TURKISH
CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C
O N T E N T S
No.
232/15 05-07.12.2015
1. Interview by Bozkir to daily Sabah; He reiterated that
a referendum is possible to take place in Cyprus next March
2.
Burcu denies that Akinci asked for the citizenship of federal Cyprus to be
granted to another 50.000 Turkish settlers
3.
BKP: Turkish demand for 26,500 new “citizens” is unacceptable
4.
How the Russia-Turkey crisis affected the breakaway regime
5.
The “29th General meeting of the Turkish Cypriot Tourism and Travel
Agencies” took place in the breakaway regime
6.
YAGA chairman: “Investors do not see the Cyprus problem as an obstacle”
7.
Denktas: The guarantees will be abolished and the end of the Turkish Cypriots
will come after the solution of the Cyprus problem
8. Eroglu’s statements on the
water management in the occupied area of Cyprus
9.
Reactions in the breakaway regime regarding the water management
10. Cavusoglu described as
provocation the incident occurred with the Russian warship in Bosporus
11. Erdogan: “Turkey has shelved
the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project”
12. Iraq summons the Turkish
Ambassador over deployment of Turkish troops in Mosul
1. Interview by Bozkir to
daily Sabah; He reiterated that a referendum is possible to take place in
Cyprus next March
Turkish daily Sabah (06.12.15) reported that Turkey’s
EU Minister Volkan Bozkir in an exclusive interview to daily Sabah in Brussels,
spoke about the new era in Turkish-EU relations.
The Minister said that the EU-Turkey summit gives
Turkey new responsibilities and underlined that they need to work harder in
order to reach expectations. Refuting the allegations about the EU's refugee
action plan, which assert that Turkey will receive the refugees in exchange for
3 billion euro biannually, Bozkir stressed that after this agreement, Turkey
will cooperate with the EU to make immigration systematic.
Asked to comment and evaluate the reunification talks
in Cyprus, Bozkir stated: “Negotiations
are going very well. In case the parties will reach a settlement, a referendum
is expected to be held for a permanent solution next March. It seems that,
unlike the situation during the Annan Plan in 2004, both sides will vote for
the referendum.
We
can talk about three basic factors that were effective in the current situation. Firstly, the
current situation is very different from the one in 2004. In 2004, there
was a leader that opposed the referendum in southern Cyprus. The new
administration, on the other hand, seems more willing in regards to a solution.
There were Greek Cypriot people who had guaranteed their EU membership in 2004
and, therefore, they kept their distance. Now, southern Cyprus is facing
economic hardships, while northern Cyprus has flourished in the past 11 years. In
summary, the situation is more suitable for a solution.
Secondly,
our clean water pipeline to northern Cyprus is another important factor, which
will be open to use for the whole island in the case of unification.
Thirdly,
natural gas reserves also play an important role in this process. The feasibility of alternatives for Turkey to
transport the gas is almost nonexistent. For example, Crete is about 1,500
kilometers from Cyprus. Israel, on the other hand, is not a secure zone for
this reserve and the transportation is challenging. Therefore, these three factors and the good relations between both
governments of the island give us hope of unification”, Bozkir said.
Meanwhile,
Turkish daily
Hurriyet Daily News (07.12.15) reports
that the European Union has provided a commitment to Ankara to launch necessary
procedures on five accession chapters whose opening is currently under veto by
“Greek Cyprus”, as the Republic of Cyprus is called, in a bid to deliver on
promises recently given to Turkey, the Hurriyet Daily News has learned.
The statement, signed by EU Commission President
Jean-Claude Juncker and handed to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and considered
as an appendix to the joint statement issued on November 29, promises action on
five negotiation chapters: Chapter 15: Energy; Chapter 23: Judiciary and
fundamental rights; Chapter 24: Justice, freedom and security; Chapter 26:
Education and culture; and Chapter 31: Foreign security and defense policy.
A joint statement only mentioned Chapter 17, economic
and monetary policy, in an announcement regarding an intergovernmental
conference on December 14 but noted the possibility of opening other chapters.
“Furthermore, they noted the European Commission’s
commitment to complete, in the first quarter of 2016, the preparatory work for
the opening of a number of chapters without prejudice to the position of member
states. Preparatory work could subsequently begin also on further chapters.”
These chapters, however, could not be named due to
“Greek Cyprus’ veto”.
(…)But as
Turkey insisted in naming the chapters, the two parties agreed on the formula
of a letter to be signed by Juncker to Davutoglu. “This is a letter of
commitment which should be thought together with the joint statement. The
letter has therefore placed these chapters on record,” a senior Turkish
diplomatic source told the Hurriyet Daily News.
