TURKISH
CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C
O N T E N T S
No.
148/15 07.08.2015
1. EmineColak: “We should tell the world the expectations
and the problems of the Turkish Cypriots regarding the Cyprus talks”
2. Izcan: “The solution on property issue will be resolved
with return, compensation and exchange”
3. Eide met with Maronites in the occupied villages of
Karpasia and Kormakitis
4. Columnist wonders whether the Turkish Cypriots will
continue to defend Turkish interests or they will pave their own way
5. Cavusoglu and Hammond discussed airstrikes against
ISIL and the Cyprus talks
6. Kanbay: The Turkish government will continue to
support the “TRNC” in every possible way
7. Atun: “The stronger our motherland is the stronger the
TRNC becomes politically and economically”
8.Passengers traffic via airports and ports in the
occupied area of Cyprus
9. “Gross Domestic Product” increased by 4.8% in 2014
10. A Libyan Minister has been granted an honorary title
by illegal GAU
11. The founding stone ceremony of the illegal GAU’s
hospital to take place today
1. EmineColak:
“We should tell the world the expectations and the problems of the Turkish
Cypriots regarding the Cyprus talks”
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris (07.08.15) in
its front page publishes an interview with the self-styled minister of foreign
affairs EmineColak saying that they should explain to the world their claims
for the solution as Turkish Cypriots.
Colak said that she considers her new duty
as pushing all limits for expressing the Turkish Cypriots’ position in
international relations. She added that while the negotiations continue in
order to reach a settlement in Cyprus, they need to tell the whole world their
desire for a solution as Turkish Cypriots.
Noting that she will be able to contribute
to the negotiations in the context of external contacts, Colak added: “The
process is gaining momentum with the contribution of foreigners as well. We
will tell the world the expectations, the problems of the Turkish Cypriots and
what might disturb them during this process”.
On the issue of “Security and Guarantees”,
Colak said that there is a connection in the international dimension between
the three guarantor states as well as Cyprus on the issue of Guarantees and
Security and Alliance Agreements, adding that the the guarantees should be
discussed with joint consensus according to the needs of both communities.
(DPs)
2.
Izcan: “The solution on property issue will be resolved with return,
compensation and exchange”
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper
(07.08.15) reports that the chairman of
the United Cyprus Party (BKP) IzzetIzcan in a written statement yesterday
stated, inter alia, that the solution to be found on the Cyprus problem should
respect the property rights and the basic human rights of all Cypriots.
Stating that the property and territory
chapters are the most important issues of the Cyprus problem, Izcan pointed out that the two leaders have
recognized the individual property right and have reached to a principle
agreement towards this issue.
Supporting
that the solution of the property issue will be obtained with the options of
return, compensation and exchange, Izcan added that the criteria towards how
the compensation and the return will be implemented and in which property, will
also be determined. “The criteria to be determined will not abolish the
individual property rights and will take into account the rights of the
currents users of property”, added Izcan.
Underlining that the plunderers and
those who support the continuation of the status quo do not defend the basic
rights of the Turkish Cypriot community, Izcan added: “If we want a solution, we are obliged to act in accordance with
justice and the international law on the property issue and in other issues as
well”.
Supporting
that it is not possible for the Turkish Cypriot community to cover alone all
the amount of compensation to be paid for the property issue, Izcan expressed
the view that the foreign powers which had caused the Cyprus problem and the
Republic of Turkey which laid the foundation of the status quo in the
“northern” part of Cyprus should not walk away from their responsibilities.
(AK)
3.
Eide met with Maronites in the occupied villages of Karpasia and Kormakitis
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper
(07.08.15) reports that the Special
Adviser of the Secretary-General in Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide paid a visit
yesterday to occupied Kormakitis village and the occupied villages of Karpasia
where he met and spoke with Maronites living in the villages.
As the paper writes, Eide stated that the aim of his visits to
those villages is to be informed about the people’s expectations towards the
solution and added that in this framework he wanted to be informed about the
Maronite’s views towards the efforts exerted for the solution of the Cyprus
problem.
