TURKISH
CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C
O N T E N T S
No. 189/15 06.10.2015
1. Akinci
draws attention to the importance of a “clear Turkish Cypriot majority” of
properties and population in the north part of the island
2. Turkish
daily argues that the breakaway regime handled to Turkey the right to
administrate the water five years ago
3.
Kilicdaroglu: “We wrote nationalism in Pentadaktylosmountains”
4. Denktas
announced that the graves at the occupied villages of Maratha and Santallari
will reopen; More remains of missing persons were found in the “central prison”
area
5. Colak
continues her contacts in Washington; Self-styled deputies carried out contacts
in Brussels
6.
Bahcesehir University to open a “private refugees' university” in the occupied
area of Cyprus; Statements by Durust
7. Turkey’s
Civil Aviation Authorities to educate the staff of the occupation regime’s
“civil aviation authorities”
8. Turkish
MFA summons the Russian Ambassador over second airspace violation; Davutoglu:
Military to react if Russia violates Turkish border again
9.
President Erdogan criticizes EU’s inaction over Syrian crisis
10. EU
postpones progress report on Turkey amid negotiations on refugees
11.
Columnist: “Turkey’s EU bid marked by mutual insincerity”
12. Zaman
daily Editor-in-Chief Dumanlı quits post due to pressure on media
1. Akinci
draws attention to the importance of a “clear Turkish Cypriot majority” of
properties and population in the north part of the island
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper
(06.10.15) reports that Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci has said that during the negotiations for finding a
solution to the Cyprus problem they are concentrated on the criteria in the
property issue and expressed the belief that after this issue is settled the
other chapters will reach a solution in a rational way.
In an exclusive interview with Kibris after
completing his contacts in New York, Akinci
drew attention to the importance [for the Turkish side] of designing the
criteria on the property issue in such a manner that the Turkish Cypriots to
have the “clear majority” of properties in the northern part of the island. He
argued that the Turkish Cypriot should also have the majority of population in
their own area and noted that in all the agreements it is written that the
solution will be bi-zonal and bi-communal. Akinci said that in the EU
officials and other officials whom they meet understand this and believe that a
way could be found.
Asked whether they are considering of a
certain percentage of Turkish Cypriot majority in population and properties,
Akinci replied:“It is important to accept this in principle, because as of the
beginning of the 1990’s it was turned into UN parameter. It has been approved in the UN Security Council Resolution No 750. What
is understood of bi-zonality is for the two communities being the clear
majority in their own area. This means that it will not be a little bit higher
than 50% but much higher of course. I do not want to give a percentage in
this sense. The important thing is to
agree on this issue and be able to prepare the criteria on the property within
the framework of this mentality. Therefore, I think that having a clear
majority will be one of the founding stones for leading us to the success in
the Cyprus negotiations. If we are able to overcome this issue within this
framework on the property, and I believe that we will be able to do it, I
believe that we will be able to reasonably find ways out in the other chapters
which will come onto the agenda”.
Akinci
noted that another point on which the Turkish Cypriot side is “sensitive” is
the issue of turning the agreement into primary law of the EU.This requires
that the agreement is endorsed by the parliaments of all 28 member states, he
said, but if there are some people who believe that there could be other ways,
the Turkish Cypriots are open to suggestions.
Referring
to the issue the so-called permanent derogations from the EU law, Akinci
alleged that these should be evaluated as “natural right” of the Turkish
Cypriots instead of being considered as limitation of the rights of the Greek
Cypriots or the other EU citizens.
Asked whether permanent derogations will be
needed in case bi-zonality is guaranteed in the criteria for the property, he
replied:“This does not have this meaning. We want some provisions of the
agreement to become primary law of the EU in order for the agreement not to be
worn though in courts. […] We know that the permanent derogations are something
which is not very popular in the EU, but in spite of this some countries
secured these derogations when carrying out their accession negotiations to the
EU. A part of them is permanent and a part is temporary. Now it is talked of temporary derogations for us, but being primary law
is very important. The Turkish Cypriot community must find the ways of being
able to have the majority of property ownership and population in its own area.
