TURKISH
CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C
O N T E N T S
No.
140/16
26.07.2016
1.
Cavusoglu said that the occupied area of Cyprus should not become a “terrorist’s
base”
2.
Turkish Cypriot daily describes how Gulen’s organization leaked into the
“police” of the breakaway regime
3.
Columnist says that Turkey will harden its stance in the Cyprus negotiations
after the coup attempt
4.
More than half of the persons who contribute to the “social securities” in the
occupied area of Cyprus are foreigners
5.
Talat argued that Islamic community’s activities in the occupation regime are
increased
6.
Turkish Cypriot daily reports that no proposals were submitted for the works at
Apliki crossing point; Only one proposal for Deryneia
7.
A fire broke out in occupied Panagra village
8.
The water transferred from Turkey has started flowing to the occupied part of
Lefkosia as of yesterday
9.
Erdoğan welcomes party leaders in rare meeting
10.
No invitation to Turkish leaders’ summit angers HDP
11.
Demirtas: Some AKP members may be behind the coup
attempt
12.
Cavusoglu to Juncker: “The EU must not make threatening statements on Turkey’s
accession”
13.
Turkish columnists criticize the way the West sees the failed coup in
Turkey
14.
Detention warrants issued for 42 journalists over failed coup
attempt
15.
Hundreds fired by Turkish companies after attempted
coup
16.
Operations at Incirlik air base in Turkey back to normal after coup attempt,
says the US
1.
Cavusoglu said that the occupied area of Cyprus should not become a
“terrorist’s base”
Turkish
Cypriot daily Vatan newspaper (26.07.16) reports that the Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated that the breakaway regime should not be
transformed into a “terrorist’s base”
He
made these statements speaking at the HaberTurk television station.
Cavusoglu
stated that there is information that members of the Fethullah Gulen
Organization (FETÖ) escaped to the occupied area of Cyprus and added that the
“TRNC” has included FETO into the list of terrorist organizations and that
measures will be taken by the breakaway regime as well: “We have information
that some of them went there. […] Of course we do not want our daughter land to
become a “terrorist’s base”,
he stated.
He
went on and added that Ambassadors could be suspended from their duties as part
of the nationwide probe into July 15 coup attempt.
"Some
personnel in the Ministry had been given answered questions. [...] And some
personnel who had been employed by fraud exams were placed in key positions in
the Ministry," he said. According to Cavusoglu , the Ambassadors who will be
suspended are no longer on duty abroad but based at the Foreign Ministry in
Ankara.
2.
Turkish Cypriot daily describes how Gulen’s organization leaked into the
“police” of the breakaway regime
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi newspaper (26.07.16) continues referring to
the leak of Fethullah Gulen organization (Fetö) into the “police” of the
breakaway regime in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus. The reports
that Fetö organization has been created in the so-called police by some
“officers”, who had graduated from the Police Academy, which had been closed
down in Turkey last December within the framework of the measures against
Gulen.
According
to the paper, every year almost the same “police officers” were sent to Turkey
for education with the aim of continuing the relations and the bond among the
members of Fetö.
(I/Ts.)
3.
Columnist says that Turkey will harden its stance in the Cyprus negotiations
after the coup attempt
Under
the title “We are at the eve of troublesome periods”, columnist Esref
Cetinel in Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper (26.07.16) reports
that the Turkish Cypriots are not “untrammeled” by the coup attempt in Turkey
and notes, inter alia, the following:
“[…]
As a matter of fact it has started influencing the TRNC with its developments
which contain many negative aspects! It is definite that soon in parallel to
the ‘foreign currency’, the economy, which is already with the one leg in
the grave, will take its share from the incidents. However, the fact
which is causing the real ‘big doubt’ is the increase of Greek Cypriot side’s
mischievousness at the negotiating process by showing as pretext this coup and
the chaotic environment in Turkey! As a matter of fact, we have started hearing
their voices aiming at this, due to the ‘commemorative ceremonies’ held in the
south! […] We understood that they have neither forgotten their properties in
the north nor they have the intention to renounce them.
[…]
If
we return to Turkey,
we do not know how importantly and decisively it will focus on the
negotiations in Cyprus. However, Ankara, which stopped hopping of its
friendship with the USA and its membership to the EU, will surely oppose in a
harder way than before to the subjects which it does not approve in the
‘negotiations’. Because its space for political maneuvers will be
broadened further. On the other hand, independently of from where do you
look at the negotiations, it is obvious that things are not going well. The
damages are continuously increasing. Besides, Mr Akinci is also saying: ‘It
is very troublesome to carry out solution negotiations in this
environment!’”
