TURKISH
CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C
O N T E N T S
No.
205/16
25.10.2016
1.
Akinci explains why the Turkish Cypriots insist on Turkey’s
guarantees
2.
Sinirlioglu: “A new game may come into the agenda if there is no
solution”
3.
Turkish Cypriot daily argues that there is “big crisis” regarding the meeting in
Switzerland
4.
Kibris paper: “A gold balance on the five federal bodies has been
obtained”
5.
Akinci met with the Swedish and Finnish Ambassadors
6.
The “KTSO” expressed support to the “energy deal” with Turkey
7.
Ataoglu represented the occupation regime at Antalya EXPO 2016 fair; He
announced the launching of flights to Konya
8.
AKSA’s CEO in the occupied area of Cyprus expressed interest for the Eastern
Mediterranean’s gas reserves
9.
Cavusoglu held a joint press conference with his French counterpart; They
clashed over the state of emergencies in Turkey and
France
10.
AKP signals presidential system with single
Parliament
11.
Kilicdaroglu: “Accusing the CHP of allying with FETÖ is a comedy”
12.
Turkey’s conservative Felicity Party to change leader
1.
Akinci explains why the Turkish Cypriots insist on Turkey’s
guarantees
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (25.10.16) reports that Turkish Cypriot leader
Mustafa Akinci, speaking after the three hour long meeting yesterday with
President Anastasiades, said that they want their meeting in Geneva in
November to be held in a format that will contribute to the target “solution in
2016” and this should lead the leaders step by step directly towards the
solution.
Akinci
said that the effective participation of the sides at the federal structure
is important, adding that the decisions cannot be passed with a simple
majority. He noted that during the meeting, the two sides submitted their
views on the five topics that they had already worked before at the
negotiations, but it was not an intensive work.
Stressing
that he tried to explain in one of the previous meetings how important and what
does the “effective participation to decision-making processes” means, Akinci
explained that this does not mean only the participation in a certain committee
or the representation in a certain administration council. He added: “Let’s
assume that there is a 6 to 3 ratio…then one out of three persons will have to
vote in favour of that decision. This is an issue which makes up the very
essence of a federation and we have yet to reach agreement on this issue. From
this point, the topic has serious difficulties”. Akinci further said that it is
out of the question for even a simple decision to be passed with simple majority
as things are in a unitary state, adding that the Turkish Cypriot side is very
sensitive on this issue.
Referring
on the issue of security and guarantees, Akinci argued:
“The Greek Cypriot side is out rightly rejecting the Turkish Cypriot side’s
demands on the issue of guarantees and security. Their categorical objection on
this issue is wrong. A number of the Turkish Cypriot peoples’ demands stem from
past experiences. They are stating that future experiences too can lead to
different developments”. He further said: “What I mean is that our past
experiences show us how much the status in the future needs to be protected.
Because more than once, this status was demolished. We lived this in 1960’s
and on the coup in 1974. The issue in all these was the elimination of the
status of the Turkish Cypriots stemming from the 1960 Constitution. This was the
aim. For this reason, I want to stress how much a deterrent element is needed on
these issues, because those experiences showed us that the rejection front in
the Greek Cypriot side is objecting the bicommunal federal concept as a
principle”.
Akinci
further said: “We have seen how much the status in the future needs to be
protected which is why the Turkish Cypriot people are insisting so much on
Turkey’s guarantees. This could be reassessed when the place and time comes
but that will be determined by what will be experienced in the
future.”
(DPs)
2.
Sinirlioglu: “A new game may come into the agenda if there is no
solution”
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi newspaper (25.10.16) reports that Feridun
Sinirlioglu, Turkey's Permanent Representative at the UN and former
Undersecretary at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, argued that he is optimistic
about reaching a solution on the Cyprus problem by the end of 2016 but warned
that “a new game may come into the agenda if there is no
solution”.
