TURKISH CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA
REVIEW
C O N T E N T S
No. 174/16
13.09.2016
1. Akinci on the negotiation process
2. Akinci met with the Italian Foreign
Minister
3. A German expert on property issues suggested the property system
to be established after the solution to be fair and prevent
injustices
4. Turkish Cypriot columnist: Sometimes it is as if we are looking
for a ‘secession’ compromise and not a ‘common future’
5. A “KIBRIS” columnist supports that the “coordination office” will
be a “state within the state”
6. Turkish Justice Ministry demands US arrest Gülen over coup
attempt
7. Fifty wounded in PKK car bomb attack in Turkey’s
Van
8. Erdogan: Mayors serve people, not support
terrorists
9. The illegal UKU “university” to host an “international
conference”
1. Akinci on the negotiation process
Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper (13.09.16) reports that
Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci stated that the previous agreements
reached during the negotiations for the solution of the Cyprus problem, as well
as the “2014 framework agreement”, were not thrown away. He also said that the
current negotiations reached the point they are today, building new
reconciliations on the older ones.
He made these statements while receiving the wishes of the “people”
at the “presidential palace” on the occasion of the Kurban Bayram celebrations.
Akinci stated that there are certainly important developments at the
negotiations, but at the same time there are important difficulties that must
be overcome and added that in order to achieve this everybody must be realists
and reasonable. He argues: “Greek Cypriots must be realists and reasonable, not
only us. We will both come to realize what is possible to be done or not”, he
stated. He went on adding that the point reached at the negotiations can be
described as “cautiously optimistic” and said that he wishes that soon we could
say that we reached “a very good point”.
Akinci also said that after the pain that we experienced in Cyprus in
the past and the “lakes of blood”, we live in peace today but we want to seal
this peace with a permanent solution. “This is the reason why we are having
negotiations for so many years”, he stated and added that this is a “ceasefire
situation. “As long as there is not a permanent solution that will satisfy the
two sites, new problems can arise, if not today, tomorrow. What is important is
to reach a just solution”, he said.
Akinci further stated that a long distance was covered during the
negotiations and added that the Turkish Cypriot “people” were forced to live
without the potentials of a recognized state, he alleged. “We were eliminated
for 53 years as a people by a Republic that we were co-partners. They behaved as
if this state belonged only to one community and this was accepted by the whole
world. The time has come for this injustice to finish”, he said adding that
every side has expectations and the way to solve this issue is to build a common
future with calm and peace. “This is where we are leading at”, he stated.
Finally, Akinci stated that difficulties have not come to an end yet
and added that he does not want to create great expectations to the “people”.
Noting that a difficult procedure still lies ahead, he said that as Cypriots
they worked with Ananstasiades hard and on detail on a solution plan. He also
said that a ready-made recipe will not be imposed on them from above like it
happened in the past.
(CS)
2. Akinci met with the Italian Foreign Minister
Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper (13.09.16) reports that
Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci held a meeting with the Italian Minister
of Foreign Affairs Paolo Gentiloni.
The Italian Ambassador to Lefkosia Guido Cerboni escorted the Italian
Foreign Minister at the meeting which was held at Akinci’s office. No statements
were made after the meeting.
(CS)
3. A German expert on property issues suggested the property
system to be established after the solution to be fair and prevent
injustices
Under the front-page title: “The solution in the property issue is
compensation not the return”, Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper (13.09.16)
publishes an interview by Dr Herman Josef Rodenbach, a German expert on property
issues, who said, inter alia, that only 23% of the problems in the property
system which was established in Germany were solved through the return, although
the system is based on the principle of the return.
Stating that the majority of the cases in Germany were solved through
compensation, Rodenbach added that from the applications which were submitted
demanding the return of property, only 23% had been solved with the method of
the return.
Referring to the case of Cyprus, Rodenback stressed the need for the
property system to be established after the solution of the Cyprus problem to be
fair and prevent injustices. He argued also that the faster the properties are
returned and the compensations are provided, the faster the economy will revive.