(I/Ts.)
4.
More than half of the persons who contribute to the “social securities” in
the occupied area of Cyprus are foreigners
Turkish
Cypriot daily Diyalog newspaper (26.07.16) reports that Hamza Ersan
Saner, self-styled minister of labor and social insurance of the breakaway
regime in the occupied area of Cyprus, has said that 85 thousand persons are
paying a contribution to the regime’s “social securities” and that 45 thousand
of these persons are foreigners, something which he described as “a serious
anomaly”.
In
statements to Diyalog, Saner noted that their accumulated debt is totally 242
million Turkish liras (TL) and added that the debt to the banks is
142 million TL and to the “providence fund” 100 million TL. He further noted
that they are exerting efforts to ensure that the “institution” will survive,
arguing that “we are the only state in the world which collects premiums for 12
months and pays 13 salaries”.
Asked
what will the situation be in case of a solution to the Cyprus problem and
whether they have carried out any study on this issue,
Saner replied that their numbers are satisfactory according to the ones
of the EU and added that if an agreement is reached they will continue
depositing premiums in their “social insurance fund”. Expressing the view
that they will not face any problem on this issue, he said that the
salaries will increase because of the increase of the standard of living,
but the premiums will have to increase also and balance will be
achieved.
(I/Ts.)
5.
Talat argued that Islamic community’s activities in the occupation regime are
increased
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (26.07.16) reports that the leader of the
Republican Turkish Party (CTP) Mehmet Ali Talat met yesterday in his office with
delegations of the Turkish Cypriot Teacher Trade Union (KTOS) and the Turkish
Cypriot Secondary School Teachers' Trade Union (KTOEOS), with whom he discussed
the problems in the “education sector” in the occupied area of Cyprus.
Speaking
during the meeting, Talat argued that there is a remarkable increase on the
creation activities of the Islamic community in the “TRNC”.
Pointing
out that the CTP was among the parties which was against the ban of headscarves
at the “TRNC’s universities” when the Supreme Education Board of Turkey (YOK)
prohibited the wearing of headscarf, Talat argued that the situation is
different today since the religious pressure which is exerted in the formal
education is unacceptable and contrary to the “laws and regulations” of the
“national education”.
Stating
that the education should follow a secular line, Talat described as anomaly the
opening of the “theological School” in occupied Mia Milia. He added that CTP
will continue to protect the freedom of religious belief in the
“TRNC”.
(AK)
6.
Turkish Cypriot daily reports that no proposals were submitted for the works
at Apliki crossing point; Only one proposal for Deryneia
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi newspaper (26.07.16) reports that a shock
was caused by the lack of proposals in response to the tender invitation for the
works which should be carried out within the framework of the opening of the
crossing points in Deryneia and Apliki areas. The paper recalls that the
opening of the crossing points had been agreed between President Anastasiades
and Turkish Cypriot leader Akinci within the framework of the Confidence
Building Measures on 28 May 2015.
Citing
information obtained by diplomatic sources,
the paper writes that the tenders ended on 15 July and when the box
was opened no proposal was found for the crossing point in Apliki area.
There was only one proposal for Deryneia area, but its cost is considered to
be very high and “lacking of seriousness”. After the lack of interest, the
UNDP-PFF decided to give a fifteen day extension for submitting
proposals. However, this decision has not been announced officially.
(I/Ts.)
7.
A fire broke out in occupied Panagra village
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (26.07.16) reports that as a result of an
explosion occurred yesterday in a transformer which was close to the
desalination plant of the Turkish Affairs Department’s offices (DSI) in the
occupied village of Panagra, a fire broke out.
According
to the paper, the fire was spread to a green area near the occupied village
of Myrtou and Kambili and as it is estimated, it has burnt a plot of land of
around 250-200 thousand square meters covered with pine-trees.
In
statements to the paper, the “director” of the so-called forestry department
said that the fire was set under control last night and added that fire-fighting
helicopters are expected to arrive this morning in the “TRNC” in order to attend
the cooling works.
(AK)
8.