A diplomatic source of an EU country in Ankara told
the Daily News that the letter was an important commitment to Turkey to open
the aforementioned chapters and to further re-energize accession talks.
“Among
these chapters is the one on energy. We could have provided a much better alignment with
Turkey on energy policies and on energy security issues if we could have
already managed to open this chapter,” the source said.
(…)According to EU rules, there is a need for
unanimity for the opening and provisional closing of every negotiation chapter,
and even one member’s veto can suspend the process. There has been no progress
on these five chapters so far because of the Greek Cypriot vote. However, diplomatic sources have
highlighted two processes that could eventually effect the removal of the Greek
Cypriot veto for these chapters and others.
The
first is the fact that many EU countries, particularly Germany, which have
traditionally been cold on Turkey joining the Union, have had to change their
posture because of the growing refugee crisis. German Chancellor Angela
Merkel’s active stance during this period to stop the flow of refugees could
reflect itself in the form of more pressure on Greek Cyprus to remove its block
on the chapters in question.
Second,
there is progress on reunification talks in Cyprus that could result in a
referendum before the two nations, probably in the first half of 2016. The fact
that two parties are nearing an agreement could have a positive impact on Greek
Cyprus for the acceleration of Turkey’s accession talks with the EU.
2. Burcu
denies that Akinci asked for the citizenship of federal Cyprus to be granted to
another 50.000 Turkish settlers
Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper (06.12.15)
reported that Baris Burcu, spokesman
of the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, has denied that Akinci had asked from President Anastasiades for the
citizenship of a possible federal Republic of Cyprus to be granted to another
50.000 persons in addition to the 220.000 persons, which had reportedly been
agreed by the leaders as the population of the Turkish Cypriots after the
solution. Referring to a statement made by a “source close to President
Anastasiades”, Burcu argued that Akinci submitted no such demand.
Another
anonymous source told Afrika that the number of 50.000 concerns the persons
having a “white card”, who will be given “work and permanent residence permit”
in the occupied area of Cyprus. The source said that there is a demand for these persons to be able to
move freely in the island. It is
reported that President Anastasiades is “very cold” towards this demand and
does not want to even discuss it.
This information was given to Afrika by another source
close to Akinci and not by Burcu who did not refer to the issue in his
statement to the paper.
(I/Ts.)
3. BKP:
Turkish demand for 26,500 new “citizens” is unacceptable
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (07.12.15)
reports that Izzet Izcan, chairman
of the United Cyprus Party (BKP), has
described as “unacceptable” the demand recently submitted by Turkish Prime
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to the self-styled government of the breakaway regime
for granting its so-called citizenship to another 26,500 settlers from Turkey
who are living in the occupied area of Cyprus.
In a written statement, Izcan called on the Republican
Turkish Party – National Unity Party “government” to make a statement on the
issue and noted: “It seems that the
demands of Turkey’s administrators go on incessantly. The economic package, which they have imposed by force, the latest developments on the water issue and their demand for new citizenships is showing this reality with all
its nudity. It is not possible for this country to be administered with the
superior-civil servant relations, ignoring the reality that this place is a
separate country and has its specific internal law”.
(I/Ts.)
4. How
the Russia-Turkey crisis affected the breakaway regime
Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper (07.12.15)
reports on how the Russia-Turkey crisis
affected the Russians who either visit the occupied area of Cyprus as tourists
or live and make investments there.
“The
existence of a resolution according to which the northern part of the island is
considered to be Turkish soil made the Russian tourists and the Russian
investments who want to come to the TRNC to feel uncomfortable”, writes the
paper.
According to Havadis, the approximately 9,500 Russians who live in the breakaway regime are
pleased with the situation and do not pay attention to the concerns of
their families who called them to return to Russian. The Russian Ambassador to
Cyprus also said that he finds the northern part of Cyprus to be a safe place,
Havadis claims.
The majority of the Russians who live in the breakaway
regime are involved in the tourism or with the real estate sector and said that
northern Cyprus is an important center for both investments and tourism. They also called on the Russians to visit
the breakaway regime as tourists or to make investments.
(CS)
5. The
“29th General meeting of the Turkish Cypriot Tourism and Travel
Agencies” took place in the breakaway regime
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (06.12.15) reported
that issues of tourism in the breakaway
regime were undertaken during the “29th General meeting of the
Turkish Cypriot Tourism and Travel Agencies”.