The paper adds that the representative
of the Maronites in the House of Representatives AntonisHadjirousos said that
the Maronites support the efforts exerted by the two leaders aiming to reach a
comprehensive solution on the Cyprus problem, adding that after the solution,
they would like to return back to the houses they left after 1974 within
military zones.
In
his turn, Eide said that Maronites are a part of Cyprus and added that in a
possible solution they have at least the right to say as much as the Greek
Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots.
(AK)
4. Columnist
wonders whether the Turkish Cypriots will continue to defend Turkish interests
or they will pave their own way
Under the title “Can Turkey defend its own
interests?”, columnist Yusuf Kanli, writing in Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily
News (online, 07.08.15), publishes the following commentary whether the Turkish
Cypriots will continue to defend Turkish interests or not:
“Should Turkish Cypriots try to defend
their own interests even if that amounts to hurting Turkey’s interests? Or
should they defend Turkish interests even if that requires their own interests
be sacrificed? This is not an egg and chicken story, but a very serious issue
that deserves a very serious evaluation. The question is of course also related
to who the Turkish Cypriots are. Turks living in Cyprus?Cypriots of ethnic
Turkish origin? What about those living abroad? Are they still Turkish Cypriots
or what?
Personally, I had given up identifying
myself as a Cypriot, proudly believing I was a member of the Turkish nation. On
a very sad 2013 February day I was told on a white screen, by the prime
minister of the time that Turkish Cypriots became something like parasites for
Turkey, while commenting on an irrelevant question. He did not use that exact
wording, but that was the meaning. I was in my study room writing something
while lending an ear to the news hour on TV. My wife brought a cup of Turkish
coffee. ‘Oh my God, why are you crying?’ she asked, seeing tears pouring out of
my eyes. It was a very sad moment. I remembered once again that even if I was
ethnically a Turk, I was a Turkish Cypriot and I was proud of it. However, I
grew up in Cyprus with a very strong commitment to Turkey and with an
understanding that if something was good for Turkey, irrespective whether it
was in line with our immediate interests or not, it ought to be good for us as
well. Otherwise, if something was good for Turkish Cypriots but bad for Turkey,
in the long run it would be bad for us as well. That was what ‘the advocate of
the national cause, the leader of the Turkish Cypriot struggle for a
respectable life, honourable peace and wellbeing’ was telling us anyhow. How
could RaufDenktas be wrong?
Questioning what Denktas said, particularly
in those difficult years when I was growing up as a teenager, was unthinkable,
at least in my neighbourhood. Very much like the famous Murphy laws, “Denktas
is always right. If Denktas is wrong, than the first article applies” was the
ultimate dictum of the time. Later, I had the opportunity to become a friend of
Denktas and granted the privilege of free access to his private world. He was
not just the commander “Toros” of the Turkish Resistance Movement, but a humble
friend for people of all ages, a hard worker, very religious in the private
sphere but at the same time, a committed secularist in public life. It was
great fun to make him angry, yell at me and after a while start pondering ways
to patch up and make me happy.
He was shocked hearing what the Turkish
Premier had said but could not publicly utter a word on the issue. “How can
Turkey be publicly criticized,” he only mumbled. Indeed, it was with the same
consideration that he did not publicly criticize when a decade earlier, back in
2003, despite the parliament adopting a strongly-worded Cyprus national cause declaration
a while ago and the National Security Council reaffirming its full support of
it, the Turkish government declared support for the Annan plan. When a Foreign
Ministry undersecretary told him the Turkish government’s message that he
should be “receptive” to the Annan plan, he only told close confidants, “Time
is up gentlemen… Time to quit politics… Rather than confronting Turkey, I
should step down with my honour…” Still, to avoid hurting Turkey, he withheld
his resignation until 2005, when at polls that year he announced he would not
seek re-election. Years later, in a private discussion, he admitted his ‘Turkey
is always right’ approach might have been wrong. However, when asked if he
should publicly admit that, he smiled and said, ‘How could I? I do not have
time to tear down an image I built for so many decades and try to create a new
one…’ Yet, he no longer believed in the validity of the ‘whatever Turkey does,
does Cyprus good’ cliché. At least he was aware that there was a new Turkey
where some other interests had started to come before the country’s national
interests.