In this sense, understanding should be shown to our sensitivities.
[…]”.
Replying to a question, Akinci said that he sees positively the
issue of the cross-voting and that this is an element strengthening the federal
structure, but in order for the Turkish Cypriot side to accept this, the
rotating presidency must definitely be materialized. He argued: “We can
evaluate the cross-voting issue provided that we agree on the rotating
presidency. However, discussing the cross-voting issue without concluding the
rotating presidency is meaningless. […] I
think that it would not be a bad situation if a person who will be the
president of the entire united federal structure in rotation is voted by a
certain percentage of the other community – and in the beginning this could
influence by 10% - 15% and be limited in this number. The person, who will
be elected there, regardless of which community he comes from, will act knowing
that he will have to take into consideration the worries of the other
community”.
Akinci noted that the process is quick and
that the time for the involvement of the guarantor powers is approaching
because their target is an early solution. He said that during his meeting with
the UN Secretary-General they discussed the further contribution of the
guarantor powers in the procedure. Commenting on the UNSG’s statement on the
issue Akinci said that the procedure is a Cypriot-led process and that the
security and guarantees is one of the six chapters. He added: “Therefore, even though we say that this
will be discussed in the end, because we are experiencing a quick process and
we aim at an early solution, the General – Secretary’s statement is tantamount
to that we are coming to the point at which the guarantor powers will enter
into action [...]”
Akinci noted that the security concerns of
the Turkish Cypriots and the perceptions of the Greek Cypriots of what
constitutes a threat should seriously be taken into consideration and expressed
the belief that a formula which will protect the sensitivities of both
communities can be found on the issue of security and guarantees.
Akinci
expressed the view that cross-visits of the negotiators of the communities to
Ankara and Athens respectively should take place and that this will positively
contribute to the promotion of the relations. He said
that during their meeting in New York, the
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told him that he had submitted a
proposal to his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras for visiting Cyprus together
through Larnaka International Airport and meet with the two leaders in a tripartite
and four-party meeting. He added: “This is actually a courageous step on
Davutoglu’s behalf. This kind of gestures is good from the point of view of
smoothing the relations between the sides and facilitating their coming
together as well as increasing the contribution of Greece and Turkey to this
issue”.
(I/Ts.)
2. Turkish daily argues that the breakaway regime handled to
Turkey the right to administrate the water five years ago
The Turkish
Cypriot press reports today (06.10.15) about the water project and the problems
occurred as regards its administration.
Under the
title “The ownership was given and we had no idea”, Detay reports that all the
details regarding the administration of the water brought from Turkey were
signed between Ankara and the breakaway regime in 2010; a protocol that the
“assembly” approved and was even published at the “official paper” of the
so-called state and became a “law” in 2012. The protocol was signed between the
then “prime minister” IrsenKucuk and the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister
CemilCicek. According to the agreement signed, the pipe lines and the places of
the water installation will be a property of Turkey for 30 years; that is until
the year 2042.
Meanwhile,
YeniDuzen reports that BirolCinar, the chairman of the “TRNC state water
affairs”, stated that currently there are no technical issues as regards the
water project and its distribution is expected to be launched on October 28
starting from occupied Lefkosia.
Havadis
writes that the reactions against efforts of Turkey to administrate the water
continue. The chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) TozunTunali stated
that 51% of the water must ne administrated by the breakaway regime and the
rest by Turkey. He also accused the National Unity Party (UBP) of giving the
rights for the water administration to Turkey during it was in power and called
on the current “government” to take a stance on the issue.
On its
part, the chairman of the United Cyprus Party (BKP) Abdullah Korkmazhan stated
that the majority of the Turkish Cypriots believes that the water must be
administrated by the “municipalities” will be distributed and expressed the
party’s disagreement over the privatization of the water administration.
