TURKISH CYPRIOT AND
TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW
C O N T E N T S
No. 190/13 08.10.13
1.
Ertug: the preparation stage may be ended tomorrow; Rubin met with Eroglu
2. Akca met with settlers from Black Sea and claimed that the
breakaway regime “was a true success story”
3. KTOS trade union accused Ankara of making occupied Cyprus its
colony nourishing smuggling, gambling and prostitution
4.
Yorgancioglu: We don’t entirely reject the economic programme
5.
Lions Club in occupied Cyprus promoted the breakaway regime in Europe
6.
Erdogan accused US Secretary of State Kerry of “praising Assad”
7.
Dozensarrested in raids in İstanbul neighbourhoods
8. New changes legalize headscarves for public officials in Turkey
9. Gul says Israel’s apology to Turkey ‘too late’
10. UK’s new crime-fighting agency to work with Turkey
1. Ertug:
the preparation stage may be ended tomorrow; Rubin met with Eroglu
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris (08.10.13)
reports that Turkish Cypriot leader Eroglu’s special representative Osman
Ertug, speaking to the paper, said that yesterday’s meetings with UN SG`s
Special Advisor on the Cyprus issue Alexander Downer and Greek Cypriot
negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis were positive.He added that he will meet again
tomorrow with the Greek Cypriot negotiator and they will try to conclude the
process.
Downer met yesterday separately with Ertug
and Mavroyiannis within the framework of preparing a joint text, with which the
negotiations between the two leaders will resume. Later, Downer met with the
two negotiators over a dinner.
Speaking to the paper after the dinner,
Ertug said that it is too early to say whether preparations for the resumption
ofreunification talks will be completed tomorrow. Noting that the delay in the
process arises from the different positions of the two sides, Ertugunderlined
the process aims to bring the two leaders together in order for reunification
talks to resume. Therefore, the process will continue under their guidance.
Downer, in a short statement to the paper
after the dinner, said that they look forward to tomorrow’s meeting, adding
that whether the process will be completed or not, it depends on what will
happen in the meeting.
Meanwhile, the paper reports that Eric
Rubin, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian
Affairs of the US Department of State, met yesterday afternoon with the Turkish
Cypriot leader DervisEroglu. Later, Rubin met separately with Ertug and Turkish
Cypriot negotiation team for an hour. No statement was made by US or Turkish
Cypriot side.
2. Akca met with settlers from Black Sea and claimed that the
breakaway regime “was a true success story”
Illegal Bayrak television
(07.10.13) reports that the self-styled Turkish ambassador to occupied LefkosiaHalil
İbrahim Akca claimed that the breakaway regime “despite its deficiencies, was a
true success story”. Akca made these statements speaking at a festival
organized by the “Black Sea Culture Society”, which is a society organized by
settlers with Black seaorigin.
“Today, we have an independent state in
Cyprus, an administration that can stand on its own feet. The latest surveys
show that the public is happy”, Akca alleged and added that “it was only
natural for criticisms to be made in the development of a country but added
that the level reached today should not be underestimated”.
Alleging that the breakaway regime will
continue to grow and develop, Akca said he hoped politics in occupied Cyprus in
the period ahead, will focus on raising production.
On his part, the chairman of the settlers’ organization
TuranBuyukyilmaz gave information about the society’s activities and problems
and said there were 25 thousand people of Black Sea origin living in occupied
Cyprus.
3. KTOS trade union accused Ankara of making occupied Cyprus its
colony nourishing smuggling, gambling and prostitution
Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika
newspaper (08.10.13) reports that SenerElcil, the general secretary of the
primary school teachers' trade union (KTOS), strongly criticized the statements
of the self-styled Turkish ambassador to occupied LefkosiaHalil İbrahim Akca
who, speaking during a meeting with a settlers’ organization, called on the
Turkish Cypriots politicians to focus on raising production in occupied Cyprus.
Elcil said that that Turkey is responsible
for the state-colony situation of occupied Cyprus for the money laundry, for
the gambling, for every kind of smuggling, for prostitution. He also said that
it is Turkey which imposes fanaticism, obscurantism in the breakaway regime.
In addition, Afrika writes that secondary
school teachers' trade union (KTOEOS), also criticized Akca’s statements.
4. Yorgancioglu:
We don’t entirely reject the economic programme
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris (08.10.13)
reports that during a meeting with a delegation from the Young Businessmen’s
Association (GIAD), self-styled prime ministerOzkanYorgancioglu said that he
doesn’t entirely reject the economic programme. Noting that the public opinion
is sensitive on this issue, Yorgancioglu said that the “government” has a
programme and targets, and as every “country”, implements an economic programme.An
economy without a programme cannot be thought, he added.
