7/10/16

TURKISH CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW

TURKISH CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C O N T E N T S


No. 193/16                                                                                        07. 10.2016

1. Akinci: “This is the last effort of our generation for a solution”
2. Turkish Cypriot daily refers to the content of Akinci’s briefing to the “assembly”
3. Siber’s statements after Akinci’s briefing of the “assembly”
4. Turkish deputy Prime Minister is holding contacts in the breakaway regime
5. Chairman of MUSIAD branch in the breakaway regime spoke about Cyprus’ past and future in a meeting of the organization abroad
6. Turkish fair of the breakaway regime to take place in Istanbul
7. Yildirim: Turkish soldiers will stay on Iraqi soil
8. Turkey to cut official ads on newspapers of journalists charged with terror links
9. AKP Deputy calls for trial without arrest for jailed writers


1. Akinci: “This is the last effort of our generation for a solution”
Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper (07.10.16) reports that Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci briefed yesterday the “parliament” of the breakaway regime in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus on the developments in the Cyprus problem. In statements after the 4,5 hour long closed-door “session”, Akinci described the meeting as “fruitful” and “useful”, adding that everybody expressed their views in a participatory manner and not competitively. He said that he listened to the “deputies’” views and replied to their questions.
Reiterating that the minutes of the negotiations are sent to the “parliament” and all “deputies” can read them, Akinci noted that he gave further information on issues which were not understood.
Akinci recalled that he would meet with President Anastasiades today within the framework of the negotiations and added that “we are going to work for evaluating this process in the best manner”. Reiterating the statement he had made when he was entering the “assembly”, Akinci argued:
I really think that we are in a historic period, at an important crossroad. This is always said in the Cyprus problem, it is said that ‘it is crucial’, but I think that this time it is really so. I have said it many times and I will say it once more. I believe that this is the last effort of our generation. If this opportunity is missed again, I do not know when and how the process will recommence and what will be discussed in the next processes. However, what is reasonable is for us focusing on this opportunity and on turning it into a reality and not on such scenarios. It is possible for us to create a new Cyprus for the benefit of both the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots and of Turkey, Greece and the region. […] Provided that this will is not unilateral, that the same will, the same wish, the same realism is used by the Greek Cypriot side as well, and the issue is approached from the same point of view. Because this is the way by which we are approaching it and we will continue our course in this direction”.
(I/Ts.)  

2. Turkish Cypriot daily refers to the content of Akinci’s briefing to the “assembly”
Under the title “Towards the end”, Turkish Cypriot daily Diyalog newspaper (07.10.16) reports that a counter proposal with the support of the USA has been developed in respond to the Greek Cypriot condition that the Turkish occupation army must withdraw and the guarantees must be abolished in case of a solution to the Cyprus problem. According to the paper, “it is known that after a possible solution Turkey will become guarantor of the Turkish Cypriots only and not of the entire island” and that “the Greek Cypriot side and Greece are not positive on this issue. “However, it is said that in case Turkey’s right of unilateral intervention is abolished, agreement could be reached”, it adds.  
Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, who briefed the “deputies” yesterday at a closed-door “session”, writes the paper, said that the existing system of guarantees belongs to the past and referred to views such as Turkey’s guarantees to cover only the northern part of the island and the Turkish intervention to take place in case the Turkish Cypriots ask for it.
According to information obtained by Diyalog, during meetings with Turkish officials, US Vice President Joe Biden and the US Ambassador to Nicosia have expressed the view that maintaining foreign troops on the island is an obstacle in front of the reunification of Cyprus. 
During the closed-door “session” of the “assembly”, in parallel to Turkey’s guarantees, the activities of “ELAM terrorist organization” which constitute a threat for the Turkish Cypriots were discussed. Akinci has reportedly said that the prohibition of ELAM could be asked and that similar examples exist in the EU.  
The paper writes that another issue on which the leaders have agreed is the formation of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives will have 36 Greek and 12 Turkish members and the Senate 20 Turkish and 20 Greek members. The laws suggested by Greek Cypriots will need at least five Turkish votes in the Senate and six in the House of Representatives. The laws suggested by Turkish Cypriots will need 18 Greek Cypriot votes in the House of Representatives and five in the Senate. The number of the employees in the federal government has not been clarified yet, but 67% of the civil servants will reportedly be Greek Cypriots and 33% Turkish Cypriots. It is said that this is better than the 1960 agreements and more Turkish Cypriots will be employed.
It is also said that the “deputies” asked Akinci questions on the rotating presidency and the property as well. The issue of the citizenships has also come onto the agenda. Some “deputies” reacted to the adjustment as regards the population proportion, which is said to be 220 thousand Turkish Cypriots and 803 thousand Greek Cypriots. Akinci has reportedly expressed the view that the Turkish Cypriots who live abroad could not be prevented from becoming citizens of the federal state and warned the “government” that it should not grant new “citizenships” at this stage.
(I/Ts.) 