(CS)
3. Kilicdaroglu: “We wrote nationalism in
Pentadaktylosmountains”
Turkish
Cypriot daily Dialog newspaper (06.10.15) reports that the chairman of the
Republican People’s Party (CTP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu referred to Cyprus in the
framework of the election campaign in Turkey.
Kilicdaroglu
stated that his party “wrote nationalism in Pentadaktylos Mountains”. “We took
this culture from Ecevit”, he added.
(CS)
4.Denktas
announced that the graves at the occupied villages of Maratha and Santallari
will reopen; More remains of missing persons were found in the “central prison”
area
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi
(05.10.15) reported that the so-called assembly accepted unanimously the “draft
bill on the war veteran’s families and disable association law”.
Speaking during the meeting of the
so-called assembly, the chairman of the Democratic Party (DP) SerdarDenktas
said that following an allegation that Greek Cypriots were buried in the graves
of those buried in the occupied villages of Maratha and Santallari cemeteries,
the “council of ministers” decided for the graves to be reopened.
Denktas stressed the need for the
“ministerial council” to withdraw its decision and said: “This is totally
wrong. We should not permit this to happen. Such a search cannot take place
there”.
On his turn, the so-called prime
minister Omer Kalyoncu, commenting on the speculation saying that the proposal
to reopen the grave had come from the Turkish member of the Committee of
Missing Persons, said that the decision to reopen the grave was taken on 12
September 2015 by the “ministerial council”.
Kalyoncu also said that it was the first
time he heard about the allegation that a Greek Cypriot was buried in those
villages.
Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris
newspaper (06.10.15) reports that the remains of 20 more missing persons were
found during the excavation works which are taking place in the area behind the
“central prisons” in the occupied part of Nicosia.
Speaking on the issue, Murat Soysan,
assistant to the Turkish Cypriot member in the Committee of the Missing Persons
(CMP), confirmed that they found the remains of 20 more missing persons and
added that they have also found new remains during the excavations they
launched yesterday.
Soysal added that they have launched
excavations in the area as they received information that around 40-50 Greek
Cypriots, were buried there in 1974.
(AK)
5. Colak
continues her contacts in Washington; Self-styled deputies carried out contacts
in Brussels
According to illegal Bayrak television
(online, 05.10.15), self-styled foreign minister EmineColak has moved on to
Washington after completing her contacts in New York.
Colak who delivered speeches at the Islamic
Cooperation Organisation’s (OIC) Annual Coordination meeting and the extraordinary
meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organisations (ECO) Council of Ministers as
part of her contacts in New York, briefed the participants on the Cyprus issue.
She also demanded from all OIC member
countries to take concrete steps towards lifting the isolations imposed on the
Turkish Cypriot people.
Colak who will hold a series of contacts in
Washington is expected to return to the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus
on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis
(06.10.15) reports that a delegation from the self-styled assembly of the
breakaway regime in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus, consisting of
the self-styled deputy with the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) ArmaganCandan,
the self-styled deputy with the National Unity Party (UBP) Ergun Serdaroglu and
the self-styled deputy with the Democratic Party – National Forces (DPUG) Hasan
Tacoy, carried out contacts in Brussels between September 29 and October 1.
During the visit to Brussels, the
delegation met with officials of the European Parliament and permanent
representatives of the EU member countries and the European Commission in
Brussels.
During their contacts, they discussed the
latest stage reached in the Cyprus talks, the duties of the EU for financing
the Cyprus settlement, the acceleration of the EU harmonisation process of the
Turkish Cypriot side, the Turkish Cypriots’ relations with the EU institutions,
the development of the Green Line Regulation in a way that will benefit the
Turkish Cypriot side, as well as the sensitivities of the Turkish Cypriot on
some issues and particularly on the halloumi/hellim issue.
The delegation also met with
representatives from the political groups of the European Parliament: the Group
of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats), the Socialist Group, the
European Conservatives and Reformists Group, the Europe of Freedom and Direct
Democracy Group and the Group of the Greens.
