TURKISH
CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C
O N T E N T S
No.
100/15 30-31.05-01-02.06.2015
1. Akinci departed today for New
York to meet with the UNSG
2. Akinci met with foreign
Ambassadors
3. Cavusoglu: The Turkish
Cypriots will decide on the guarantors’ issue
4. Three former “prime ministers”
evaluated the issue of the guarantees
5. Ozersay argues that
involvement of the EU in the Cyprus negotiations will harm the Turkish Cypriot
side
6. Talat did not excluded the
possibility to form a “coalition government” with UBP if he would be elected to
the leadership of CTP
7. Durduran: Turkey’s stance
makes the Cyprus settlement difficult
8. Bilgin to illegally visit the
occupied area of Cyprus
9. UBP changes the way it operates
10. TDP to revise party program
after holding charter congress
11. The project for bringing
electricity from Turkey to the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus will
cost 130 million euro
12.
Editor of Cumhuriyet probed over front-page story on arms allegedly sent to
Syria
13. HDP not to return to “ethnic
politics” after polls
14. National Party leader
detained for insulting Erdogan
15. Bank Asya in Turkey is taken
over by the state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund for connections with the Gullen
movement
16. Turkish commentary views
change undergone by Erdogan since 2001
1. Akinci departed today for
New York to meet with the UNSG
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (02.06.15)
reports that Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa
Akinci is expected to depart this morning for New York where he will meet with
the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. The meeting will be held on
Thursday, 4 June at 12.00 hours (New York time or 19.00 Cyprus time). Turkish
Cypriot negotiator, Ozdil Nami, Akinci’s spokesman, Baris Burcu, the director
of Akinci’s office, Cenk Gurcag and the breakaway regime’s “representative” in
New York, Mehmet Dana will participate in the meeting.
According to information acquired by Kibris, Akinci will convey to Ban the Turkish
Cypriot view for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem the soonest within
the framework of the 11 February joint declaration. Akinci will also express
the wish that this solution is reached by the end of 2015. Furthermore, he
is expected to reiterate the commitment of the Turkish Cypriot side to continue
what is described as its “positive contribution” to finding a solution.
A well informed source told Kibris that this kind of
meetings usually last for half an hour, but this time it may last longer
because it will be the first meeting between Ban and Akinci or a second meeting
might be arranged.
(I/Ts.)
2. Akinci met with foreign
Ambassadors
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (02.06.15)
reports that Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa
Akinci met yesterday with the US Ambassador to Nicosia, John Koenig at his
office in the occupied part of Nicosia. In statements after the 40-minute
long meeting, Koenig said that there is
a reason to be hopeful that the Cyprus negotiations will have a positive result.
He noted that he had the opportunity to listen from Akinci the progress
achieved in the negotiations, adding that he wanted to listen to Akinci’s views
before the latter’s departure for New York. Asked whether he is hopeful for the
solution process and on whether this process will reach a result, Koenig said:
“I think that all of us are hopeful. We have reasons to have certain optimism
as regards this procedure. When you meet with Akinci and you see that they have
developed a constructive dialogue with Mr Anastasiades under the UN roof, there
is a reason for you to be optimistic”.
Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper
(02.06.15) reports that yesterday Akinci
met also separately with the Ambassadors of Austria and Germany to Nicosia,
Karl Mueller and Nikolai Von-Schoepff respectively. No statements were
issued after these meetings.
(I/Ts.)
3. Cavusoglu: The Turkish
Cypriots will decide on the guarantors’ issue
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris (30.05.15), in its front page with the above title,
reports that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the guarantees
will continue as long as the Turkish Cypriots want.
Speaking
at a meeting at the Izmir Chamber of Commerce, Cavusoglu referred to the issue
of guarantees, adding that there is a strong consensus both in Turkey and the
“TRNC” (translator’s note: the breakaway regime in the occupied area of the
Republic of Cyprus). He also claimed: “We are sincere, if the Greek Cypriot
side is sincere too, then we will resolve this problem within this year”.
Cavusoglu stressed that
Turkey will remain as a guarantor power in Cyprus as long as the Turkish
Cypriot “people” want it to do so.
Criticizing
the Greek Cypriot side for bringing up the issue of guarantees so early in the
process, Cavusoglu said: “Instead of focusing on the more urgent matters, the
Greek Cypriots brought up the issue just so to water down the process” and
added that the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades is now giving positive
messages.