Explaining the system in Germany, Rodenback said that the “properties
obtained with good-intention” are excluded from the concept of the return of
properties. “Your system should avoid protecting injustices. If a property is
obtained malevolently, then this should be regulated”, Rodenback added.
(AK)
4. Turkish Cypriot columnist: Sometimes it is as if we are looking
for a ‘secession’ compromise and not a ‘common
future’
Writing in Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen newspaper
(13.09.16) columnist Cenk Mutluyakali reports that “sometimes it is as if we
are looking for a ‘secession’ compromise and not a ‘common future’” in
Cyprus. Mutluyakali writes, inter alia, the following under the title “There
could be no agreement for partition!”:
“Sometimes it is as if we are looking for a ‘secession’ compromise
and not a ‘common future’. Is this a wish for a handshake for ‘two separate
countries’? We should pass these over! If it could be possible, there would
be no [negotiating] table. It is not possible! It is not ‘realistic’, behold
your state is not recognized. Even the land over which you lean down is
questionable. In any case the future is in cooperation.
[…]
There are communal rights of the Turkish Cypriots which have been
‘usurped’, no one denies this! However, there are some [rights] which we
have ‘usurped’! It is not proper to ignore this, passing it over, and not
taking it into consideration!
You have a ‘partnership’ right! In a recognized state. Which belongs
to the world! ‘Give back my right in the administration’, you say, ‘because you
took it away from me by force’. You ask, but without giving absolutely
anything back from what you ‘took by force’ (!) […]
Everyone is lying down on the mutually ‘injured party’, without being
very convincing! These ‘divided’ calculations are not beneficial for a common
future!
I saw a communion at the very top: ‘Our understanding of a bi-zonal,
bi-communal federation is a system in which the Turkish Cypriot people will have
clear majority of population and property in their own area’. Joint marriages will take place in the future. Where will you
write the children? Will we everyday calculate who leased a house, who
bought a house, how many children everyone had? For me, bi-zonality is a
matter which concerns the administration, [and of] who will administrate each
federal structure. Otherwise, the most fundamental freedoms of the EU:
movement, residence, work, settlement. ‘We will be united’ friends, what is this
‘secession’ calculation?
There is also the ‘guarantees’ obsession! More than ten years thousands of people pass over to the south
every day, every night. No one has the worry of ‘life safety’ now! What
is actually asked is the guarantee of the ‘plunder’. And of this system. […]
All of us are fruits of the same tree. Worms of the same tree. And we
are its roots […] Both the security and guarantees are in the solution!
Please lift the shadow of these ‘separatist’ dreams from the language of
peace!”
(I/Ts.)
5.
A “KIBRIS” columnist supports that the “coordination office” will be a “state
within the state”
Columnist
Ali Baturay, writing in Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (13.09.16) under
the title “‘Coordination office’ or ‘EU Coordination Centre’?”, reports that he
was criticized from some sectors, because he criticized the “coordination
office” and not the “EU coordination centre”.
Baturay
writes: “However, I said that the ‘EU coordination centre’ is not similar in any
administrative way with the ‘coordination office’ and for this reason I cannot
accept this criticism”. He added that the criticism comes from people like the
“prime minister” Huseyin Ozgurgun, who said that “those who do not object the
‘EU coordination centre’, oppose to the ‘coordination office’”, who actually he
wanted to say “Of course, the people from the same circles accept this and
criticize us”.
Baturay
stressed that the “government officials” tried to present the issue as there are
circles who say “yes” to the EU and “no” to Turkey, but that it’s not the case,
because the two above “offices” function in a very different way.
He
explained that the “EU Coordination Centre” does not impose anything in the
Turkish Cypriot community, but there are funds from the EU for the Turkish
Cypriot community and the money from these funds are distributed in
projects. Baturay further writes that these projects are only carried out if the
conditions are met, adding that there is not imposition but only contribution to
these projects. The “EU coordination centre” contributes in many sectors like
agriculture, stockbreeding, education, environment and health. There is no
imposition to anyone, those who have a compelling project apply to the “EU
coordination centre” for funds and make use of this contribution.