The Cyprus talks have come to a crucial
junction once again. Even some norms were laid down to deal with the difficult
individual property issue. Intelligent rumour is that in all subheadings,
excluding the 1960 guarantee scheme and related security matters, there has
been considerable progress. Because of the thick veil of uncertainty provided
by the news blackout, there are serious concerns among the Turkish Cypriot
conservatives that all red lines were wiped out by President Mustafa Akinci and
his negotiating team. They accuse the president of being ‘defeatist’, if not a
‘traitor’, and ‘intentionally surrendering’ to the Greek Cypriot side.
Yet, most of those accusations stem from
the worry that the settlement being negotiated might be against Turkish
interests. Can that approach still be valid in today’s conditions? Should
Turkish Cypriots continue to defend Turkish interests and sacrifice their own
future for them or should they place their own chart in front of that of
Turkey’s? Turkey is a big country and can defend its own interests if it wants,
is it not so?”
5. Cavusoglu
and Hammond discussed airstrikes against ISIL and the Cyprus talks
Turkish daily Milliyet (online, 07.08.15)
reports that after the first US airstrike from the Incirlik base against ISIL
positions in Syria, the British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond called
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
According to the paper, Cavusoglu briefed
Hammond regarding the developments occurred after the bombing attack in Suruc,
the steps that Turkey adopted on its fight against the terrorists as well as
the ongoing operation within the framework of the agreement with the USA.
The paper further reports that they also
exchanged views regarding the latest developments on the Cyprus talks.
(DPs)
6. Kanbay:
The Turkish government will continue to support the “TRNC” in every possible
way
According to illegal Bayrak television
(online, 07.08.15), the new illegal Turkish “ambassador” to the occupied part
of Nicosia DeryaKanbay, within the framework of his courtesy visits to
self-styled state and government officials of the breakaway regime, had
separate meetings on Thursday with the self-styled minister of tourism
FaizSucuoglu, the self-styled minister of health SalihIzbul and the self-styled
minister of public works, environment and culture KutluEvren.
During the meeting, Sucuoglu reminded that
tourism is one of the economy’s locomotive sectors. He also said that there is
close cooperation with Turkey in developing the sector.
Pointing out that there are problems
experienced in the sector, Sucuoglu said that there are a number of incentive
programs and projects which they are planning to start implementing at the end
of the summer.
Kanbay, for his part, said that the tourism
sector is a leading sector which contributed to the development of other
sectors. Drawing attention to the importance of quality in tourism services,
Kanbay said that quality is something foreigners are looking for. He also said
that the Turkish government will continue to support the “TRNC” in every
possible way.
Kanbay later visited the self-styled
minister of health SalihIzbul.
Stating that his “ministry” is trying to
serve the public the best way it could within the limits of the “country’s
means”, Izbul said that they will try to bring to life certain projects in the
term ahead. He added that he is looking forward to working in coordination with
the “Turkish embassy” and “ambassador” Kanbay.
Kanbay, for his part, underlined the need
to improve and upgrade the “country’s” health infrastructure. He said that the
Turkish government and his “embassy” will do all it can to assist the “TRNC
health ministry” in achieving European health standards.
KutluEvren, during the meeting with Kanbay,
said that a special bond and relationship exist between Turkey and the “TRNC”.
He also underlined “the importance of the support provided by Turkey in
overcoming the Turkish Cypriot peoples’ problems and difficulties”.
Kanbay, for his part, said that the
“ministry” is an important state institution and added that he is looking
forward to developing projects together and cooperating in areas within the
“ministry’s scope”.