6.Bahcesehir
University to open a “private refugees' university” in the occupied area of
Cyprus; Statements by Durust
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi
(06.10.15) reports that according to a statement issue by the Board of
Directors of the Bahcesehir University, the university has decided to open a
“University for Refugees” in the occupied area of Cyprus.
According to the paper, the Bahcesehir
University is planning to build a university campus in the “TRNC for refugees”
in one year. The “University” will be call “Baris University- University or
Peace” (BAU).
The Bahcesehir University announced that
they have already made the application for the establishment of the
“university” in the “TRNC” and it has been accepted. The aim is to enroll 3,000
refugee university students.
As the paper writes, the project was to
be realized two years ago in Alexandretta, however, this didn’t materialize.
So, in order to serve refugee students, the university changed their path and
decided to set up a private “university” in the TRNC.
In statements on the issue, the
president of the Board of Directors of Bahcesehir University, EnverYucel, said
that the university aimed to serve all war struck youths. It also aims to
become a platform for academicians hit by war. Yucel added that they aim to
give education in English and Arabic and added that they will also ensure that
the university will become a regional research centre.
Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot daily
YeniDuzen (06.10.15) reports that the so-called minister of education Kemal
Durust, in statements on the issue, said that they received an application from
the Bahcesehir University 3-4 months ago for the establishment of a “refugees’
university” in the “TRNC” and added that the “ministry” still evaluates the
application and should first take the permission of the “higher education
planning evaluation, accreditation and coordination council” (“YODAK”) towards this issue.
Commenting also on this issue,
FerdiSabitSoyer, “deputy” with the Republican Turkish Party-United Forces
(CTP-BG) in occupied Famagusta said that he was informed about this issue by
the media and added that they will examine this issue taking into consideration
all “regulations”.
(AK)
7.
Turkey’s Civil Aviation Authorities to educate the staff of the occupation
regime’s “civil aviation authorities”
Turkish Cypriot daily Gunes newspaper
(06.10.15) reports that the so-called assembly approved yesterday the
“resolution of the amendment of the protocol envisaging cooperation between
Turkey and the TRNC in the Civil Aviation”.
In statements during the meeting of the
assembly, Hasan Tacoy, “deputy” with the Democratic Party-National Forces
(DP-UG) said that the protocol was signed during the term of the previous
“government” and added that according to the agreement signed with Turkey’s
Civil Aviation Authorities, experts from Turkey will be visiting the “TRNC” to
educate the staff of the “civil aviation authority” in the “TRNC”.
(AK)
8. Turkish
MFA summons the Russian Ambassador over second airspace violation; Davutoglu:
Military to react if Russia violates Turkish border again
According to Turkish daily Sabah (online,
06.10.15), Turkey's Ministry of Foreign
Affairs on Monday summoned the Russian Ambassador to the Ministry once again
over a second airspace violation which took place on October 4.
Acting Undersecretary of the Turkish
Foreign Ministry AhmetMuhtar Gun expressed Turkey's "strong" reaction
to Russia's second airspace violation during his meeting with Russian
Ambassador AndreyKarlov late Monday.
Russian fighter jets previously violated
Turkish airspace on October 3.
On the same issue, Turkish daily Hurriyet
Daily News (online, 05.10.15) reported that
Turkey has warned that it will
react if Russia again violates Turkey’s border with Syria after Russian
aircraft breached Turkish airspace over the weekend, with Moscow saying the
incident was not intentional but due to a “navigational error”.
“Let me put it bluntly: Turkey’s rules of engagement are valid for
Syria’s, Russia’s or another country’s warplanes. The Turkish Armed Forces have
been issued with open instructions. Even if it’s a flying bird, whoever
violates Turkish airspace will be subject to the necessary actions”, Davutoglu
told Haberturk TV in an interviewon Oct. 5, stressing that Russia must not
escalate tension in Syria.