Sinirlioglu,
who was speaking to Hurriyet newspaper, stated that this is a milestone as
regards the Cyprus problem. “As our President stated in 2004 […] we will
continue to be a step ahead on the solution of the Cyprus problem. However, this
is not a no-ending procedure”, he said adding that everyone knows that if by the
end of this year a solution that will safeguard the establishment of a
partnership state based on the equality of two founding states is not reached at
the negotiations who are taking place under the UN auspices, then this game will
come to an end.
He
went on and alleged that both the UN Secretary General and the President of the
EU Commission stated that this game came to an end and claimed that the Greek
Cypriots reacted against these “realistic statements”, as he said. “However,
(the Greek Cypriots) know that if a solution is not reached by the end of this
year in the framework of the February 2014 statement and other parameters, then
a new game will begin”, he said and claimed that in this stage only a solution
between two “states” will be able to be negotiated.
“However,
I believe that a solution based on the political equality of two founding
states is close , that a solution will be reached before the end of the year and
a partnership state will be established”, he said.
(CS)
3.
Turkish Cypriot daily argues that there is “big crisis” regarding the meeting in
Switzerland
Under
the title “Crisis in Switzerland”, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi
newspaper (25.10.16) reports that following yesterday’s meeting between the two
Cypriot leaders it became obvious that there is a “big crisis” at the
negotiation table, when the announcement of the details as regards the
discussion of the territorial issue that will take place in Switzerland was not
announced as it was expected.
The
paper notes that Akinci did not announce the date and the name of the city in
Switzerland that the negotiations will take place and also said that an
agreement was not reached on the issue of the participation in decision making.
“This is a very big problem”, he stated.
“This
is a very hard statement by Akinci, which on the one hand shows that the
negotiations have not reached the desired point on the issues of co-governing
and power sharing. On the other hand it was an indication that the Greek Cypriot
side is far away from the rotating presidency which Akinci said is a sine qua
non.
The
paper also reports that Akinci indirectly complained that the demand of the
Turkish Cypriots on the issue of the guarantees which is based on the experience
of the past was not taken into consideration.
The
paper further reports that the expectations raised after the statements of the
Government Spokesman Nikos Christodoulides who said that the two leaders would
have announced yesterday the name of the city that the Switzerland meeting would
take place. However, the fact that the two leaders refrained from announcing the
name of the city or the dates that the meeting will take place shows that there
was an “unexpected tension” at the negotiation table, the paper claims.
According
to the paper, the recent statements of Archbishop Chrysostomos that a campaign
in favor of “no” will be conducted in case less than 25% of soil will be
returned to the Greek Cypriot side in case a solution is reached was one of the
reasons that led to tension at the negotiations.
The
paper also writes that efforts will be exerted so that details as regards the
Switzerland meeting to be arranged in tomorrow’s meeting between the two Cypriot
leaders. In addition, the paper notes that the Turkish Cypriot side complains
that the Greek Cypriot side has not realized yet what “federation based on
political equality” really means.
(CS)
4.
Kibris paper: “A gold balance on the five federal bodies has been
obtained”
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (25.10.16), under the title “A gold balance was
reached at five federal bodies”, reports that it was informed that a gold
balance had been obtained at the five important bodies of the “Federal State” at
the Cyprus talks.
Journalist
Emine Davut Yitmen, citing information, writes that the sides have reached an
agreement on the “effective participation on the decisions” at the following
five federal bodies, which will be independent from the Federal State that will
be established in Cyprus: Federal Office of the Chief Prosecutor, Federal
Central Bank, Federal Supreme Court, Federal Ombudsman and Federal Audit Office.
Thereby, “political equality on the top five bodies of the federal state” has
been safeguarded.