He
further said: “What is the duty of the Greek Cypriot negotiator? To focus on
solving or reaching convergences on all the outstanding issues such as
territory or the fenced off city of Varosha with a win-win formula. There are
already convergences in the process. What is this? This is trying to shift the
agenda elsewhere. Why are you throwing the ball somewhere else instead of
negotiating the technical issues? Whenever things start going in the right direction
they try and throw the ball somewhere else. This opportunity should not be
wasted”.
Cavusoglu stressed that
Turkey will not give up its guarantor rights unless it is the wish of the
Turkish Cypriot “people” and added: “We
are in Cyprus as guarantors. They need to feel secure. We are not the ones
responsible for the stage we have reached today. Let us not go back to the past
and dwell on what was done against the Turkish Cypriot people”.
Cavusoglu
also called out to the Greek Cypriot administration (translator’s note: as he
refers to the Cyprus government) to stop creating false agendas and to focus
towards achieving a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus.
(DPs)
4. Three former “prime ministers”
evaluated the issue of the guarantees
Under the front-page title: “The guarantees issue should be discussed by the guarantor powers”,
Turkish Cypriot daily Star Kibris newspaper (01.02.2015) reported on statements
by three former “prime ministers” in the occupied area of Cyprus, Hakki Atun,
Ferdi Sabit Soyer and Irsen Kucuk, who evaluated to the paper this matter and
expressed their personal views.
Speaking in a program broadcast by ADA TV, Atun said that the negotiation talks have
started very well; he, however, pointed to the fact that he does not understand
the reason why the Greek Cypriot side has brought into the agenda the issue of
guarantees in Cyprus, an issue as he said which is one of the most sensitive.
“Since there are a lot of other issues which are more important, it is
unnecessary to speak about this issue and at the same time it creates
suspicions”, Atun said.
Also speaking, Kucuk
said that of course the issue of guarantees is a very important one and added
that this issue should be discussed by the guarantor powers. He then expressed
the belief that he considers it not necessary to discuss the issue of
guarantees at the negotiating table for the moment.
One the same issue, Soyer expressed the view that discussing the issue of guarantees at
this phase is also unnecessary and dangerous. “How the issue of guarantees came up? It is a right gained by the
Turkish Cypriots as a result of their long year struggle in the island. With this
right, Turkey is not only a territory part in the region but also it has won
the right to have a say in all organizations. (…)In my opinion is unnecessary
and dangerous to discuss this. We should discuss this issue as a part of the
comprehensive solution. We should focus on the issue of Government and Power
Sharing, the EU issue and the property issue”.
(AK)
5. Ozersay argues that
involvement of the EU in the Cyprus negotiations will harm the Turkish Cypriot
side
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi newspaper
(02.06.15) reports that Turkish Cypriot former negotiator, Kudret Ozersay has argued that they have experienced in Burgenstock
that the involvement of the European Union (EU) in the negotiations for finding
a solution to the Cyprus problem will be harmful to the Turkish Cypriot side. In
statements to Diyalog TV, Ozersay alleged that contrary to the Turkish Cypriot
side’s “flexible stance”, statements are regularly made by the Greek Cypriot
side on this issue, but the essence of the issue cannot be understood because
no statement is made by the Turkish side. He
claimed that a political problem exists because the Turkish side is not a
member of the Union and the EU is in favor of the Greek Cypriots because it
sits at the negotiating table for “protecting its own laws”.
“The presence of the EU in the negotiations room or at
the negotiating table will cause trouble both technically and politically”, he
alleged adding that “the issue and the
priority is a viable federal solution, not the EU membership”.
Referring to the issue of the
guarantees, Ozersay expressed the view that guarantees should be included in
the solution. “This is not a
matter only for Turkey. It is also a
matter of security-safety for the Turkish Cypriots as well”, he argued.
Responding to a question on the “silence of Britain on
this issue”, Ozersay, claimed that if there is no agreement between all the
sides, it means that the current situation continues. “That is, there is no
need [for Britain] to say something”, he argued.
(I/Ts.)
6. Talat did not excluded the
possibility to form a “coalition government” with UBP if he would be elected to
the leadership of CTP
Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper (01.06.15)
published an interview by former Turkish
Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat who replied to the paper’s questions on several
issues related with the Republican Turkish Party-United Forces (CTP-BG) general
congress, which is scheduled to take place on June 14.
Talat, stated, inter alia that if he will be elected
to the leadership of the CTP after the general congress, he will proceed to
internal restructure of the party. He stressed the need for the CTP party to
re-develop its discipline approach as a democratic centralist party in order as
he said to gain the respect of its supporters.