“The Russian aircraft exited Turkish
airspace into Syria after it was intercepted by two F-16s from the Turkish Air
Force, which were conducting patrols in the region,” a written statement by the
ministry said Oct. 5.
Davutoglu said that Turkey had warned
Russia to prevent a repetition of such violations, adding that the Russian
authorities had assured Turkey that they would not be repeated and that the
Oct. 3 violation was unintentional.
“I just spoke with our chief of General
Staff. We have given the necessary instructions to our Foreign Minister.
Diplomatic traffic has begun. Our position is very clear; we’ll warn any
country that violates our borders in a friendly way. Russia is our friend and
neighbour. There is no tension between Turkey and Russia in this sense. The
issue of Syria is not a Turkish-Russian crisis,” he said.
The Ministry summoned the ambassador of
Russia in Ankara, AndreyKarlov, and strongly protested the violation.
Foreign Minister FeridunSinirlioglu also
called his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to lodge a protest warning him
not to repeat similar incidents.
Sinirlioglu also conducted telephone calls
with his U.S., French, Italian and British counterparts to evaluate the
situation and met NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels. Russian violations
of Turkish airspace are “unacceptable,” the NATO chief said Oct. 5.
A spokesperson for Russian President
Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on Oct. 5 that Russia’s
operations in Syria would not cause a worsening in relations with Turkey and
that the cooperation of the two countries have a strong base.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said Oct. 5 that
its warplanes had carried out strikes on nine Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL) targets, including command centres and communications posts in
three provinces in the past 24 hours.
9. President
Erdogan criticizes EU’s inaction over Syrian crisis
According to Turkish daily Sabah (online,
06.10.15), President RecepTayyip Erdogan said on Monday during his visit in
Brussels that Turkey's spending of $7.5 billion on sheltering about 2 million
Syrian refugees in the country was not "sustainable", criticizing the
European Union's inaction regarding the crisis.
He said, of the $7.5 billion, Turkey had
only received $417 million in foreign aid.
"While we host 2.2 million refugees, Europe as a whole houses less
than 250,000 refugees in total," Erdogan said at a televised meeting with
Belgian business leaders.
President Erdogan was welcomed by Belgian
King Philippe in an official ceremony in Brussels on Monday. Erdogan was also
accompanied by Minister for EU Affairs, BerilDedeoglu, Foreign Minister
FeridunSinirlioglu, Energy Minister Ali RizaAlaboyun, and Culture and Tourism
Minister YalcinTopcu during his visit.
The EU, which pledged at least 1 billion
euro ($1.1 billion) for Syrian refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and other
countries last month, says it wants to help Turkey absorb and integrate more
migrants on its own soil and cooperate closely with Greece in preventing mass
migrant flows.
The Turkish President had told supporters
in France the day before, "What do they say to us? ... 'Oh my, don't open
your doors, don't let them reach us."
Erdogan later on met with the President of
the European Council, Donald Tusk. Following the meeting, the two leaders held
a press conference, during which various topic were touched upon.
While Slovakia has made clear it will only
accept Christian refugees and not Muslims, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor
Orban has described the influx of refugees as a threat to Europe's
"Christian roots" and responded to the crisis by erecting a fence on
its southern border with Serbia.
Faced with the worst migrant crisis since
World War II, the EU has expressed its willingness to help Turkey integrate
more migrants on its soil in order to prevent mass inflows of refugees arriving
in neighbouring Greece.
"The situation where hundreds of
thousands of people are fleeing to the EU via Turkey must be stopped; we cannot
do it on our own, we need the Turkish side," European Council President
Donald Tusk said.
But
Erdogan, stressing that the root cause of the migrant crisis was the war in Syria,
once again reiterated his calls for a buffer zone, used as an area to host
refugees, and a no-fly zone on the Turkish-Syrian border.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz
said following his meeting with Erdogan that such a measure had to be decided
by the United Nations Security Council.