The water transferred from Turkey has started flowing to the occupied part of
Lefkosia as of yesterday
Turkish
Cypriot daily Ortam newspaper (26.07.16) reports that the mayor of the
municipality of the occupied part of Lefkosia Mehmet Harmanci, in statements
yesterday, said that the water transferred from Turkey to the “TRNC”, has
started flowing to the tanks in the occupied part of Lefkosia as of yesterday.
Harmanci,
however, called all citizens to avoid using the water for potable purposes
urging them to wait until they have the laboratory analysis results.
(AK)
9.
Erdoğan welcomes party leaders in rare meeting
Turkish
Hurriyet Daily News (26.07.16) reports that a rare meeting of Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, main opposition Republican
People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and Nationalist Movement Party
(MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli took place at the Presidential Palace in Ankara on
July 25, with the recent failed military coup attempt and measures taken against
coup plotters on the agenda.
Presidential
spokesperson İbrahim Kalın made a statement after the meeting, stating that
measures to be taken to prevent a similar attempt were
discussed.
“During
the meeting, steps to be taken for the freedom, security and welfare of our
nation - which is united around democracy and the rule of law - the state of
emergency, security measures, works around the new Constitution and economic
policies were evaluated,” Kalın told reporters.
Erdoğan’s
invitation excluded the Kurdish problem-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)
co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, as the government continues to be estranged from
the HDP amid ongoing clashes between the security forces and the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Erdoğan’s
meeting with Kılıçdaroğlu was seen by many as a possible sign of political
bridge-building, as the two have engaged in harsh exchanges in Turkey’s
polarized political landscape in recent years.
The
CHP head had previously refused to go to the controversial presidential palace
in Ankara since Erdoğan moved into it in 2014. Kılıçdaroğlu had sworn repeatedly
to only visit the “unlicensed” palace in the event of a national security
crisis.
Sources
from the office of the president said before the meeting that Erdoğan would
invite the three party leaders for their united stance against the coup attempt
and also listen to their views on ongoing measures taken against supporters of
U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen within the state.
10.
No invitation to Turkish leaders’ summit angers
HDP
Turkish
Hurriyet Daily News (26.07.16) reports that the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)
co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş has criticized President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s
decision to exclude his party from a meeting with the leaders of political
parties represented in Turkey’s parliament as an “unreasonable policy.”
“This
shows that problems in Turkey will not be resolved easily and they have not
understood yet what the coup plotters are trying to do,” Demirtaş told a group
of journalists before the meeting.
“What
triggered the coup is an approach that left [the resolution of] the Kurdish
issue to soldiers and the army,” he said.
Meanwhile,
HDP's parliamentary group leader also criticized President Erdoğan’s decision to
exclude the party from the meeting.
“Approaches
that exclude or target the HDP should be evaluated as the biggest disservice to
Turkey’s peoples and exposed as a most dangerous policy,” the Kurdish
problem-focused party’s parliamentary group leader, İdris Baluken, said on July
25.
“The
HDP was the first party to propose a leaders’ summit. Our co-chairs announced
this to the public. But today we face an attitude that excludes the first party
to propose a leaders’ summit,” Baluken added.
He
stressed that all leaders should have been present at the meeting, saying it
would not be possible to resolve many of Turkey’s fundamental issues without the
contribution of the HDP.
11.
Demirtas: Some AKP members may be behind the coup
attempt
Turkish
Hurriyet Daily News (26.07.16) reports that some former and current members of
the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) might have supported the failed
coup attempt on July 15, the co-leader of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)
has said, suggesting that such a big mutiny could not have occurred without
political backing.
“This
is not a prediction, it is based half on confirmed information and half on
estimation. Some from the AKP, either former or current members may have
supported the attempt,” HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş told daily Hürriyet in
an interview on July 24.
“It’s
interesting that political groups behind these plotters have not yet been
identified. But there’s a very high possibility that the plotters received
support from a powerful group within the AKP,” Demirtaş said, adding that a
parliamentary probe into the coup attempt could reveal unknown details about the
move’s political wing.
“No
coup could ever be realized without political support,” he
stressed.
Meanwhile,
the HDP co-chair said the authorities given to the government after the
declaration of the state of emergency could well be used as another opportunity
to crack down on the opposition, vowing to continue “fighting against both the
coup plotters and the AKP.”
“There
is a third option: Neither coup nor dictatorship. Our option is democracy. We
will focus on that,” Demirtaş said, adding that his party would hold a series of
public rallies under the theme of “neither coup nor
dictatorship.”