Asked
to reply to the rumors that there is a possibility to establish a “coalition
government” with UBP after the congress and if he would establish a
“government” with UBP, Talat said: “I would not exclude one party and support
and going towards another. I will undertake steps and form the best government
no matter which will be the party to cooperate with.(…).
(…)
(AK)
7. Durduran: Turkey’s
stance makes the Cyprus settlement difficult
According
to Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika (02.06.15), the member of the New Cyprus Party
(YKP) assembly Albay Durduran said that the stance of Turkey makes difficult
the solution of the Cyprus problem.
Commenting
on the Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) announced by the Turkish Cypriot
leader Mustafa Akinci and the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades, Durduran
said that the first steps towards the opening of new crossing points and the
telephone communication are very positive.
Durduran
said that Turkey is determined not to lose its gains as a guarantor country in
Cyprus.
He
also added that the issues like the change of the population structure, the
permission of constructing tourist complex harmful to the environment, the
license of casino and universities, are all issues which make the solution more
difficult.
(DPs)
8.Bilgin to illegally visit
the occupied area of Cyprus
Turkish Cypriot daily Star Kibris newspaper (02.06.15)
reports that the Turkish Minister of
Transport, Maritime and Communication Feridun Bilgin will carry out an
“official” visit in the occupied area of Cyprus today.
According to the paper, Bilgin will hold contacts with
the “speaker” of the so-called assembly Sibel Siber, the so-called prime
minister Ozkan Yorgancioglu and the so-called minister of transportation and
communication Hasan Tacoy.
Bilgin
will then sign a protocol agreement with Tacoy envisaging the “amendment of the
civil aviation cooperation agreement” which was signed between Turkey and the
occupation regime in 2012. After the signing ceremony, Bilgin and Tacoy will
give a joint press conference.
Bilgin will depart from the occupied area of Cyprus
tonight.
(AK)
9. UBP changes the way it operates
Turkish Cypriot
daily Kibris newspaper (02.06.15) reports that
Huseyin Ozgurgun, chairman of the National Unity Party (UBP), has explained the
changes to be made in the party’s charter during the congress which will be
held next Saturday, 6 June. He said that
the term of duty of the “deputies” will be limited to three terms or 15 years
and the term of the party officials, including the president, to five terms or
10 years.
Moreover, he noted that the system of the delegates
for the congress will change with a “more democratic” system providing for the
participation of all “party members” in the congresses. He said that they
agreed that the women and the young people should be “strongly represented” in
the party organs and they will be given equal representation to the one of the
“deputies” and the “mayors”.
According to the
amendments, candidates for the presidency of the party could become persons who
have voted in at least one previous UBP congress, persons “elected as deputies”
with the UBP in the recent “parliamentarian elections” and persons “elected” with
the UBP as “mayors” or members of “municipal councils” in the “local
elections”.
(I/Ts.)
10. TDP to revise party
program after holding charter congress
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi (02.06.15)
reports that the leader of the Communal Democracy Party (TDP) Cemal Ozyigit has
announced that his party will hold charter congress on the 28th of June.
Ozyigit said that soon after the congress, the party’s
program will also be revised. Ozyigit also said that the people had openly
demonstrated their desire for a change and added that the TDP will be the
pioneer of this change.
According to Ozyigit, TDP’s road map for the upcoming
period was being discussed at various organs of the party, and that the TDP
will take the necessary decisions in the near future.
11. The project for
bringing electricity from Turkey to the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus
will cost 130 million euro
Turkish
Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen (31.05.15) reports that the “chairman of the administrative
council” of the “TRNC electricity company” (“KIB-TEK) Ismet Akim, in an
interview to the paper, said that the feasibility report on transferring
electricity from Turkey to the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus is
ready. He added that the project will cost around 130 million euro.
(DPs)
12. Editor
of Cumhuriyet probed over front-page story on arms allegedly sent to Syria
Ankara Anatolia news agency (29.05.15) reported that
the Turkish authorities have launched an investigation into a newspaper editor
for publishing photographs purportedly showing trucks belonging to the Turkish
Natıonal Intelligence Service (MIT) filled with weapons.
Istanbul prosecutor's office on Friday began an
investigation into Can Dundar, the editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet daily. The
paper ran a front-page story on Friday with the headline: “Here are the arms
Erdogan says there were not.” Accompanying photos showed several vehicles
filled with weapons and ammunition. In one photograph, the serial numbers on the
ammunition are visible.