In his speech on the meeting, self-styled prime minister Omer Kalyoncu stated that they need to take
the necessary steps so that the tourism market in the UK to be revived again and
added that advertising is not enough to attract tourists. He also said that the
solution of the Cyprus problem will affect tourism positively.
On his part the chairman of the Democratic Party (DP) Serdar Denktas stated that the
Russian-Turkey crisis is affecting the Russian tourists who visited the
breakaway regime and added that despite the fact that the decision of the
Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci not to meet with the Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov when the latter visited Cyprus was politically right,
financially was not wise. He also said that measures must be taken on the
issue of Russian tourists so they will start visiting the breakaway regime
soon.
(CS)
6. YAGA
chairman: “Investors do not see the Cyprus problem as an obstacle”
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (07.12.15)
reports that Berkan Tokar, chairman
of the “Investment Development Agency” (YAGA) in the occupied area of the
Republic of Cyprus, has said that the
investors do not see the Cyprus problem as an obstacle for investing in the
occupied area of the island.
Noting that the aim of “YAGA” is to correctly direct
the foreign investors coming to the occupied area of Cyprus and being able to
advice the self-styled prime minister, Tokar said that they are working with
personnel comprised of five experts. He
noted that the foreign investors are coming to the occupied area after
contacting with “YAGA” through mediators or over the internet.
According
to Tokar, during the past two years they held contacts and meetings with around
100 foreign investors. He
said that most of the companies which attempted
to invest in the occupied area of Cyprus come from Turkey and added that around
40 European companies were interested for the so-called “solid waste project”.
The European companies, he noted, visited the occupied area of Cyprus and
conducted investigations. Tokar further
said that the investors asked questions on the Cyprus problem, but argued that
this is not important for them. He added: “However, if a solution is reached, there will be more freedom and
easiness for all kinds of issues. We are equipped on matters regarding the
risks on the property issue. The current situation in our country does not
scare them. We need to reply more quickly to the investors on every
issue”.
(I/Ts.)
7. Denktas:
The guarantees will be abolished and the end of the Turkish Cypriots will come
after the solution of the Cyprus problem
Turkish Cypriot daily Star Kibris newspaper (07.12.15)
reports that Serdar Denktas, leader
of the Democratic Party – National Forces (DP-UG), has alleged that in a possible solution plan the system of guarantees
will be abolished and in such case the end of the Turkish Cypriots will come. Denktas
made these statements in occupied Yialousa village, within the framework of his
party’s “enlightenment visits” on the Cyprus problem.
Denktas argued that their duty is to warn about the
mistakes allegedly committed during the negotiations process and disclose what
they consider to be deficiencies.
Referring
to the statement made by Baris Burcu, spokesman of the Turkish Cypriot leader,
that “the issue of guarantees is not a taboo and can be discussed”, Denktas
claimed that this “includes a danger for the future”. He recalled Greece’s statement that it is ready to
abandon its guarantee rights and said that Britain has also stated that it is
ready to do the same in case a solution is reached. Denktas described as wrong
the statement made by the Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu and the Turkish
Presidency saying that the communities should first reach an agreement on the
other issues and then the guarantor powers will see the issue of guarantees.
He alleged that this shows that in the solution plan
which will come before us, the guarantees system will be abolished and that
when the two leaders agree on every issue and only the guarantees remain,
Turkey will not have the luxury to say “no I will not abandon the guarantees”
for the sake of not preventing the solution.
(I/Ts.)
8. Eroglu’s statements on the
water management in the occupied area of Cyprus
According to illegal Bayrak television (05.12.15) the Turkish
State Hydraulic Works DSİ has made official its request to manage the water
that is being illegally transferred from Turkey to the “TRNC”.
In a statement to the Anatolian News Agency, Turkey’s Minister for Forestry and Water Works Veysel
Eroglu said that DSİ wanted to manage the water as it had invested a great deal
of time into the project and that they had more experience.
Eroglu said that DSİ has made its request official on
the 1st of December to the “TRNC officials” during their meeting in Turkey to
the country with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
Noting that the “officials” in the “TRNC” have yet to
make a final decision on the issue, Eroglu said that the issue would be taken
up during “prime minister” Omer Kalyoncu’s visit to Ankara next week.
“It is very difficult to manage the water and
expertise is needed. The DSİ should manage the water for some time and continue
to invest in the area so that everything is running smoothly”, Eroglu said.
9. Reactions
in the breakaway regime regarding the water management
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (05.12.15)
reported that the leader of the Democratic Party National Forces (DP) Serdar Denktas referred to the management
of the water coming from Turkey and said that if needed the water could be
jointly managed by a special partnership with the “state”.