According
to the paper, the term of office of the five federal bodies will be in rotation
and their presidencies will be carried out in equal time between the Greek and
Turkish Cypriots. The presidency at the Federal Supreme Court has been
safeguarded that it will be in equal time and rotation between the Turkish and
Greek Cypriots. While the Federal Office of the Chief Prosecutor will produce
decisions on the financial, legal, executive and judicial mechanisms, the
Federal Audit Office will be responsible for the financial audit. The Federal
Office of the Chief Prosecutor will provide opinions in order the bodies in the
state to act justifiable. While the Federal Ombudsman will supervise the
administration of all bodies in the federal state, the Federal Central Bank will
administer the functions of the monetary policy and the system of the banks. It
will also administer the financial instruments related to the macroeconomic
mechanism of the federal state.
The
paper concludes by writing that it was stressed that the consensus reached on
these institutions was in conformity with the principle of the Turkish Cypriot
leader Mustafa Akinci on the effective participation.
(DPs)
5.
Akinci met with the Swedish and Finnish
Ambassadors
According
to illegal Bayrak television (25.10.16) Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci
met today with the Swedish and Finnish Ambassadors to “south Cyprus” as the
Republic of Cyprus is called, Anna Olsson Vrang and Timo Heino.
The
meeting took place at the so-called presidential palace and the three discussed
the latest developments on the Cyprus problem.
The
so-called presidential spokesman Baris Burcu and the “president’s political and
historical adviser” Meltem Onurkan Samami were also present at the meeting.
No
statement was issued before or after the meeting.
6.
The “KTSO” expressed support to the “energy deal” with Turkey
According
to illegal Bayrak television (25.10.16) the so-called Turkish Cypriot chamber
of industry (“KTSO”) has expressed support to the “energy deal” signed with
Turkey earlier this month.
A
statement issued by the “chamber” called for the deal to be implemented as soon
as possible.
“The
Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Industry supports the cooperation between the two
countries in the field
of energy, bringing electricity to the TRNC from Turkey via cable and access to
various economic and efficient energy sources by becoming part of a wider
interconnecting system”
the statement read.
The
“chamber” also stated that it would support and contribute to all efforts and
projects that will provide cheap, affordable, reliable and sustainable energy.
“The chamber would like to actively take part in any such work”,
the statement added.
Stressing
that electricity constitutes an important part of input costs for
industrialists, the statement said that a sustainable structure that will
provide affordable and reliable electricity will not create a monopoly. “To the
contrary it will provide quality and uninterrupted energy as well as increase
the use of renewable energy”, the statement argues.
7.
Ataoglu represented the occupation regime at Antalya EXPO 2016 fair; He
announced the launching of flights to Konya
Turkish
Cypriot daily Democrat Bakis newspaper (25.10.16) under the front-page title:
“Ataoglu: Konya flights are launching” reports that the so-called minister of
tourism and environment Fikri Ataoglu who represented the occupation regime at
the Antalya EXPO 2016 fair in Turkey, announced that the Turkish Airlines will
launch very soon flights from Konya to the occupied area of Cyprus.
The
occupation regime is represented in the fair with its own stand writes the paper
and adds that is amongst the 56 countries taking part in the fair.
Speaking
at the opening ceremony,
Ataoglu
expressed the “Turkish Cypriot peoples’ gratitude to motherland Turkey’s timely
intervention on the island in 1974”.
Pointing
out that the “TRNC” is attending international events among other international
actors, Ataoglu referred to the importance of their participation to Antalya
EXPO 2016 with regard to the promotion of the “TRNC”.
Pointing
out that “tourism and education” are the “TRNC economy’s two locomotive
sectors”, Ataoglu argued that tourism is continuing to develop and grow in the
“country”. He added that their expectations are very high towards the
development of the “tourism sector” and announced that they will soon launch
promotion campaigns in 10 different cities of Turkey and 5 more countries.
Ataoglu
also said that the tourism from Turkey constitute the 9% of the occupation
regime’s tourism and added that their goal is for this number to reach to 20%.
(AK)
8.
