TURKISH
CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C
O N T E N T S
No. 138/15 24.07.2015
1.
Akinci met with the British Ambassador to Ankara
2.
The Turkish Cypriot leader met with the German Marshall Fund Chief
3. Self-styled foreign
minister Colak said that she will support Akinci on the Cyprus talks
4. Talat called the US and the UK
to undertake positive steps on the Cyprus problem for ending the division
5.
Ayia Paraskevi Church became a place of drugs use and prostitution 6. Turkey carries out airstrikes
on ISIL targets early this morning
7. Obama and Erdogan agree
to stem flow of foreign fighters
1. Akinci
met with the British Ambassador to Ankara
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi newspaper
(24.07.15) reports that
Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci met with the
British Ambassador to Ankara, Richard Moore.
No statements were made and present at the meeting
were the “foreign ministerial under-secretary” and negotiation team member
Erhan Ercin and Akinci’s spokesman Baris Burcu.
2. The
Turkish Cypriot leader met with the German Marshall Fund Chief
Illegal Bayrak (24.07.15) broadcast that the Turkish
Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci met with the German Marshall Fund’s Chief Adviser
Michael Leigh.
Issuing a written statement Akinci’s spokesman Baris
Burcu said that Leigh briefed Akinci on the study they have carried out on the
Eastern Mediterranean’s natural gas and energy and presented Akinci with two
reports they have prepared.
During the visit, Akinci informed Leigh that once a
solution is found to the Cyprus problem, new conditions and opportunities will
emerge and with these new opportunities, on the basis of joint gains for the
two sides, he underlined the fact that the energy resources in the Eastern
Mediterranean will be able to be used more productively and in a secure manner.
3. Self-styled foreign
minister Colak said that she will support Akinci on the Cyprus talks
Turkish
Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen (24.07.15), in its front page under the title “On the
road for solution, we should work like a beaver”, publishes an interview with
the newly appointed minister of foreign affairs Emine Colak by journalist Didem
Mentes.
Colak,
who took the duty as the only woman “minister” in the newly “coalition
government” between the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) and the National Unity
Party (UBP), interpreted the new “government” as an opportunity for a
settlement. She explained that there is a debate that this new “government” is
risky; however, she added that they should give opportunities. She also noted
that they have also differences with the Greek Cypriot community, but after
all, their aim is peace.
Asked
to comment on her new role as “foreign minister”, Colak explained that she has
already briefed foreign politicians, who were in the occupied area of the
Republic of Cyprus due to the celebrations of the 41st anniversary of the
Turkish invasion to Cyprus, on the ongoing Cyprus talks and the latest stage
reached in the Cyprus problem. She added that it was really important for her,
in her first days of being appointed to be coincided with the illegal visit of
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the occupied area of the Republic of
Cyprus, so she learned the messages that Erdogan wanted to give them in the
tête-à-tête and public meetings.
Referring
to the Cyprus talks, Colak said that one of her priorities is to support and
assist the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci on these positive steps that
he started on the Cyprus problem, because one person cannot do everything. She
added that they should work, like beavers in this process that will change the
Cyprus problem, which is vital for all and the future generations.
Noting
that it is not correct to have claims as “foreign minister” to be also a
negotiator, Colak said that her role is to strengthen their foreign relations.
She further noted that in this process, apart from the official contacts, it is
extremely important to have face-to-face meetings and it is very important to
create opportunities for dialogues in these special days through social and
cultural contacts. Colak explained that the “foreign ministry” should come out
of its shell and should use its entire means through sports, culture, art,
“municipalities” and act together with different institutions and
non-governmental organizations for international contacts.
(DPs)
4. Talat called the US and the
UK to undertake positive steps on the Cyprus problem for ending the division
Turkish Cypriot daily Star Kibris newspaper (24.07.15)
reports that the chairman of the
Republican Turkish Party-United Forces (CTP-BG) Mehmet Ali Talat in statements
to a televised program broadcast by ADA TV, referred, inter alia, to the Cyprus
problem and said that in spite of the positive atmosphere which exist at the
Cyprus negotiation talks, it’s not sure that the talks will yield to a final
result.
“The
time has come for the other actors to become a part of this effort. Three out
of the five members of the UN’s Security Council support the Greek Cypriot
side. The other two members have no role, they are impartial. We are waiting
for positive steps by the US and the UK which is a guarantor country, for
ending the division. The US should be more active towards the solution. […]”,
Talat said.
Referring to the economic crisis in “south Cyprus”, as
he called the Republic of Cyprus, Talat said that the Greek Cypriots should
have a more positive look for the solution. He also supported the view that
with the solution of the Cyprus problem the economic crisis will end.
As
regards the formation of a coalition “government” between CTP-UBP, Talat stated
that the “government” has not been formed with Turkey’s instructions and
refused Turkey’s any mediation to this process.
Replying to allegations that he would undertake the
role of a “shadow prime minister” of the new “government”, Talat said that he
has no intention to intervene to the “government’s work”.
(AK)
5. Ayia
Paraskevi Church became a place of drugs use and prostitution
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (24.07.15)
reports that the church of Agia Parskevi in occupied Famagusta is in ruins and
has been transformed into a place that prostitution and drugs use are taking
place.
The paper writes that persons who live in the area
described the very bad condition of the church noting that the windows of the
building are broken, the walls are falling and there is garbage everywhere. In
addition they have seen young people using drags while they argue that thebuilding
became a place in which prostitutes gather.
(CS)
6. Turkey carried out
airstrikes on ISIL targets early this morning
Turkish
Hurriyet Daily news (24.07.15) reports that Turkey carried out airstrikes
against three Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets in Syria for
13 minutes early this morning, July 24.
Three
Turkish F-16 fighter jets took off from the Diyarbakir 8th Main Jet Base at
3:12 a.m. and hit two ISIL headquarters and one rallying point inside Syria
with guided missiles from 3:40 a.m. to 3:53 a.m., Turkish Prime Minister's
Office said in a statement.
ISIL
targets were located near the Havar village of Syria, which is across Turkey's
Kilis on the border, according to Dogan News Agency. Private broadcaster CNNTurk
reported that the Turkish jets launched their missiles from Turkey, without
entering the Syrian airspace.
The
decision was taken at a special security meeting in Ankara late July 23, hours
after the clash on the border. "The state of the Republic of Turkey is
decisive in taking any precaution to safeguard its national security," the
official statement confirming the airstrikes said on July 24, adding that the
Turkish F-16s returned to their bases at 4:24 a.m.
The
Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) had announced that five armed terrorists opened fire
at a military outpost on Syrian border on July 23 and killed one
non-commissioner officer, while wounding two troops. As a result of Turkish
retaliation, one ISIL terrorist was killed and three ISIL vehicles were hit.
Hours
before the July 23 border clash which involved four Turkish tanks, Turkey had
agreed to open its İncirlik military base to aircraft of the anti-ISIL
coalition.The new joint action consensus between Turkey and the United States,
also covers a partial no-fly zone over the Turkey-Syria border.
7. Obama and Erdogan agree to stem flow of foreign
fighters
Turkish
Hurriyet Daily news (24.07.15) reports that U.S. President Barack Obama and
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan agreed in a telephone call on July 22 to work
together to "stem the flow of foreign fighters and secure Turkey's border
with Syria," the White House said in a statement.
It
said the two leaders also discussed deepening their cooperation in the fight
against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which has grabbed swaths
of Syrian and Iraqi territory and declared a caliphate.
---------------------------------------------------
TURKISH
AFFAIRS SECTION
(CS/ AM)