Referring to the proposal made by the Turkish State
Hydraulic Works DSİ to manage the water until all problems are solved with the
system, Denktas stated that he could see that the “TRNC” had rejected the
offer. “A state-private partnership could overcome this dilemma” said Denktas and
added that when preparing such an
agreement the “municipality” workers should be included in the agreement.
In addition, Kibris also reports that the occupied Famagusta, Pergamos, Assia and
Vadili “municipalities” stated that they want the issue of the management of the water to be solved between
“TRNC and Turkey officials”. The “municipalities” also stated that if
necessary they will sever ties with the so-called "TRNC Municipalities
Water and Sewage Enterprises" (BESKI) which was established by 26 “municipalities”
with the aim of administrating the water which came from Turkey.
Commenting on the same issue, the general secretary of
the Social Democracy Party Cemal Ozyigit stated that the breakaway regime
signed a protocol with Turkey regarding the water administration three years
ago and stated that the will of the
Turkish Cypriots on the issue is not respected at all.
Finally, Kibris (06.12.15) writes that the general
secretary of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) Tufan Erhurman stated that the
water must be administrated by the Turkish Cypriots. He stated that he does not
find it right a company of a foreign country to go to another country and take
the administration of an institution.
(CS)
10. Cavusoglu described as
provocation the incident occurred with the Russian warship in Bosporus
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (06.12.15) reported that a Russian warship passed
through Istanbul’s Bosporus en route to the Mediterranean on the morning of
December 6.
One
soldier was seen in footage of the boat passing holding a ground-to-air
missile, drawing an angry reaction from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu.
The soldier held the missile on his shoulder in the
shooting position during the passing of Russia’s “Caesar Kunikov” warship.
“This
is provocation, this is a harassing passage,” Cavusoglu told reporters on December 6 in his hometown Antalya.
“The Russian warplanes’ violation of our airspace and
the passing of Russian warships through the Bosporus are two very different
things,” he added, referring to the Montreaux Convention regarding the regime
of the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits.
“The passages
should be made in accordance with the international agreements, whether it is a
Russian ship or of another nationality, the rules have long been determined,”
Cavusoglu said.
He
added that the “necessary answer will be given in situations deemed to be a
threat.”
“The showing off of a missile by a soldier on a
Russian warship, or other things such as anti-aircraft weapons, is pure
provocation. I hope that this is an isolated case. It is not the right
approach,” Cavusoglu also said.
11. Erdogan: “Turkey has
shelved the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project”
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (07.12.15) reports
that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said on Saturday that the planned gas pipeline project to link Russia and
Turkey, dubbed the “Turkish Stream,” has been shelved by Turkey because its
demands were not met.
Russia's Energy Minister said on December 3 that
Moscow has suspended talks on the project in the wake of a crisis between the
two countries.
Erdogan,
speaking at a meeting in Istanbul, dismissed the remark as a "lie",
saying that in fact Turkey had suspended the project - and long before the
plane incident - because of Russia's "non-compliance with our
demands."
“There
is no indication that the problems between us and Russia will be reflected to
Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant project,” Erdogan alleged.
(…)Turkey’s first power plant project was undertaken
by Russia’s Rosatom in the southern province of Akkuyu.
Erdogan also said that Ankara could find alternatives
to Russian oil and gas. "It is possible to find different suppliers,"
Erdogan said, referring to Qatar and Azerbaijan.
(…)
12. Iraq summons the Turkish
Ambassador over deployment of Turkish troops in Mosul
Turkish daily Sabah (05.12.15) reported that Iraq's Foreign Ministry summoned the
Turkish Ambassador to Baghdad on Saturday over the deployment of Turkish forces
near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and demanded their immediate withdrawal.
150
Turkish soldiers equipped with heavy weapons arrived on Friday at the outskirts
of Daesh-held Mosul in Northern Iraq.
Turkish
officials told Daily Sabah that the Turkish soldiers were accompanied by
armored vehicles in Mosul operation with US-led coalition forces. "Turkish
soldiers have reached the Mosul Bashiqa region. They are there as part of
routine training exercises. One battalion has crossed into the region,"
the source said. The Turkish soldiers are training Iraqi troops, he added.
Sources told Daily Sabah that Turkey has trained 2,500
troops from the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, 1,250 from the Arab troops and the
aim is to increase this number to 14,000 troops.
A US official told Daily Sabah that the operation was
conducted within the US-led coalition's knowledge but coalition forces did not
take part in the operation.
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