AKSA’s CEO in the occupied area of Cyprus expressed interest for the Eastern
Mediterranean’s gas reserves
Turkish
Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (25.10.16) reports that Cüneyt Uygun, Chief
Executive Officer & Director at Aksa Company, which is the only private
sector electricity producer in the “TRNC”, evaluated in statements to Ankara
Anatolia, the investments of the company in the occupied area of Cyprus and
abroad.
Referring
to the Eastern Mediterranean gas, Uygun said that they consider it as a right
and strategic investment not only for the company but also for the “country”.
“It is for this reason that we are interested in the projects related with the
Easter Mediterranean gas and we attend all meetings. We are holding talks with
both sides, Turkey and Israel. There are two points in this effort worthy for
us. The first one is that there is a big possibility that there are discussions
for the gas to pass through Cyprus. We have a power plant in Cyprus and we
produce and cover the 60% of the energy needs of the TRNC. The works concerning
the transformation of this power plant to a gas station could be launched
rapidly. The second point is that it is very possible the gas to come to be
extracted from the Cukurova region, which is considered for us an area that we
distribute natural gas. (…) Therefore, it is a worthy investment for us and it
is for those reasons that we are interested in”, Uygun said, referring also to
the possibility of taking joint action with other Turkish firms.
(…)
(AK)
9.
Cavusoglu held a joint press conference with his French counterpart; They
clashed over the state of emergencies in Turkey and
France
Turkish
daily Hurriyet Daily News (24.10.16) reports that during his official visit
to the Turkish capital, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has criticized
Ankara’s comparison of the state of emergency in Turkey with the state of
emergency in France.
“Turkey
has the right to defend itself against terror. It also has the right to extend
the state of emergency. But the state of emergencies in Turkey and France are
not based on the same legal grounds,” Ayrault said on October 24, speaking at a
joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
“In
the state of emergency practices in France, the judiciary and the executive are
separate, and the judiciary is still independent”, Ayrault added, noting that
Paris had simply extended police authorization.
In
his turn, Cavusoglu criticized Ayrault’s remarks, saying that the aim of both
countries is the same. “There is no difference regarding the state of
emergencies in Turkey and France. Their context and objectives are the same.
They both target terrorist organizations,” Cavusoglu said.
Meanwhile,
Turkish daily Sabah (24.10.16-online in English) reported that Cavusoglu has
voiced concern over the French Senate's recent adoption of an amendment that
bans the denial of the Armenian genocide, arguing that the recent ban was
limiting the freedom of expression.
"The
voting shows us that our concern is shared by many French lawmakers and Senators
as it was adopted by a little difference in votes," Cavusoglu
said.
"The
core values of the European Council such as the freedom of expression and the
superiority of law are binding for all European countries. We hope that the
French Constitutional Council overturns the law," added Cavusoglu.
(…)
10.
AKP signals presidential system with single
Parliament
Turkish
daily Hurriyet Daily News (24.10.16) reported that Turkey’s ruling Justice
and Development Party (AKP) is working on a system that will impose a single
Parliament, a presidential system and a two-stage election system on the
country, the party’s Constitution Commission head, Mustafa Sentop, has said.
“The
most important thing is to preserve [Turkey’s] unitary structure... There is a
federal [system] in the United States; this has nothing to do with the
Presidency, but there are those who claim this. This is impossible. In Germany,
there is a federal [system] but there is also a parliamentary system. There is a
parliamentary system in Turkey … I think that these [systems] are not connected.
What we propose is a unitary presidential system. In the United States there are
dual Parliaments; our suggestion is a single Parliament,” said Sentop during an
event at Trakya University in the northwestern province of
Edirne.
The
AKP has finalized preparations for the draft of a Constitutional amendment,
which will change the country’s parliamentary system to an executive Presidency,
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said Oct. 23.
“We
have finalized our work on both the new Constitution and on the presidential
[system]. We have made sufficient discussions both in Parliament and by the
public. We’ll bring our proposal to Parliament as soon as possible,” Yıldırım
said in an address to Deputies in his closing speech at a three-day AKP camp in
the western province of Afyon.
