryneia municipality did not have the necessary permission.
According to the paper, the project for the
construction of a sewage plant near the Bellapais monastery has been undertaken
by the so-called Turkish embassy in the occupied area of Cyprus and was
financed by the Cukurova Development Agency and the so-called ministry of
economy, tourism, culture and sports.
Speaking to the paper about the issue, Boysan Boyran
who is the plaintiff lawyer of the case said that the “supreme court” has ruled
out that all the works related to the plant were unauthorized. He also called
the so-called “antiquities department” to reconsider its decision regarding
giving permission to restaurants and entertainment places near the monastery.
(AK)
5. Children
for nine countries to visit the breakaway regime for the 23 April celebrations
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (18.04.15)
reports that children from nine
countries will visit the breakaway regime for the 23 April celebrations,
National Sovereignty and Children's Day of the Turkish Republic.
The children are students from Turkey, Russia,
Baskurdistan (A federal Turkic republic of Russia) Poland, UK, Georgia, Kazakhstan,
Bulgaria and Serbia. The students will be hosted in various schools in the
breakaway regime and will participate in the celebrations organized for the
day. They will also meet with various “officials”, the paper writes.
(CS)
6. Suspicions for “Creutzfeldt Jacobs- mad cow's
disease” in the occupied area of Cyprus
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi (15.04.15) reports that there are fears in the
occupied area of Cyprus for the mad cow disease for two patients who receive
treatment at the Dr Burhan Nalbantoglu hospital in the occupied part of
Lefkosia.
According to the paper, a 60 year old man with the initials G.K. has been diagnosed with the
symptoms of the disease and is in a critical condition.
Speaking to the paper, the son of the patient said
that the man was admitted to hospital on the suspicion that he was carrying
Jacobs Disease and added that the doctors said that the possibility for the
patients to suffer from this disease is 99%.
Issuing
a statement on the issue, the so-called ministry of health said that the
incident has not been confirmed yet and added that it will issue another
statement after they will have the final blood samples results which were sent
to France.
Meanwhile, the paper adds that there are suspicions for a second patient at the hospital with the same
symptoms; however, the diagnosis has not been confirmed yet.
(AK)
Turkish Hurriyet newspaper (15.04.15) reports that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has
condemned Pope Francis, warning him not to repeat the “mistake” of describing
the mass killings of Ottoman Armenians as a genocide.
“Whenever politicians, religious functionaries assume
the duties of historians, then delirium comes out, not fact. Hereby, I want to
repeat our call to establish a joint commission of historians and stress that we are ready to open our archives. I want to
warn the pope not to repeat this mistake and condemn him,” Erdogan said at a
meeting of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) on April 14. Erdogan said he
greatly regretted the Pontiff’s weekend remarks in which the leader of the
world’s Catholics referred to the killings of Ottoman Armenians in 1915 as “the
first genocide of the 20th century.”
Recalling the Pope’s visit to Turkey in 2014, Erdogan
said he thought the Pope was “a different politician.” “I don’t say a religious
functionary,” he added. “His remarks display the appearance of a mentality
different to that of a religious functionary,” Erdogan said. “I won’t let
historical events be brought out of their own course and turned into a campaign
against our country and nation.”
---------------------------------------------------
TURKISH
AFFAIRS SECTION
(CS/ AM)
