TURKISH
CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C
O N T E N T S
No.
19/16 29.01.2016
1.Eide
met with Akıncı; Statements by Eide
2. How the Turkish Cypriot press covered the
tripartite summit between Cyprus, Greece and Israel
3. Ozgurgun: A time table must be
put on the Cyprus negotiations
4. Atun: The water from Turkey will secure strategic
gains to the Turkish Cypriots
5. Two new hospitals in the
occupied area of Cyprus
6. Erdogan: “No room for autonomy seekers”
7. Erdogan kicks off campaign for a presidential
system and a new Constitution
8.The EU is ‘deeply concerned’ by life sentences
demanded for journalists Dundar and Gul
9. Turkey tops ECHR’s list in freedom of expression
violations in 2015
10. Turkish professor to stand trial for insulting
Erdogan
11. Turkey’s population tops 78 million in 2015
12. Data on Turkey’s numbers on tourism; Turkey saw
sharp drop in visitors from Russia and Europe in 2015
1.Eide met with Akıncı; Statements by Eide
According to illegal Bayrak television (28.01.16), the UN Secretary General’s Special Advisor
to Cyprus Espen Barth Eideheld separate meetings with both leaders today ahead
of tomorrow’s joint meeting (today’s) in the UN buffer zone.
Speaking
after his meeting with Akinci, Eide said that they held a positive meeting
since he had found the opportunity to discuss the strong international support
given to the process at the World Economic Summit in Davos.
Eide
said further that the support of the international community for a solution in
Cyprus is stronger than ever.
Responding to a question concerning the initiative of
the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades to make Turkish an
official EU language, Eide said that
this was an important initiative and a positive development.
Also, touching upon tomorrow’s meeting between the two
leaders; Eide said that the two leaders will be determining how to move the
process forward.
Eide also said that it is of the utmost importance
that the two leaders intensified their efforts towards achieving convergences
on the thorniest of the issues at the table. “My colleagues and I will be waiting for proposals and suggestions on
how we can help the process move forward”, Eide added.
2. How the Turkish Cypriot press covered the
tripartite summit between Cyprus, Greece and Israel
Most of the Turkish Cypriot newspapers today
(29.01.16) refer on their front page to the tripartite meeting held yesterday
in Nicosia between the Republic of Cyprus, Greece and Israel.
Under the banner front-page title “Important summit in
the south”, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibrisnewspaper
reports that a memorandum on the administration of water resources was
signed during the summit and cooperation on other issues and mainly the energy
sector was decided. According to the paper, after the summit, President Anastasiades and the Prime Ministers of
Greece and Israel, Alexis Tsipras and Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the
cooperation between their countries is not aimed against any other country.
Also on its front page, the paper refers to statements made during the press
conference held after the summit by the
Greek Prime Minister, who said that the solution in Cyprus must be for the
benefit of both the Greek and the Turkish Cypriots and underlined the
importance of finding an agreement which safeguards the security of all
Cypriots and gives the opportunity to develop security. Within this framework,
there is no need for guarantees and guarantors, added Tsipras.
Turkish Cypriot daily Diyalog newspaperrefers to the same issue under the banner front-page title “Turkey is totally sidelined” and
reports that an agreement was signed for transferring the Israeli gas to Europe
through Greece, after similar agreements signed to transfer the natural gas of
Cyprus and Egypt to Europe through the same route. Noting that the three
leaders referred to a “historic step”, the
paper writes that “in this manner the expectations that the natural gas will be
transferred through Turkey in case of a solution in Cyprus have stopped being
on the agenda”. The paper adds that it
is curious about Turkey’s steps now “against this strategic action of the Greek
Cypriot-Greece duo that is totally based on the enmity against Turkey by taking
Egypt and Israel by their side”.
Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper refers to the issue under the banner front-page title “They left the door open” and
points out that the agreement was signed
in a period during which attention is drawn to the contribution the solution of
the Cyprus problem to the regional energy policies. The paper reports that experts have expressed the view that the
agreement between Cyprus, Greece and Israel has not closed the door for
cooperation with Turkey and the “TRNC”, as the breakaway regime in the
occupied area of the island is described.
Under the banner front-page title “This summit is
different”, Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika
newspaperreports that “this
development which happened after the normalization of the relations of Turkey
with Israel is evaluated in political circles as a part of the solution” in
Cyprus.
Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen and Star Kibris newspaperscover
the issue under the title “They are being united on natural gas and
electricity”, while Turkish Cypriot daily Halkin Sesi refers to a “Very
comprehensive tripartite alliance”.
Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Bakis publishes the issue
under the title “Tsipras: We want a solution without guarantees”.
(I/Ts.)
3. Ozgurgun:
A time table must be put on the Cyprus negotiations
Turkish Cypriot daily Gunes newspaper (29.01.16)
reports that the chairman of the National Unity Party (UBP) Huseyin Ozgurgun
stated that a time table must be put on the Cyprus negotiations.
Ozgurgun who issued a written statement was replying
to recent statements made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ioannis Kasoulides
about the solution of the Cyprus problem.
Ozgurgun argued that the progress of the negotiations
show that the Greek Cypriot side is trying to waste time, will lead the Turkish
Cypriots to get into the status of minority, will put in danger the sovereignty
of the Turkish Cypriots and give an end to the Turkish guarantees.
He also stated that UBP demands that the end of 2016
is the time limit that must be put for the Cyprus negotiations.
(CS)
4. Atun: The water from Turkey will secure
strategic gains to the Turkish Cypriots
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (29.01.16)
reports that Sunat Atun, self-styled
minister of economy, industry and commerce of the breakaway regime in the
occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus, has
said that the water which is brought from Turkey to the occupied area of Cyprus
through undersea pipelines, will secure
strategic gains to the Turkish Cypriot capital holders under the administration
of local businessmen in many projects after the solution of the Cyprus problem
and from now on.
In statements yesterday, Atun argued that the water
should be distributed by the private sector in a manner by which the biggest
benefits to the Turkish Cypriot capital holders are secured and the “state’s”
responsibility should be administrated in the best manner.
Atun expressed the view that the water will give strategic advantages to the Turkish Cypriot side
with the solution of the Cyprus problem and argued that the island will be
revived with this water which will contribute in the further development of the
economy by increasing the production in all sectors.
“Together with
a possible solution, it is important for the water, which will be given for the
use of the entire island, to be under the control of the Turkish Cypriot
businessmen and there are advantages which it will bring”, he argued.
(I/Ts.)
5.
Two new hospitals in the occupied area of Cyprus
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (29.10.16) reports about the construction of two new
hospitals in the breakaway regime.
The “minister of public works, environment and
culture” Kutlu Evren stated that the project for the new hospital in occupied Morfou is completed. According to Evren,
the new hospital which will include 13 different policlinics will cover an area
of 14,000 square meters and will have a capacity of 60 beds.
In addition, the paper also reports that Kutsal Ozturk
the rector of the illegal Keryneia American University (GAU) stated that the new GAU Hospital will be ready to take
patients in 2017. Ozturk stated that
the investment will be beneficial for the greater Keryneia area and added that
the hospital will be able to offer services to tourists as well.
(CS)
6.Erdogan: “No room for autonomy seekers”
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (28.01.16) reported
that Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan in a speech in Ankara, made it clear that there would be no room for
autonomy seekers and condemned the calls for autonomy for several southeastern
towns populated mostly by Kurds.
“It
should be known that we will bring the whole world down on those who seek to
establish a state within a state under the name of autonomy and
self-governance”, Erdogan said during an event in Istanbul.
A
number of mayors and district mayors have appeared in court as they made
statements calling for autonomy and leading figures from the Peoples’
Democratic Party (HDP), which focuses on the Kurdish issue, have been sued.
Criminal investigations were launched against HDP co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas
and Figen Yuksekdag as they made statements on self-governance.
“What
do we say? One flag,” Erdogan said, adding that no flag other than the Turkish
flag could fly in the sky while noting that its color was red because of the
martyrdom of innumerable soldiers for the integrity of the Turkish homeland.
Dismissing
autonomy calls made amid an environment of violence between Turkish security
forces and outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants, Erdogan said the
same action would be taken against autonomy seekers as was taken before against
followers of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, which leading figures from the Justice and
Development Party (AKP), Erdogan and his inner circle accuse of forming and
heading a purported terrorist organization.
(…)
7.Erdogan kicks off campaign for a presidential
system and a new Constitution
Turkish daily Today’s Zaman (28.01.16) reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched
a campaign to establish a “Turkish-style” executive presidential system and a
new Constitution, saying that these are not a matter of personal ambition, but
a necessity in a country whose parliamentary system is out of date.