However,
Baturay writes that the “agreement regarding the establishment of overseas youth
and sports coordination office between Turkey and TRNC (translator’s note: the
breakaway regime in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus)” is an
imposition to the core. He added: “This office will disable the departments of
sport and youth… All the necessary projects and implementations carried by these
two departments will be determined by the ‘coordination office’… All the youth
camps, the camps that will be made and the management of these camps will be
transferred to the ‘coordination office’… All the sport facilities and the
management of these facilities will be transferred to this ‘coordination
office’… All the dorms, which are in our country, and the permissions and
decrees of the dorms that will be made in the future, will be transferred to
this ‘office’… The chief of this office will be appointed by Turkey…The staff
recruitment of the personnel working in this office will be done by Turkey’s
government… The officials, who will come from Turkey for this office, will have
diplomatic privileges… The projects, even those that will be submitted by
‘TRNC’, will be able to be implemented only if they are approved by the office…
The TRNC state is obliged to give all the data that the office wants… the TRNC
state will not be able to stipulate a prohibition to the projects or works of
this office…
Now,
let us see what the similarities are between the ‘office’ and the
‘centre’.”
Baturay
concludes, by writing, that there is nothing in common between how the “EU
coordination centre” functions with how the “Coordination office” will function.
He stressed that the “coordination office” will be a “state within the state”.
(DPs)
6.
Turkish Justice Ministry demands US arrest Gülen over coup
attempt
According
to Ankara Anatolia news agency (13.09.16), Turkey’s Justice Ministry has sent
to the U.S. its first official provisional arrest request for Fetullah
Gulen, who is accused of leading the failed July coup that martyred 240
people, to U.S., according to Ministry sources.
The
sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, due to restrictions on speaking to
the media, said that the written official request claimed that the July 15 coup
attempt was carried out under “his command and control”.
The
letter stated that the coup attempt was carried out with the instructions of
U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen, who has been living in self-imposed exile in
Pennsylvania since 1999.
“This
person who ordered the July 15, 2016 bloody coup and committed many other crimes
has been sought for arrest”, the official request said.
The
request also included Ankara chief prosecutor’s warrant for Gulen's
arrest.
Turkey
has repeatedly demanded Gülen’s extradition following the attempted takeover,
with U.S. officials insisting that they can only extradite him if Turkey
presents proof regarding his direct involvement in the coup
attempt.
7.
Fifty wounded in PKK car bomb attack in Turkey’s
Van
According
to Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News newspaper (online, 12.09.16), a total of
50 people were wounded on Sept. 12 when outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)
militants staged a car bomb attack targeting a police checkpoint in the eastern
province of Van, on the first day of Islam’s holy Eid al-Adha (Feast of
Sacrifice) holiday.
PKK
militants detonated a bomb-laden vehicle parked near a police checkpoint in
front of the provincial headquarters of the ruling Justice and Development Party
(AKP) in the central Beşyol area at 10:50 a.m., the Van Governor’s Office said
in a statement.
Van
Governor İbrahim Taşyapan announced that 50 people, including four police
officers and four Iranian citizens, were wounded in the attack, which was
carried out in one of the city’s busiest spots during the Islamic holiday. He
also added that two of the wounded were in critical
condition.
Meanwhile,
the attack drew condemnations from the ruling AKP government as well as many
main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)
Deputies.
Interior
Minister Süleyman Soylu said the attack could not achieve its ultimate goal due
to precautions taken at police checkpoints with
barricades.
Deputy
Prime Minister Nurettin Canlikli said that with the attack the PKK had turned to
directly targeting civilians and innocent people, a sign showing that they had
begun to falter.
In
the opposition ranks, CHP deputy head and Ordu deputy Seyit Torun condemned the
attack, saying it was extremely saddening that such attack was staged during an
Islamic holiday.