(…)
11.
Kilicdaroglu: “Accusing the CHP of allying with FETÖ is a comedy”
Turkish
daily Hurriyet Daily News (25.10.16) reports that the main opposition CHP
leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu , in an exclusive phone interview to the paper on
October 24 said that accusing the Republican People’s Party (CHP) of supporting
the Gülen movement is nothing else but comedy.
“I
can’t stop laughing when I read all these [accusations]”. “Our entire political
life has been spent against [religious] communities that tried to seize control
of the state. The AKP, however, is the one that supported these communities. We
have never defended coup plotters or Gülenists. We have only defended the rule
of law,” Kilicdaroglu said.
Kilicdaroglu
was responding to criticisms voiced by some leading AKP personalities who have
been trying to associate the CHP with the Gülenist movement, claiming that the
social democrat failed to remove members of the community who had infiltrated
the party.
Noting
that some prominent civil servants and members of the military who had served in
the years when the Gülen movement was able to increase its influence within the
state had information to a parliamentary panel investigating the July 15 coup,
Kilicdaroglu stated the following: “They informed the panel about their actions
when they were in office. One of them who had access to the state secrets told
the panel that they had expressed their concerns to the government at that time.
If you look at the newspapers’ archives, you will openly see the government’s
support to this community.”
The
government cooperated with the Gülen movement in paving the way for the
dismissal of a slew of high-ranking military personnel, including generals, so
that they could be replaced by Gülenists, Kılıçdaroğlu said. “I make a call from
here: MİT [National Intelligence Organization] submits intelligence reports
about all terror organizations at MGK [National Security Council] meetings. They
should reveal their reports on FETÖ as well. There is nothing to hide now.”
He
further accused the AKP government of passing laws and appointing civil servants
upon the Gülenists’ call, saying: “And in return, the [Gülen] community helped
the AKP get control of the state. They became two parallel structures. The fight
began through the Dec. 17 and 25 [2013] operations. A conflict between these two
parallel structures began at that time. They should now account for it. Was it
us who appointed these Generals? They were the ones in the power. In fact, the
real government was FETÖ?”
On
the government’s efforts to go to a referendum to change the Constitution and
adopt the presidential system, Kilicdaroglu criticized such a political campaign
at a moment when the country has so many problems.
“He
[President Recep Tayyip Erdogan] is violating the Constitution. The principle on
the [President’s] neutrality has been breached. What is the shortcoming of the
parliamentary system? Why is the President intervening into parliamentary
affairs?” he asked.
Expressing
his belief that common sense would prevail in Parliament and that lawmakers
would not vote in favor or going to a referendum for such a change, Kılıcdaroglu
said: “I don’t know how Mr. Bahceli will act. But granting all the power to one
man will drag the country into chaos. I hope common sense will prevail in
Parliament.”
Kılıcdaroglu
referred to Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli’s conditional
support to the government’s plan to introduce a draft constitutional amendment
with a presidential system.
12.
Turkey’s conservative Felicity Party to change
leader
Turkish
daily Sabah (24.10.16-online in English) reported that the chairman of Turkey's
Felicity Party (SP) announced on Monday that he will leave his post with a new
decision taken at the party's high advisory board meeting.
The
current chairman Mustafa Kamalak said vice chairman Temel Karamollaoglu will
replace him and will take the post at the party congress which will be held on
Saturday.
There
will be no other candidates running for the seat of the small ultra-conservative
party.
The
Felicity Party has not been particularly successful electorally, winning only
2.5% of the votes in average. It has repeatedly condemned the government's
strategy to join the European Union, its relations with Israel and the United
States, while defending a foreign policy approach towards Muslim countries. It
gathered criticism in recent years for having warm ties with the Syrian
regime.
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TURKISH
AFFAIRS SECTION
(AK/AM)
