TURKISH
CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C
O N T E N T S
No.
56/16 24.03.2016
1.
Turkey reportedly reduces and withdraws troops from the occupation
regime to reinforce its units ahead of the fight against the PKK
2.
Pitella met with Akinci and Talat
3.
Kalyoncu: “The government will introduce several bills for the
country’s security”
4.
Erdogan: Turkey informed Belgium over attacker’s terrorist links
5.
Cavusoglu and Blinken discussed the fight against terrorism and
regional issues including Cyprus
6.
“Officials” from the CMP briefed about excavations
7.
Ten new “universities” are on the way to be established in the
occupied area of Cyprus
8.
AKP to prepare its own draft of new charter before May
1.
Turkey
reportedly reduces and withdraws troops from the occupation regime to
reinforce its units ahead of the fight against the PKK
In
an exclusive report under the front-page title: “Troops
withdraw from Cyprus” Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper
(24.03.16) invokes reliable sources and writes that “due to the
tension and clashes in Turkey, it is reducing and withdrawing a
significant number of troops from Cyprus. As it was made known, this
process continues for the last 6 months and it has been intensified
during the recent days”.
According
to reliable sources, commando units in the areas of occupied Agia
Eirini and Mirtou were totally depleted. Also, the number of
personnel in all military units in the “north” has been reduced
and the number of several troop units including the front-lines has
been reduced by two thirds. As it is said, all operations were
carried out in secrecy.
The
paper adds that as it was made known, Turkey continues intensively
its fight against the PKK in the southeast. The terror alarm in the
country is on the highest level. It
was made known that the Turkish troops from Cyprus were sent to
Turkey for reinforcement, writes the paper.
(AK)
2.
Pitella
met with Akinci and Talat
Turkish
Cypriot daily Star Kibris (24.03.16) reports that the Turkish Cypriot
leader Mustafa Akinci met yesterday with the Chairman of the
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) Gianni
Pitella in his office.
Self-styled
undersecretary of the foreign affairs ministry Erhan Ercin, Akinci’s
special secretary Cenk Gurçag, Akinci’s advisor on political
affairs and history Meltem Onurkan Samani and Akinci’s foreign
affairs coordinator Deniz Birinci were also present at the meeting.
Moreover,
the paper reports that Pitella and his accompanying delegation, who
also met with Mehmet Ali Talat, leader of the Republican Turkish
Party (CTP), said that he was still in shock about what happened in
Brussels on Tuesday and expressed the need for all countries to adopt
a joint strategy when fighting terrorism.
Stating
that Europe is not an enemy but an ally, he said that this message
should be sent clearly to all Muslims. “We do not want an
inter-religious war”, he stressed.
Commenting
on the Cyprus talks, Pitella said that he is visiting the island to
contribute to peace and the reunification process, adding that they
support a solution on the island based on the EU values and the UN
Resolutions.
For
his part, CTP leader Talat also said that the terrorist attacks in
Brussels are shocking, adding that a common strategy is necessary for
the fight against terrorism.
Pointing
out that terrorism does not only occur between Islam and
Christianity, he reminded that there have also been numerous
terrorist attacks in Turkey recently.
Noting
that the same people are behind the terrorist attacks in Turkey and
Brussels, he said that humanity should find ways to put an end to
terrorism.
Refusing
to comment too much on the security measures against terrorism, Talat
said that while these measures on the one hand are very important in
terms of preventing terrorist attacks, on the other hand, these also
obstruct daily life.
Expressing
satisfaction over the visit, Talat said that they are ready to attend
the meetings of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
which he said they are in cooperation with.
(DPs)
3.
Kalyoncu:
“The government will introduce several bills for the country’s
security”
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (24.03.16) reports that so-called
prime minister Omer Kalyoncu, in statements yesterday prior to the
meeting of the so-called council of ministers, referring to the issue
of the security in the “country”, said that they are determined
to take all necessary measures to increase security.
Stating
that their aim
is to reinforce the “security forces” and the “police”,
Kalyoncu stressed that the “government” had already prepared and
will submit to the “assembly” for approval several bills.
Referring
to accusations against him and Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akinci
on their participation to Nevruz celebrations, Kalyoncu
denied that their participation meant that they support the
terrorists and the PKK and said that all these accusations by several
social media and newspapers, is a product of fascist approaches.
(AK)
4.
Erdogan:
Turkey informed Belgium over attacker’s terrorist links
According
to Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (online, 23.03.16), Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on March 23 that Turkey formerly
informed Belgium’s authorities about the terrorist links of one of
the attackers in the March 22 Brussels bombings.
Erdogan
said that Turkish authorities informed the Belgian Embassy in Ankara
in a note on July 14, 2015, that one of the Brussels’ attackers was
a foreign fighter, but that Belgian authorities had released him
after Turkey deported him.
“One
of the perpetrators of the Brussels attack is a person whom we
detained in June 2015 in [the south-eastern province of] Gaziantep
and deported”, Erdogan said at a joint press conference with his
Romanian counterpart in Ankara.