Erdogan,
who won Turkey's first direct presidential election held on Aug. 10, 2014, said
that a head of state elected by the people should be more than a symbolic role. Before the presidential election in August 2014, the
Parliament elected the country's President.
Speaking during a meeting titled: “Together for a New
Constitution” at the Ankara Chamber of Commerce's (ATO) Congresium Hall, Erdogan said that he believes the
parliamentary system in Turkey is outdated, emphasizing that the current
situation, in which both the Prime Minister and President are popularly
elected, is unsustainable.
"In
building the ‘New Turkey,' we think Turkey needs an executive presidential
system and a new Constitution. This discussion should not be presented as a
matter of my own personal ambition," Erdogan also said.
Erdogan said further that making a new Constitution is
no longer the concern of a certain institution or individual, but is now that
of the whole nation, adding: “This issue
is domestic and national. I clearly say that as the President, I will be
involved in any national issue. All the Constitutions that have been
established in Turkey so far were all imported; they were not national at all.
Those imported mindsets dominated us [for years]. Now, we are returning to a
domestic and national one."
"If
the presidential system is the right choice for Turkey's future, then it should
be put into practice," said Erdogan, urging for the establishment of this
"Turkish-style" presidential system as soon as possible.
“The
people, not the Parliament, should ultimately decide on the new text”, Erdogan
said, apparently signaling a possible referendum in the upcoming months.
(…)
8.The EU is ‘deeply concerned’ by life sentences
demanded for journalists Dundar and Gul
Turkish daily Today’s Zaman newspaper (28.01.16)
reported that Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson
for the European Commission, has told Today's Zaman that the European Union is
“deeply concerned” by life sentences demanded for the jailed journalists Can
Dundar and Erdem Gul.
Dundar
and Gul have been in jail since they were arrested on November 26, 2015 for
publishing photos of weapons which their paper alleged were transferred to
Syria in trucks operated by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). The
indictment prepared for them showed that the prosecutor seeks an aggravated
life sentence, a life sentence and 30 years of imprisonment on separate
charges, including obtaining secret information pertaining to the security of
the state and revealing information that should be kept secret.
Answering to the paper’s questions, Kocijancic
expressed the expectations of the EU for Turkey to ensure that “its legislation
is implemented in a manner which is in line with European standards enshrined
in the European Convention for Human Rights and the case law of the European
Court of Human Rights.”
Kocijancic also highlighted that it is up to the
relevant political and judicial authorities in Turkey to ensure that the
inalienable right for an independent and transparent investigation in the case
of any alleged wrongdoing, with full respect of the rights of the defendants,
is respected.
“Freedom
of expression must also be upheld, in line with the Copenhagen political
criteria; an intimidating climate goes against this,” Kocijancic concluded.
US
State Department Spokesman Mark Toner also criticized charges against the
Cumhuriyet's newspaper's staff on Wednesday. “We're obviously very troubled by
the reports,” Toner told reporters at a daily press briefing.
9.Turkey tops ECHR’s list in freedom of expression
violations in 2015
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (28.01.16) reported
that the European Court of Human Rights’
annual activity report revealed on January 28 that Turkey was the subject of
the highest number of judgments regarding violations of freedom of expression
in 2015, while Russia comes second in the total number of violations.
The
court determined a violation of freedom of expression in a total 28 cases
throughout 2015, 10 of which were committed by Turkey, the ECHR’s annual
statistics revealed. Turkey more than tripled the violations of its closest
follower, France, which has three rulings against it.
Turkey’s record on cases involving freedom of
expression violations is not new, as the country single-handedly committed more
violations than the rest of the member states combined in 2014, committing 24
of the total 47 violations.
While
Turkey’s negative record on freedom of expression violation stands out, the
country’s most pressing problem with regards to its responsibilities under the
European Convention on Human Rights is the right to a fair trial.
In 2015, the court ruled on 87 cases brought against
Turkey and at least one violation was found in 79 of the cases.
Twenty
of the 120 violations were on the right to a fair trial. This was followed by a
lack of effective investigation on inhuman or degrading treatment (14), the
right to liberty and security (13) and the lack of effective investigation on
the right to life (13).
