TURKISH
CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C
O N T E N T S
No.
90/16
17.05.2016
1.
Akinci was not invited to the wedding of Erdogan’s
daughter
2.
Siber met with Todd
3.
Tacoy called Akinci not to make concessions on the rotating presidency and the
cross voting issues at the negotiating table
4.
Caglar will attend a meeting of PACE in Stockholm
5.
Sucuoglu on the new “hospital” to be constructed in the occupied part of
Lefkosia
6.
Ukrainian Ambassador: Natural gas storage at Turkey's
disposal
7.
Norwegian Statoil to explore for natural gas in Turkey
1.
Akinci was not invited to the wedding of Erdogan’s daughter
Gokhan
Altiner, writes in his daily “Backstage” column in Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris
Postasi newspaper (17.05.16) that the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci
was not invited to the wedding of the daughter of the Turkish President Tayyip
Erdogan.
Noting
that more than six thousand persons were invited to the wedding, including
political leaders and high representatives of various countries, Altiner writes
that an invitation was never issued to Akinci. He also notes that this was
confirmed by one of Akinci’s advisors Cenk Gurcag. “I can very clearly say that
Mr Akinci did not participate in the wedding because he has not received an
invitation”, Gurcag said to the journalist.
Altiner
goes on and suggests that this is a bit strange since “the sensitivity of
Erdogan towards both the Turkish Cypriots and the daughter country is known and
always gives value and importance to these issues”.
(CS)
2.
Siber met with Todd
Turkish
Cypriot daily Haberal Kibrisli (17.05.16) reports that the “speaker” of the
so-called assembly Sibel Siber met with the British High Commissioner in Cyprus
Damian Roderick Todd.
No
statements were made before or after the meeting.
(AK)
3.
Tacoy called Akinci not to make concessions on the rotating presidency and
the cross voting issues at the negotiating table
Turkish
Cypriot daily Haberal Kibrisli newspaper (17.05.16) reports on statements by the
former “minister of transportation and communication”, and “independent deputy”
Hasan Tacoy, who in exclusive statements to the paper, referred, inter alia, to
the Cyprus negotiation process and argued that although the Turkish Cypriot’s
rights at the negotiation talks are ignored, the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa
Akinci is not reacting to this.
Tacoy
called on Akinci not to make any concessions at the negotiating table and said:
“By making a concession, another one will derive”. He called also Akinci not to
accept and enter to a bargaining on the issue of the rotating presidency and the
cross voting.
Referring
to the hydrocarbon exploration activities of the “Greek Cypriot administration”
as he called the Republic of Cyprus, Tacoy claimed that it is unacceptable the
tenders for giving licenses to international companies to carry out exploration
activities around Cyprus. “We should react to the hydrocarbon agreements. At the
end of the day, this would be used against us and will be the reason to make
more concessions”, Tacoy added.
Tacoy
accused also the European Union for using Cyprus and several other elements to
blackmail Turkey.
(AK)
4.
Caglar will attend a meeting of PACE in
Stockholm
Turkish
Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen (17.05.16) reports that the self-styled deputy with the
Republican Turkish Party (CTP) Mehmet Caglar will attend a meeting of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Stockholm on the
17th and 18th of May. He will return to the occupied area
on Thursday.
(DPs)
5.
Sucuoglu on the new “hospital” to be constructed in the occupied part of
Lefkosia
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (17.05.16) reports that the so-called minister of
health Faiz Sucuoglu, in exclusive statements to Kibris TV, referred to the
problems and deficiencies that exist in the health system of the breakaway
regime and stated that they will exert efforts, step by step, in order to find
solution to these problems.
Referring
to the new hospital which is planned to be constructed in the occupied part of
Lefkosia, Sucuoglu said that this will be built in a plot of land which is near
the illegal BRT offices.
Sucuoglu
stated also that they went to Turkey where they made inspections at the
hospitals there and added that they would take them as examples to implement
their projects for the new hospital to be built.
Sucuoglu
explained also that they had asked for the amount of 350-400 million TL by
Turkey as a contribution to the investment and added that if Turkey could not
give this money, they will implement the “Build-Operate-Transfer” model.
(AK)
6.
Ukrainian Ambassador: Natural gas storage at Turkey's
disposal
According
to Turkish daily Sabah newspaper (online, 17.05.16), Ukrainian Ambassador to
Turkey, Dr Sergiy Korsunsky said that they are working with Turkish
companies to provide storage in western Ukraine. Stating that Kiev is ready
to provide the additional natural gas storage capacity Turkey needs, the
Ambassador said they are working with Turkish companies to allow usage of
storage facilities in western Ukraine and that, although there is no current
agreement, Naftogaz and the Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ) are currently
in contact.
Evaluating
the energy agenda of Turkey and Ukraine, Korsunsky recalled that Turkey
purchases nearly 27 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia annually.
According to Korsunsky, it will not be impossible for Turkey to break its
connections with Russia right away. Twenty-seven billion cubic meters of natural
gas purchased by Turkey is not an amount that can be immediately replaced with
liquefied natural gas (LNG), a fact that increases the importance of Azeri and
Turkmen gas. Stating that Turkey had valid reasons to improve its LNG
facilities, Korsunsky said the main problem lies with gas storage since the
capacity of natural gas storages in Turkey is extremely limited. Stressing that
Turkey might not build facilities that can store large amounts of gas due to
geological hindrances, Korsunsky said, for this reason, they are currently
working with Turkish companies to use storage facilities in western Ukraine. The
Ambassador also stressed that Turkish experts have visited the storage
facilities and are familiar with their structure.
Indicating
that Turkey bought the only gas it could store from Russia, Korsunsky said
Russia might oppose Turkey's storage use in Ukraine. The Ambassador said some
arrangements could be made for the gas storage, which would come from the Trans
Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project, and added that there would not
be any legal problems. According to Korsunsky, things should be followed
step-by-step.
Turkey
should first source gas from alternative sources before Ukrainian storage would
be ready to use - similar to how Turkish gas used during the winter is stored in
Ukraine during the summer. He also said oil may be sold to Europe without
incident. Stressing that the total capacity of natural gas storage in Ukraine
was 34 billion cubic meters, Korsunsky said: "We are in contact with Turkey and
Europe. The storage facilities are yours. We guarantee that no matter how much
gas you place in storage, you will take the same amount
back.”
7.
Norwegian Statoil to explore for natural gas in
Turkey
According
to Turkish daily Sabah newspaper (online, 17.05.16), Norwegian-based energy
company Statoil signed a binding letter agreement for a license, together with
Canadian Valeura, to explore for natural gas in Turkey's Thrace region. The
exploration license covers an area of 540
km2.
According
to the company's written statement, the agreement was signed with Valeura, whose
previous natural gas exploration has mainly focused on Tekirdag's Banarli
district. While Statoil has a 50% share in the Canadian company's Banarlı
Licenses, the rest will belong to Valeura, which is currently traded in the
Toronto Stock Exchange.
According
to the agreement, the natural gas exploration works in Thrace will be
accelerated, and gas is planned to be drilled from one of the wells in the
region by early 2017. The
exploration of the two companies will measure the gas potential left in the
depths of the region. The exploration area encompasses 540 km2.
Canadian Valeura has been exploring for oil and natural gas in Turkey for nearly
four years.
Valeura
found natural gas in three different wells in the Thrace region and has begun
production. The Canadian company has a total of 14 explorations and production
licenses in Thrace, as well as an oil exploration license in
Gaziantep.
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TURKISH
AFFAIRS SECTION
(DPs
/ AM)