3. Siber’s statements after Akinci’s briefing of the “assembly”
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (07.10.16) reports that the “speaker” of the “assembly Sibel Siber praised Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akicni for briefing the “parliament” about the latest developments if the Cyprus negotiations.
Speaking after the meeting, Siber stated that this was the third  briefing that Akinci made at the assembly and added that the information given was important because it destroys the climate of wrong information that is spread on the issue.  She said that Cyprus is their common problem and that the exchange of views is very important.
She went on adding that the session was closed to the press in order for the confidentiality on the Cyprus negotiations to be kept. 
(CS)

4. Turkish deputy Prime Minister is holding contacts in the breakaway regime
Turkish Cypriot daily Vatan newspaper (07.10.16) reports that Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Veysi Kaynak is paying today an illegal visit in the breakaway regime.

According to the paper, he will first meet with the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci and later with “prime minister” Huseyin Ozgurgun.

At 14:00 he will deliver the opening speech at the “Hala Sultan symposium” which is organized by the “Cyprus social studies university”. In the evening he will attend a dinner offered to his honor by Serdar Denktas.
(CS)

5. Chairman of MUSIAD branch in the breakaway regime spoke about Cyprus’ past and future in a meeting of the organization abroad
Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper (07.10.16) reports that the "chairman" of the Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (MUSIAD) branch in the occupied area of Cyprus, Okyay Sadikoglu participated in the European meeting of MUSIAD in Cologne, Germany, which took place between September 30- October 1.

According to the paper, Sadikoglu spoke about “the past and the future of Cyprus” in the meeting.

The paper also reports that Sadikoglu later went to Amsterdam for the opening of the local branch of MUSIAD in the Nederlands.
(CS)

6. Turkish fair of the breakaway regime to take place in Istanbul
Turkish Cypriot daily Volkan newspaper (07.10.16) reports that the “1st TRNC Fair” will take place in Istanbul between 9-13 of November 2016, at CNREXPO exhibition center, which is Eurasia's largest international exhibition center.

“Minister of economy and energy” Sunat Atun stated that the fair will be under the support of the Turkish Minister of Turkey Nihat Zeybekci.

The Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce, the “Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Industry” and the “ministries” of energy and tourism are among the participants in the fair.
(CS)


7. Yildirim: Turkish soldiers will stay on Iraqi soil
Ankara Anatolia news agency (07.10.16) reports that Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said that Turkish troops will remain in Iraq to continue the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and to make sure that no change to the region’s “demographic structure” is imposed.

“Whatever the Iraqi government in Baghdad says, the Turkish presence there [in the Bashiqa region] will remain for the fight against ISIL and to make sure that the demographic structure of the region is not being changed by force,” said Yıldırım, addressing a trade and industry meeting in Ankara on Oct. 6.

He added that at a time when there were troops from 63 countries in Iraq to fight against terror, concern over the Turkish presence in the country was “absurd” and had “nothing to do with good intentions.”


8. Turkey to cut official ads on newspapers of journalists charged with terror links
Turkish Hurriyet Daily News (07.10.16) reports that Turkey’s Press Advertisement Institution, the authority for distributing official ads to newspapers, has announced that it will not direct any business to publications whose owners, partners or executives face terrorism charges, raising criticism from the opposition and a sector organization.

Newspapers that do not fire journalists who face such charges within five days will also not benefit from official ads, according to a regulation published in the Official Gazette on Oct. 5.

The new regulation also addresses the printing time of newspapers, forcing them to go to print at 5 p.m. at the earliest, three hours later than the former regulation.

The Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) said the regulation is tantamount to interference in the content of newspapers.

The regulation will cut ads to many publications, the union said in a statement.

“In a period in which press freedom has been disregarded this much, the government is looking to silence all diverse voices,” it said.

“This is a great threat,” said Barıs Yarkadas, a main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy and a former journalist.

“They will make a deadly strike on newspapers and magazines,” he said, adding that his lawyer would file a lawsuit against the regulation.

9. AKP Deputy calls for trial without arrest for jailed writers
Turkish Hurriyet Daily News (07.10.16) reports that a  lawmaker from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has said jailed writers in Turkey should be tried without arrest.

Orhan Miroglu, the AKP’s Deputy from the southeastern province of Mardin, specifically referred to the case of award-winning arrested novelist Aslı Erdogan.

“I want Aslı Erdogan to be tried without arrest. I think the same for other jailed writers, as I am also a writer,” Miroglu said in Parliament on Oct. 5, adding that he had also objected to Erdogan’s arrest in a Facebook post.

“I think writers, regardless of the crimes they may have committed, can be tried but without arrest in accordance with the existing laws in Turkey. I criticize Aslı Erdogan, but I’m the first one who objected to her arrest from Facebook,” he said.

Erdogan, a member of daily Ozgur Gundem’s advisory board and columnist, was arrested over alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Aug. 20. Ozgur Gundem was shut down for allegedly engaging in PKK propaganda.

During his speech Miroglu also criticized the closed newspaper. “If I bring several issues of it here, I’m sure that 90% of you would be scared even to read it,” he said.

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