In January 2014, several trucks were stopped by local
gendarmerie in southern Adana and Hatay provinces on the ground that they were
loaded with ammunition, despite a national security law forbidding such a
search. The case saw the arrests of 26 soldiers.
Turkey's Interior Ministry said at the time that the
trucks, which were reportedly carrying arms into northern Syria, were in
reality conveying humanitarian aid to the Turkmen community in the war-torn
country.
Writing on the issue, Hurriyet Daily (01.06.15)
reported that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has publicly and
personally threatened the editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet on the issue.
"This slander and this illegitimate operation
against MITare, in a way, an act of espionage. This newspaper got involved in
this espionage activity, too," Erdogan said during an interview on public
broadcaster TRT late on May 31.
"I also filed a lawsuit. What only matter to them
is casting a shadow on Turkey's image. I suppose the person who wrote this as
an exclusive report will pay a heavy price for this," Erdogan said, in an
apparent reference to Cumhuriyet's editor-in-chief, Can Dundar, who had a
byline on the report.
Dundar responded to Erdogan by adapting his words in a
tweet early June 1. "The person who committed this crime will pay a heavy
price. We will not let go of him," Dundar said while sharing the
Cumhuriyet story reporting Erdogan's criticism targeting himself.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu slammed
daily Cumhuriyet which announced a series of interviews with one of the
commanders of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
In addition Hurriyet Daily News (02.06.16) reports
that main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıcdaroglu
has slammed President Erdogan for publicly and personally threatening the
editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of his
election rally in the eastern Anatolian province of Kars on June 1,
Kılıcdaroglu said Erdogan's remarks marked the very first time that a Turkish
president has "openly threatened a journalist for exposing a lie."
13. HDP not to return to “ethnic
politics” after polls
Turkish
Hurriyet Daily News (01.06.15) reported that the pro-Kurdish Peoples'
Democratic Party (HDP) will continue its efforts to turn into a political party
embracing the entire Turkey by abandoning its decades-old ethnic politics, its
co-leader has said, vowing no return even after the June 7 election.
"If
we give up of this rhetoric after the elections, it's the HDP who will be the
main loser. We will not fall behind the bar we raised. We'll move forward and
not go in reverse. Everybody is curious about what we'll say on June 8. I
declare from here that we'll say whatever we have been saying up until
today," Selahattin Demirtas, co-chair of the HDP, told the Hurriyet Daily
News following a question as to whether the party would return to its
Kurdish-focused politics after the elections although the HDP has registered a
huge success in reaching out to different segments and political views in
society in what its leaders call "the process to become the party of
Turkey."
Demirtas
admitted that parties focused on the Kurdish question had failed to come to
this point in the past mainly because of their shortcomings, and said:
"But now we have shown an important improvement that began with the
presidential elections. We are determined to take it further."
The
point the HDP arrived at is also positive for the Turkish citizens of Kurdish
origin as well, he said, denying claims that they had abandoned the struggle
for Kurdish rights. One of the fundamental questions posed to Demirtas is how
his party will react if the HDP fails to enter parliament in the event that it
receives 9.9 or 9.8 % of the votes. "The question should not be 'What will
you do?' The right question is 'What we'll do.' For instance, those who live in
Izmir should ask this question. Because if we fail to pass the threshold, 60 %
of this society will suffer from this," he said.
Demirtas
repeated that his party would seek out to be a strong opposition party in the
next parliament in a bid to be better ready for becoming the government in the
next parliamentary elections, dismissing concerns that it would form a
coalition government with the AKP.
In
addition, commenting on the same issue, Murat Yetkin wrote in Hurriyet Daily
News (01.06.15) that Turkish parties mobilized millions of people to their
election rallies over the weekend as the country enters the last week ahead of
the critical June 7 parliamentary elections. “But the most interesting of them
all was the May 30 Istanbul rally of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which
focuses on the Kurdish issue, on the same day as the AKP […] because of the Turkish flags that fluttered in
the hands of many followers, together with HDP flags.This was something
unimaginable up until two years ago, since the HDP shares the main body of its
grassroots with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which launched an
armed campaign against Turkey in 1984.
The
HDP has followed a different path than its predecessors since it was
established two years ago with the aim of being a party for “all of Turkey,”
not only the rights of Kurds. Then it challenged the 10% threshold to get into
the parliament (unlike its predecessors) which made the ruling AKP
uncomfortable. […] the presence of Turkish flags at the HDP rally is an indication
that the HDP has started to change Kurdish politics in a positive way, too. Its
success in breaking the 10% threshold and getting into the parliament is likely
to make it more possible.”