The
party’s Deputy head, Öztürk Yılmaz, said such attacks would never be accepted by
society, urging for calm and caution against provocations.
Early
on Sept. 12, two PKK militants, who were in preparation for an attack, were
killed during clashes with special operations police in the province’s İpekyolu
district.
The
attack also comes after a government move to replace 28 local Mayors with
trustees for their alleged links to terror organizations, including the
PKK.
Four
district municipality Mayors in Van had been replaced by either deputy governors
or district governors on Sept. 11, as part of a recent decree law the under
state of emergency following the July 15 failed coup
attempt.
8.
Erdogan: Mayors serve people, not support
terrorists
According
to Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News newspaper (online, 12.09.16), the
replacement of 28 Mayors across Turkey on terror charges with trustees was a
“long-overdue move,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sept. 12, while
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim signalled the possibility of further dismissals
in municipalities in the coming days.
“Of
course this is not a new thing. For me, it is a long-overdue step. It should
have been taken earlier. This was also my wish previously,” Erdogan told
reporters after prayers at an Istanbul mosque on the first day of the Islamic
holiday of Eid al-Adha.
“Being
elected as a Mayor doesn’t mean that you can give support to terrorist
organizations as Mayors or as a municipal council. You do not have such
authority. You are only obliged to provide service, including investments in
infrastructure, to citizens living within your town or area of responsibility,”
he said, accusing the replaced mayors of lending support to terrorist
organizations.
Yildirim,
meanwhile, did not rule out further new replacement trustee appointments in
municipalities. “Of course, there may be [new appointments]. The principle here
is that municipalities and local administrations are the closest administration
units to the nation. What is their purpose? Carrying out their duties for
citizens with the votes they get from citizens in provinces, districts and
towns, fulfilling their needs,” Yildirim said, claiming that some municipalities
had engaged in unlawful acts and provided support to the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK).
On
the same issue, HDN also reports that Yildirim and Interior Minister Süleyman
Soylu have criticized as “unacceptable” a statement by the U.S. Embassy in
Ankara regarding the controversial appointment of trustees to a number of
municipalities in Turkey’s east on terrorism charges and the clashes that
erupted in the aftermath.
Yildirim
claimed that all mayors replaced on Sept. 11 had provided support to the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), saying it was unacceptable for the
embassy to try to “give Turkey a democracy lesson”.
Meanwhile,
Interior Minister Soylu claimed that the embassy’s statement amounted to an
“intervention in Turkey’s domestic affairs”. “The
statement made by an Ambassador on Sunday saddened us. We see it as an
intervention into Turkey’s domestic affairs and find such an evaluation
unacceptable,” Soylu said on Sept. 12 during an Eid visit in the eastern
province of Muş.
In
a statement on Sept. 11, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara had expressed its concerns
in the aftermath of clashes in some southeastern provinces following the removal
of Mayors and assignment of trustees to 28 municipalities predominantly in
Turkey’s east and southeast.
Under
the title “Intel reports detail alleged links between dismissed mayors, PKK”,
HDN (online, 13.09.16) reports that intelligence reports contain details
about a number of incidents used in the decision to suspend 28 Mayors across
Turkey over alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) or
U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.
According
to the intelligence reports, some of the municipalities from which the 28 Mayors
were suspended had transported groups of PKK militants, built public gardens in
memory of killed PKK militants, or transported ammunition and arms to the PKK.
9. The illegal UKU “university” to host an “international
conference”
Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper (13.09.16) reports that the
“International Cyprus University” (“UKU”) will host the “13 International High
Capacity Optical Networks and Emerging/Enabling Technologies Conference” (IEEE
HONET).
The conference will take place between October 13-14 at the Acapulco
Hotel in occupied Keryneia.
According to the paper, the conference is co-organized by the illegal
UKU, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the State University of New
York and the “Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Architects and Engineers” (“KTMMOB).
Academicians, researchers and experts from several universities will
attend the conference and deliver speeches, writes the paper.
(AK)
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TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION
(DPs /AM)