12.
Cavusoglu to Juncker: “The EU must not make threatening statements on
Turkey’s accession”
Turkish
daily Hurriyet Daily News (25.07.16) reported that Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu, responding to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s
suggestion that Ankara is “in no position to become a member of the Union any
time soon, stated that the EU must not make “threatening statements” on Turkey’s
accession process.
Speaking
to private broadcaster Haberturk on July 25, Cavusoglu said: “EU officials must
not make threatening statements on Turkey not joining the bloc. We won’t be
discouraged by their threats”.
He
added that the EU is free to express its opinion on the capital punishment
debate that emerged after the July 15 failed coup attempt in Turkey, but this
“will backfire if they make threatening statements”. “No offence, but Juncker
cannot talk by looking down to Turkey. We won’t accept that,” Cavusoglu also
said.
Juncker
on July 15 said that Turkey is in no position to become an EU member any time
soon and all accession negotiations would stop immediately if Ankara
reintroduces the death penalty. He added that any country that included capital
punishment in its legislation had no place in the European
Union.
13.
Turkish columnists criticize the way the West sees the failed coup in
Turkey
Turkish
Hurriyet Daily news (26.07.16) publishes an article by Murat Yetkin
Under
the title: “What the West must see about the failed coup in Turkey”.
Yetkin
writes the following:
“[…]
A colleague sent to Turkey a few days ago to cover the failed coup asked one of
his Turkish colleagues if he could help him find any crowds supporting the coup
to overthrow Erdoğan. Obviously, the foreign news crew couldn’t find any. The
Turkish colleague told them that first of all there were no such crowds,
secondly they get be in real trouble if they asked people on the streets whether
they supported the coup, and thirdly it is illegal to support a coup according
to the law in Turkey, which has suffered three military coups
before.
Another
colleague asked me: “Wouldn’t it be better if the coup had succeeded in getting
rid of Erdoğan’s authoritarian rule?” The question had obviously been sent to
him by his headquarters.
“I
am not happy with the quality of democracy in Turkey and I criticize it in my
columns,” I said. “But a military coup is not the way to make it better. You
cannot destroy democracy to make it work better. You cannot make anything better
by imposing something much worse.”
[…]
The
West must see that the failed coup has no public support. The overwhelming
majority of people, including sworn opponents of Erdoğan, do not see a military
coup as a path to reach a better democracy. That was demonstrated by the main
opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) rally against the coup attempt in
Istanbul on July 24.
Yes,
Erdoğan’s popularity has risen - including among those opposing him - as a
leader saved from an imminent toppling and probable death. No, Gülen is not seen
as a peace-loving saint by the great majority of the Turkish people. But pushing
away Turkey in the current circumstances will not make things better for the
Turkish people, or for Western interests in Turkey. In fact it would only have
the opposite effect.
In
addition, Barcin Yinanc also writes the following in Turkish Hurriyet Daily news
(26.07.16) under the title: “Dear Western friends, yes to solidarity, no to
orientalist pity”:
“
[…] Since July 15, the Western media seems to have underestimated the fact that
the Turkish nation passed a democracy test by stopping an attempted military
coup. The fact that crowds chanted “Allahu Akbar” understandably gives shivers
to the European public, which has unfortunately become familiar with this call
through the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) executions. Indeed, it
also gives shivers to Turkey’s secularists. But that should not let journalists
and commentators ignore the fact that those crowds averted a military coup, the
consequences of which would have been terrible.
[…]
I
will not deny that from the first day after the failed coup I have been among
those arguing that we face the risk of Erdoğan using this opportunity to
consolidate his authoritarian rule. There is enough in Erdoğan’s track record to
make us suspect that while chasing the coup plotters he might use this occasion
to intimidate all types of legitimate dissent.
For
certain European journalists and commentators, there is no such suspicion; it is
already a reality. “Good luck to you in that dictatorship,” one foreign
colleague wrote to me.
The
direction Turkey will take moving forward might not be clear, but all shots are
not yet called and Turkey is not yet a dictatorship.
[…]
So
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when I hear an oxymoronic question from a
Western journalist observing: “They say the military coup has been averted but
democracy in Turkey is dead.”