7. Atun:
“The stronger our motherland is the stronger the TRNC becomes politically and
economically”
According to illegal Bayrak television
(online, 06.08.15), the self-styled minister of economy, industry and commerce
SunatAtun, who is holding contacts in Turkey, attended the “ISO top1000 Konya
Firms Award Ceremony” organised by the MÜSİAD’s Konya headquarters.
Delivering
a speech at the event, Atun said that Turkey is an extremely important country
for Cyprus and added: “The stronger our motherland is the stronger the TRNC
becomes politically and economically”.
Expressing the hope that a government of
stability will be set up as soon as possible,
Atun, who also praised the previous
government’s economic success, said that the same government must continue in
order to secure the continuation of Turkey’s economic growth.
8.
Passengers traffic via airports and ports in the occupied area of Cyprus
Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper
(07.08.15) reports that according to
figures given by the so-called police general directorate, the number of
passengers coming to illegal airports and ports in the occupied area of Cyprus,
excluding the “TRNC’s citizens” increased by 10% for the period of January-June
2015, reaching to 671 thousand 624, in comparison to 609 thousand 610 in the
same period of 2014.
According to the figures, the number of
Turkish passengers who came to the occupied area of Cyprus via airports and
ports during the first six months of 2015 has reached to 512 thousand 879, in
comparison to 476 thousand 547 in the same period of 2014, while the number of
passengers from other foreign countries in 2015 has reached to 158 thousand 745
in comparison to 133 thousand 63 in the same period of 2014.
The figures said indicate that the
number of Greek Cypriots who crossed over to the occupied area of Cyprus during
the first six months of 2015 was 431 thousand 851, in comparison to the same
period of 2014 that it was 433 thousand. Also, the number of foreign tourists
who crossed over to the “TRNC” from the free areas of the Republic of Cyprus in
2015 was 497 thousand 707, in comparison with 2014 that it was 505 thousand.
9.
“Gross Domestic Product” increased by 4.8% in 2014
Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper
(07.08.15) reports that according to statements made by OdulMuhtaroglu,
undersecretary at the breakaway regime’s “state planning organization”, the
Gross Domestic Product increased by 4.8% in 2014 and reached 8 billion 858
million TL in current prices, in comparison with 2013.
The paper adds that the per capital
income in the occupied area of Cyprus for 2013 has been increased from 15
thousand 349 TL to 16 thousand 078, while in 2014, in current prices it has
been increased from 7 billion 606 million TL to 8 billion 858 million TL.
Muhtaroglu noted that, the highest
increase (8.8%) in current prices in 2014 has been observed in the sector of
independent business and services while there was an increase of (8.5%) in the
sectors of trade-tourism. A decrease of 4.5% has been observed in the
construction sector and 0.1% in the public sector.
(AK)
10.A
Libyan Minister has been granted an honorary title by illegal GAU
Turkish Cypriot daily Bakis newspaper
(07.08.15) reports that the illegal GAU university has granted the Libyan
Minister of Higher Education and Planning, Dr Andelmeneim Abdulla El-Dali, in a
special ceremony which took place at the illegal GAU, an honorary directorate
title.
According to the paper, the honorary
title has been given to the Libyan Minister due to his support and his
contribution in the “TRNC’s Higher education”.
(AK)
11.
The founding stone ceremony of the illegal GAU’s hospital to take place
today
Turkish Cypriot daily HaberalKibrisli
(07.08.15) reports that the so-called
prime minister, several “ministers” and “deputies” will attend today the
founding stone ceremony for the construction of the illegal American University
of Keryneia (GAU’ hospital) which is called GAU Florence Nightingale Hospital.
According to the paper, the project for the construction of the new
“hospital” is taking place in the framework of the cooperation agreement signed
between the illegal GAU and the Bilim University of Turkey.
(AK)
---------------------------------------------------
TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION
(DPs/
AM)