Erdogan also touched upon Turkey's current
accession process to EU. He said, "I told during my meeting with Tusk that
Turkey's accession to EU should be devoid of artificial political barriers and
it should be revitalized".
Erdogan also called on EU member states to
take a tougher stance against the PKK.
"PYD [Democratic Union Party, the Syrian
affiliate of the PKK] is a terrorist organization like the PKK and they work
together. We cannot speak of good terrorist versus bad terrorist," Erdogan
said. "Daesh [Arabic acronym for
ISIS] is a terrorist organization and so are the PYD and the PKK. I
wholeheartedly believe [our] European friends will show sensitivity to this
point," Erdogan added.
Another point that was discussed during the
meeting was Russia's violations of Turkish airspace, which Donald Tusk said
were "worrisome". NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg had also earlier said
that Russian violations of Turkish airspace were "unacceptable",
calling an emergency meeting of alliance countries to discuss the crisis
affecting a key member state.
10. EU
postpones progress report on Turkey amid negotiations on refugees
According to Turkish daily Today’s Zaman
(online, 05.10.15), the European
Commission has postponed the publication of its annual progress report on
Turkey amid negotiations with Turkey on how to stem the flow of refugees to
Europe. Commission officials have confirmed to Today's Zaman that the
report, which was originally scheduled to be published on Oct. 14, has now been
put on the agenda for Oct. 21. The Commission confirmation comes on the day
when President RecepTayyip Erdogan is visiting Brussels after almost two years.
The European press reports that a group of
EU members led by the UK has also asked the Commission to delay the report
until after the general election in Turkey to be held on Nov. 1 so as not to
influence the outcome. The Commission has reportedly rejected the British
proposal but agreed to postpone it for a week.
Although the EU is not giving Erdogan the
red carpet treatment, according to EU officials, he will be received at the
highest level possible. Erdogan will meet all the three leaders of the most
prominent EU institutions: Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament,
Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, and Jean Claude Juncker, the
President of the European Commission. The four men will then have a dinner to
carry on their talks on the refugee crisis.
Erdogan is strongly criticized by the
European institutions for his increasingly authoritarian style, but Brussels
thinks he could be the ultimate recipe to stop the refugee influx, which has
sowed discord and panic across the continent.
The
speculations that the postponement could also see the softening of the progress
report language on Turkey if EU leaders could get what they want from Erdogan
was dismissed by EU diplomats.
A Commission spokeswoman said the only
reason was the EU summit on refugees a day before Oct. 14, which could have
overshadowed the progress reports. MajaKocijancic,
the Commission spokeswoman, told Today's Zaman that the progress reports on
candidate countries would be the first enlargement package under the new
Juncker Commission and the reason to change the date was to attract the
attention the reports deserved.
“This is the first enlargement package
under the new Juncker Commission. The package includes a mid-term strategy for
the first time and the country reports will be different in presentation than
in the past. There is a strong interest by the President and all the colleagues
that the package gets the media and public attention it deserves. In this
context, given the European Council next week, which will have a strong focus
on migration, the preference is to present a week later to ensure the package
gets the media and public attention it deserves,” she said.
11. Columnist:
“Turkey’s EU bid marked by mutual insincerity”
Columnist SemihIdiz, writing in Turkish
daily Hurriyet Daily News (online, 06.10.15), evaluated the EU stance on the
visit of the Turkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan in Brussels, in the
following commentary:
“Turkey’s EU ties are back on the agenda
again with President RecepTayyipErdogan’s visit to Brussels this week. Press
reports in the lead-up to his visit, during which he will meet the heads of the
European Council, Commission and Parliament, suggest that Erdogan will get a
warmer reception than he otherwise might have.
The reason
for this, however, highlights the insincerity on the EU side, which is showing
once again that it is being driven by self-interest rather than any goodwill
toward Turkey. There is also insincerity on the Turkish side with regard to its
EU bid, of course.