14. National Party leader
detained for insulting Erdogan
Turkish
daily Today's Zaman (31.05.15) reports that
National Party (UP) leader Gokce Firat Culhaoglu has been detained for
“insulting and threatening” the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The
most recent in the series of intimidating acts came as Culhaoglu, who is also a
columnist the Turk Solu weekly, was detained by Istanbul Police Department's
counter terrorism units at the order of Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's
Office on Saturday as part of an investigation launched over one of his
speeches posted on YouTube in which he is accused of insulting Erdogan.
Culhaoglu
shared the news of his detention on Twitter, saying he was being taken to the
National Police Department building.
Recently,
more than 100 people have been charged and some detained after being accused of
insulting Erdogan. Anti-government journalists and public figures in particular
have been targeted by the police and prosecutors on the grounds that they have
insulted Erdogan. These developments are widely considered as a new method of intimidating political
opponents who do not share the government's views.
Dozens
of people including journalists Sedef Kabas, Hidayet Karaca, Can Dundar and
Mehmet Baransu, high school students, activists and even Merve Buyuksarac -- a
former Miss Turkey -- have been prosecuted for insulting Erdogan on social
media such as Twitter and Facebook.
15. Bank Asya in Turkey
is taken over by the state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund for connections
with the Gullen movement
Turkish
daily Today’s Zaman newspaper (01.06.15) reported that the Banking Regulation
and Supervision Agency in Turkey announced late last Friday that it had handed
over control of Bank Asya to the state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund , in
what most consider a politically motivated move, just days before the country's
general election slated for June 7.
Turkey's
largest Islamic lender was already being administered by an interim board
assigned by the TMSF on Feb. 3.
Founded
by sympathizers of the faith-based Hizmet (service) movement, also known as the
Gulen movement -- inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen -- in
1996, Bank Asya, has long been in the news as a target of an intimidation
campaign led by high-ranking state officials as well as pro-government media
outlets and businessmen. Erdogan accuses supporters of the Hizmet movement of
organizing “a coup attempt,” referencing investigations into corruption and
bribery in 2013 that implicated several Cabinet ministers, Erdogan's sons and
pro-government businessmen.
The
seizure, the latest in a prolonged smear campaign against the bank, has drawn
ire both domestically and internationally.
16. Turkish commentary views change
undergone by Erdogan since 2001
Under the title “Erdogan Has Lost Touch”, Turkish
daily Today's Zaman (01.06.15) published the following commentary by Sahin
Alpay:
“Three theories have been advanced to explain the
astounding difference between Recep Tayyip Erdogan between 2001-2011 and after.
Kemalists maintain that Erdogan II has revealed the Islamist agenda that
Erdogan I had hidden. Liberals maintain he is a case of “power corrupts,
absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Psychologists and psychiatrists have claimed Erdogan's
character or personality has changed. Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat, a Peoples'
Democratic Party (HDP) candidate for Parliament, expressed the latter theory in
its crudest form. Firat, who was a very close aide to Erdogan for many years,
being a founding member and former deputy chairman of the Justice and
Development Party (AKP), recently said Erdogan fears prosecution for the
corruption scandal that even his family members are involved in and this has
adversely affected his mental health and psychology. I do not know to what
extent Firat's claim reflects the truth. Signs, however, that Erdogan has lost
touch with reality are piling up. During the past week we witnessed two
particularly visible signs.
President Erdogan is speaking as though he is not a
bit aware of the fact that the communications revolution has abolished national
borders and that globalization has turned the world into a village. He speaks
as though he has forgotten that Turkey is a founding member of the Council of
Europe (CoE), a long-standing member of NATO and the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) and a candidate country negotiating
membership in the European Union. Much worse, he speaks as though the concept
of freedom of the press in a democracy has never found a place in his mind.
The New York Times is surely a newspaper that is read
all over the world and a most influential member of the international media. It
published commending and supportive editorials about the AKP government in its
first two terms of power. Commenting and warning Turkey's allies on the
increasingly arbitrary and authoritarian rule by the AKP government, criticized
by the entire opposition in Turkey, surely falls into the paper's area of
interest. Erdogan's statements last week denouncing the paper not only confirms
to the entire world that there are indeed “Dark clouds over Turkey,” as the NYT
editorial commented, but also deals a blow to the country's international
esteem. International respect is not earned by sitting in lush palaces built illegally
-- as confirmed by the latest decision of by the Council of State -- but by
upholding the common values of democracies. I am indeed embarrassed at having
to remind Turkey's president of this fact. […]”
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TURKISH
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