“We
informed the Brussels Embassy of the deportation process of the
attacker with a note on July 14, 2015. However, the Belgians released
the attacker despite his deportation”, Erdogan said. Despite this
information, the Belgians could not determine any ties with
terrorism, he said.
Erdogan
continued by saying that the Netherlands was also involved in the
matter as the suspect was deported to the Netherlands at his own
request and the Dutch authorities were also informed about the
incident. He added that Turkey deported the attacker to the
Netherlands in June 2015 and informed them via a note. The President
also said that the world has to “redefine terror, terrorism and
terrorists”.
5.
Cavusoglu
and Blinken discussed the fight against terrorism and regional issues
including Cyprus
According
to Ankara Anatolia news agency (23.03.16), Turkish Foreign Minister
Mevlut Cavusoglu met with the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony
Blinken in Ankara on Wednesday during which both sides emphasized on
enhancing cooperation in the fight against terrorism, diplomatic
sources told Anadolu Agency.
Cavusoglu
and Blinken also discussed bilateral ties, regional and global
developments as well as Syria, Iraq and Cyprus issues in the meeting.
Recent
terrorist attacks in Turkey and Belgium also came up during the
exchange of views, sources added. Cavusoglu and Blinken also
discussed details about the agreement on refugees between Turkey and
the EU.
6.
“Officials”
from the CMP briefed about excavations
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (24.03.16) reports that the
Committee of Missing Persons (CMP) continue its excavation works with
nine different groups, both in the free areas of the Republic of
Cyprus and the occupied area.
According
to statements made by officials from the Turkish Cypriot Members’
office, during the excavations which were taking place in an area
near the occupied Epiho dump side, the remains of 5 Greek Cypriot
missing persons were found.
At
the same time, the
Committee writes the paper will launch new excavations today in
occupied Dikomo.
The
“officials” said that the excavation works will be launched
inside the village after they evaluated information that around 14
Greek Cypriot persons were buried there.
Also,
the excavations in occupied Agios Georgios, Vouno and Mia Milia
villages and in Paphos and Lefkosia in the Republic of Cyprus are in
progress.
Moreover,
the
“officials” said that a mass grave was found in occupied Epiho
village, belonging to a group of Greek Cypriot soldiers.
Referring
to the excavations in occupied Agios Georgios Keryneia, the
“officials” stated that the remains of a Greek Cypriot were found
near a garage. Concerning the excavation works taking place in
military zones in Agios Georgios, no remains were found yet, said the
“officials”.
(AK)
7.
Ten
new “universities” are on the way to be established in the
occupied area of Cyprus
Under
the title: “Ten
new universities on the way”,
Turkish Cypriot daily Detay newspaper (24.03.16) reports that the
so-called minister of education Kemal Durust, in exclusive statements
to the paper, said, inter alia, that 14 new applications were sent to
the so-called ministry of education in 2014 and 5 in 2015 for the
establishment of new “universities” in the “country”. He
added that from the 19 applications in total, the “ministry” had
given preliminary permission to 10 “universities” to be
established in the “TRNC”.
Stating
that there are 13 “universities” in the “TRNC” until so far
with 85.000 students, Durust
said that the final permission for the establishment of new
“universities” will be given by the so-called Higher Education
Planning, Evaluation, Accreditation and Coordination Council
(“YODAK”), which will examine whether these meet the criteria.
Durust
also said that the “authority” for “giving permission” for
the establishment of a “university” should be given to the
“parliament” and added that a “University law” is into the
agenda of the “government”.
(AK)
8.
AKP
to prepare its own draft of new charter before May
Turkish
daily Hurriyet Daily News (online, 23.03.16) reports that the
ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will prepare its own draft
of a new Constitution which includes a shift to a presidential system
by the end of April and submit it to Parliament in May or June, after
losing hope for the resumption of an inter-party panel tasked with
writing Turkey’s new charter.
“We
will start writing the draft next week after establishing a team
tasked to this end by taking our previous work on the new charter
into consideration,” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said during an
address to his AKP’s provincial organizations on March 23.
Davutoglu
said that the AKP was planning to complete the writing process of the
new Constitution by the end of April and then submit it to
Parliament. “I will participate in the [drafting] work, as well”,
he said. The decision to go ahead with the new charter was given
late on March 22 at an AKP central-decision making body meeting, in
which senior party officials also drew a road map for the process.
“Following
detailed and productive consultations, we have decided to take rapid
and decisive steps in a bid to meet the expectations of our people
for the new Constitution,” the Prime Minister said, adding that
they also drew up a general framework of the charter. The new charter
will bring about the presidential system, he stated.
Having
317 seats in parliament, the AKP needs an additional 14 votes from
other parties to be able to take its constitutional draft to a
referendum. In earlier remarks, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted
at an alliance between the AKP and the Nationalist Movement Party
(MHP) to this end. However, the MHP has also stated its opposition to
a presidential system.
---------------------------------------------------
TURKISH
AFFAIRS SECTION
(DPs/AM)