Viewed from
the EU’s perspective, it appears that the driving force with regard to its ties
with Turkey today is the crisis involving Syrian refugees. European countries
want the refugees to be either stopped at the Syrian border, or accommodated in
Turkey.
Put plainly, they want to prevent the flow
of mostly Muslim migrants from the Middle East to Europe, and want them to stay
in predominantly Muslim Turkey.
They cannot blame Ankara for their refugee
crisis, of course, because Turkey is coping with its own refugee crisis that is
far greater than the EU’s. So there will not be angry accusations levelled at
Erdogan, but enticements dangled under his nose. If anything, Erdogan will be
the one wagging his finger given his penchant for this.
Reports in
the European media show that Erdogan will also not be taxed about his
autocratic ways and undemocratic bid for absolute power in Turkey. One of the
enticements presented to him, on the other hand, will reportedly be the easing
of visa restrictions for Turks.
Whatever the EU decides in this regard, its
steps will have to be visible and come into force soon, if not immediately, to
work. That remains an open question. There will also be the enticement of money
to help Ankara with its refugee crisis, although few believe this will be
anywhere near what Turkey’s needs to cope with this crisis.
What is not
expected, however, is for the EU side to take steps that would advance Turkey’s
membership bid in any meaningful way. That
remains a bridge too far for today’s Europe. Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu, nevertheless, know that if the EU gives them sufficient “gifts,”
especially with regard to the visa regime, they can use this to their advantage
in the lead-up to general elections just three weeks from now.
So the calculations on the Turkish side
with regards to Erdogan’s Brussels visit are also marked by insincerity. All Erdogan wants from this is political
capital to boost his ambitions, and it seems he may get some.Otherwise, he has
never displayed a major desire for EU membership, either as Prime Minister or
now as President, given the restrictions this would place on his
anti-democratic ways.
This brings us to former President Abdullah
Gul and his insincerity with regard to Ankara’s membership bid, despite the
strong support he ostensibly gave to this as President.
Gul tweeted a message a few days ago
marking the 10th anniversary of the start of membership talks, having been
largely instrumental in starting them. He still remains keen on this
membership, saying the advanced democratic and social standards this will bring
are vital for Turkey.
Yet one has to seriously question whether
he did all he could to advance this bid, especially during the Gezi Park
demonstrations in 2013. At the time he endorsed Internet legislation which
restricted the freedom of expression, and later also endorsed legislation which
effectively placed the judiciary in Turkey under executive control.
In other words, he acted as a rubber stamp
for Erdogan’s anti-democratic ambitions.
Today,
Turkey is a much less democratic country than it was 10 years ago when its
candidacy for EU membership was accepted, and Gul also has a hand in bringing
this about.
This is why
Turkey’s membership bid, which no one believes in anymore anyway, is marked by
insincerity on both sides.”
12. Zaman
daily Editor-in-Chief Dumanlı quits post due to pressure on media
Turkish daily Today’s Zaman (online,
05.10.15) reported that Zaman daily Editor-in-Chief EkremDumanli has resigned
from his post over “unlawful pressure” on him and the media in general.
Dumanlı released a statement on Monday to
announce that he sees that he cannot perform his job as the editor-in-chief of
the Zaman daily due to recent pressure on him and the media. “I think I have
been unable to sufficiently and efficiently contribute to the Zaman daily where
I have been serving since 2001 and that my health does not allow this either.
For this reason, I resign from the post of Editor-in-Chief which I have
sincerely tried to maintain as much as I could,” Dumanlı said.
The Zaman daily administration issued a
statement following Dumanlı’s resignation, announcing that Cihan news agency
General Manager AbdulhamitBilici
replaced Dumanlı as the Editor in Chief.
Police officials raided the office of Zaman
on Dec. 14, 2014 and detained Dumanlı and several other journalists, including
STV network executive HidayetKaraca, scriptwriters and producers as part of a
government-initiated media crackdown.
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TURKISH
AFFAIRS SECTION
(DPs/ AM)