This figure fits the general pattern of the court’s
overall findings, as annual statistics reveal the right to a fair trial was the
subject matter in which the highest percentage of violations were determined
across member states of the Council of Europe (CoE).
According to data made public by the ECHR, a violation
of the right to a fair trial was found in 24.18% of all cases where the judge
determined a violation of the convention. A close second was the prohibition of
torture and inhuman or degrading treatment (23.6%), and the third was the right
to liberty and security (15.63%).
Overall,
Turkey is the state with the second highest number of judgments, second only to
Russia with 109 judgments against it.
However,
the country tops the list if one considers all of the court’s rulings between
1959, when it was established, and 2015.
According
to the data, Turkey was found in violation of at least one article in a total
3,182 cases. Turkey’s closest followers are Italy and Russia with 2,336 and
1,720 judgments against them, respectively.
10.Turkish professor to stand trial for insulting Erdogan
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (28.01.16) reported
that a philosophy professor says he will
stand trial next week on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
for suggesting in an article that the Turkish leader should go on trial over a
range of claims, including alleged corruption and the violation of the Constitution.
Professor
Orsan K. Öymen said on January 27 that he faces up to four years in prison for
the article published in the opposition Aydınlık newspaper in April. The trial is set for February 4.
Oymen
denies insulting Erdogan, saying that the President is "unable to
distinguish strong criticism from an insult."
Ankara Anatolia news agency (28.01.16) reported that according to a report by the Turkish
Statistics Institute (TurkStat) released on Thursday, Turkey´s population
increased in 2015 by 1,045,149.
According
to the report, Turkey's official population was at 78,741,053 at the end of
2015. The study was conducted through the Address-Based Central Population
Registration System (ABPRS), which uses the National Address Database to track
the number of people living at registered addresses.
The population increased by 1.34% from the previous
year, and was up by 1.33% in 2014. Males made up 50.2% (39,511,191) of the
total population, while 49.8% (39,299,862) were females, according to the
report.
(…)
12.Data on Turkey’s numbers on tourism; Turkey saw
sharp drop in visitors from Russia and Europe in 2015
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (28.01.16) reported
that according to data released by the
Tourism Ministry on January 28, Turkey saw a dramatic decline in the number of
foreign visitors from Europe and Russia in 2015, though the total number of
foreign arrivals saw only a slight drop of around 1.61% compared to 2014.
A total of 36.2 million foreign people visited the
country in 2015, according to the data.
The
number of Russian visitors to Turkey decreased to 3.65 million in 2015 from
around 4.5 million in 2014, amid Russia’s economic troubles. The decline was
accelerated after the diplomatic crisis between Russia and Turkey erupted on
November 24, 2015, with the number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey
decreasing by around 46.9% in December 2015 compared to the same month of
2014.
Overall,
foreign arrivals declined by around 7.3% to 1.46 million in December 2015
compared to the same month of 2014.
Despite
the drop, the Russian market remained the second largest source of foreign
arrivals for Turkey, with over 10% of the total. The number one source of arrivals was Germany, which
took around 15.5% of the total with around 5.6 million visitors, while the U.K.
was the third top source of foreign arrivals to Turkey, with a share of around
7% of the total.
The
number of European tourists visiting Turkey fell in 2015. The number of Italian tourists decreased by 27% and
the number of French tourists fell by 18% in 2015 compared to the previous
year. The number of arrivals from Japan also declined by around 40%.
According
to sector representatives, escalating security concerns played a big role in
explaining the drop in visitors from Europe.
The
number of arrivals from the Middle East and the Gulf increased sharply in 2015
compared to the previous year, although
the figures were still much lower compared to the arrivals from Europe.
The
number of arrivals from Saudi Arabia rose by 31% to around 450,000 in 2015
compared to 2014. Arrivals from Bahrain also saw an increase of 34% to around
32,500 in the same period.
There
was also a sharp increase in arrivals from China, with the number of Chinese
visitors increasing by 57% to over 313,000 in 2015 compared to the previous
year. An increase of 20% was also seen in the Israeli market, with around
224,500 arrivals from Israel in 2015 compared to 2014.
Tourism
revenue is very important for Turkey, accounting for around 4.5% of the
country’s $800-billion economy and playing a crucial role in closing its
multi-billion-dollar current account gap.
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TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION
(AK/
AM)