With
each passing day we come to realize how deeply and widely a religious
brotherhood has penetrated state institutions. It is imperative that it is
“cleansed” from the state’s bodies. Yet this cleansing needs to be done by
remaining loyal to the rule of law. Links to the brotherhood need to be proven
by evidence. That should be valid for everyone, including academics and
journalists suspected of having links to the coup plotters. Action needs to be
taken against Gülenists, but distinction should be made between a criminal act
and legitimate dissent.
The
risk that the President and the government will use this purge to target
legitimate opposition is real. If it does happen it will weaken Turkish
democracy and push the country into the category of Middle Eastern
dictatorships. To claim that Turkey is already one does not reflect the
truth
14.
Detention warrants issued for 42 journalists over failed coup
attempt
Turkish
Hurriyet Daily News (26.07.16) reports that detention warrants were issued for
42 journalists on July 25 as a part of ongoing investigations against members of
the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), which the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) says was behind the July 15 failed coup attempt. The
detention warrants were issued by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s
Office’s Terrorism and Organized Crime Bureau.
“The
only organization that I’m a member of is [the] Turkish Journalists Association
[TGC]. My only profession is journalism,” Bülent Mumay, who was among the
journalists whom a warrant was issued for, wrote on his Twitter account, as he
added that he would go to the prosecutor’s office to testify.
Another
name in the list, Ercan Gün, who is the news director of broadcaster Fox TV,
said that he will also testify.
“I
trust the law even during the state of emergency,” Gün wrote on his Twitter
account.
A
total of 14 journalists have been detained so far while 11 were abroad,
according to Doğan News Agency. Eight among the journalists abroad left Turkey
after July 15 and three of them left before the failed bid, the agency also
said.
The
gendarmerie, police and coast guard have conducted searches to apprehend Nazlı
Ilıcak, a former parliamentarian and journalist who was also on the list.
Meanwhile,
a statement was released from the International Press Institute regarding the
issue, which “expressed alarm” at the development.
“Given
recent developments, we fear that this is only the first wave of arrests
targeting journalists in a crackdown that increasingly resembles a witch hunt,”
IPI Director of Advocacy and Communications Steven M. Ellis
said.
“We
urge Turkey’s international partners not to turn a blind eye to the human rights
abuses being carried out in the name of upholding democracy. To do so invites a
degree of authoritarianism and impunity that will only destabilize the region
even further,” the statement also read.
15.
Hundreds fired by Turkish companies after attempted
coup
Turkish
Hurriyet Daily News (26.07.16) reports that a number of leading Turkish
companies have fired hundreds of personnel amid ongoing investigations following
the failed July 15 military coup attempt, several media outlets have reported.
Turkey’s
national flag carrier Turkish Airlines has fired 211 employees, including a vice
general manager and a number of cabin crew members, Doğan News Agency reported
on July 25.
The
dismissals at the company occurred late on July 24, upon suspicions that some
employees had links to the movement of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah
Gülen, which the ruling Justice and Government Party (AKP) says was behind the
coup plot. Others were fired due to “inefficiency problems,” sources told the
news agency.
Meanwhile,
the head of AnadoluJet, İbrahim Doğan, has also been fired along with three
presidents, two vice presidents, 15 pilots, and cabin crew personnel, Doğan News
Agency reported.
Aviation
news site Airporthaber.com first reported the firings early on July 25.
Separately,
landline operator Türk Telekom sacked 198 people on July 22 in “cooperation with
the security forces,” saying that a number of managers had been summoned by
prosecutors to testify in connection with the ongoing investigation, according
to emailed statements, Reuters reported on July 25.
Meanwhile,
the two owners of a leading cooling systems company, Uğur Cooling Systems, were
detained in the Aegean district of Nazilli early on July 25 within the scope of
the post-coup attempt probe.
More
than 240 people were killed and 2,000 were injured during the failed coup bid on
July 15.
16.
Operations at Incirlik air base in Turkey back to normal after coup attempt,
says the US
Turkish
daily Sabah (26.07.16) reports that Turkish and American military-to-military
relations are back on track after a failed coup attempt earlier this month, top
U.S. defense officials said Monday.
"Operations
have in almost all manners returned to normal in terms of the operations we're
conducting from Turkey," Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford said
at the Pentagon where he briefed reporters alongside Secretary of Defense Ash
Carter.
Dunford
said his Turkish counterpart, Gen. Hulusi Akar, reached out to him twice last
week and noted Turkey's commitment to the U.S.-led coalition fighting
Daesh.
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