ArsenAngi, chairman of the GIAD, said
during the meeting that they are interested whether the economic programme will
be implemented or not, adding that it is correct the “government” to have an
economic programme and to implement it. However, he said, it is also important
the progress of the country to be safeguarded with the economic programme.
5. Lions
Club in occupied Cyprus promoted the breakaway regime in Europe
Illegal Bayrak television (07.10.13)
broadcast that the Turkish Cypriot leader DervisEroglu met with a delegation of
the “Association of Lions Clubs” in
occupied Cyprus this morning, headed by MuazzezAltug.
Speaking during the meeting Altug said that
the Lions Clubs attended a number of events organized by international
organizations in Europe with the aim of “promoting the TRNC”. He stated that
“TRNC was not recognized because it was not recognized by the UN”.
On his part Eroglu also underlined the
importance of such civil society organizations, particularly with its
activities in the international arena.
6. Erdogan
accused US Secretary of State Kerry of “praising Assad”
Turkish daily Today’s Zaman newspaper
(08.10.13) reports that Turkish Prime Minister RecepTayyip Erdogan accused US Secretary of State John Kerry of praising
the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for its efforts to start the
destruction of its chemical weapons and called Assad “a terrorist who has
killed 110,000 people of his own country.”
Kerry described the start of the
destruction of chemical weapons in Syria as a “good beginning” and said
Washington and Moscow had agreed to press the United Nations to set a date for
a Syria peace conference in November. In unusual praise for Damascus, Kerry
also gave the Assad government credit for quickly complying with the UN
resolution on destroying its chemical weapons arsenal.
When asked about Kerry's statement, Erdogan
said he could not believe that Kerry would make such a statement, one which
would contradict his former stance against the Syrian regime. “How could we
praise someone who has killed 110,000 people? It does not matter if these
people were killed with chemical weapons or with other weapons; in the end they
were killed,” he underlined.
7. Dozens
arrested in raids in İstanbul neighbourhoods
Turkish daily Today’s Zaman newspaper
(08.10.13) reports that dozens of suspects believed to be members of various
“terrorist organizations” were detained on Monday in pre-dawn raids at 24
locations in two İstanbul neighbourhoods.
Turkish special forces, riot police and
anti-terrorism units, a 1,500-member team in total, launched large-scale raids
in the Gulsuyu and Gulensuneighbourhoods of the Maltepe district on the
Anatolian side of İstanbul as well as the Gazineighbourhood of the Sultangazi
district on the European side. The raids, which were supported by police
helicopters, resulted in the detention of 28 individuals.
During the raids, police seized six guns,
one pump rifle, 150 gas masks and many documents belonging to illegal
organizations. In the raids on the Gulsuyu and Gulensu Rights Association,
police seized 12 Molotov bombs, two bins of oil and a gun.
The raids came days after Interior Minister
MuammerGuler vowed to crack down on illegal organizations, drug gangs and urban
bandits after the appearance of a group of armed people at Thursday's
commemoration ceremony for a slain anti-drug protester.
8. New
changes legalize headscarves for public officials in Turkey
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News
(08.10.13) reports that headscarf ban for public officials has been officially
lifted, while the national oath has been removed from schools, one week after
Prime Minister RecepTayyip Erdogan promised the changes in a much-anticipated
democratization package.
The government has officially lifted the
ban on wearing a headscarf for public-sector workers and ended the reading of
the national oath, which non-Turks have criticized for its nationalist
language, in the country’s schools.
Kurds and others have long been angered by
much of the oath, which ends with the phrase “Ne MutluTurkumDiyene” (How happy
is he who says “I am a Turk”).
According to the publication of the
resolutions in the Official Gazette late Oct. 7, public officials will be
permitted to don a headscarf, with the exception of officials wearing a
uniform, while the student oath, which has been read out loud every morning for
the past 80 years, has been removed.
9. Gul says Israel’s apology to Turkey ‘too late’
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News
(08.10.13) reports that Turkish President Abdullah Gul told an Israeli daily
that Israel apologized to Turkey “too late” after Israeli navy commandoes
stormed a Turkish ship which was on its way to deliver humanitarian aid to the
Palestinian enclave of Gaza in May 2010.
Gul, responding to a question by the
YediothAhronoth daily after a meeting of the İstanbul Forum last week, said: “In
order to end this conflict and the difference of opinion between us, we had
certain expectations of Israel. Israel responded to part of our expectations
when it apologized. But this step was taken at a late stage; Israel apologized
too late. Some of our expectations have not yet been met,” the daily reported Gul
as saying.
10. UK’s new crime-fighting agency to work with Turkey
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News
(08.10.13) reports that the U.K.’s newest crime-fighting agency, the National
Crime Agency (NCA) is set to operate in tackling criminals all around the
world, with a special emphasis attached to Turkey.
“The NCA will work with its Turkish
partners to tackle threats including drug trafficking and illegal migrants,
with Turkey’s location straddling both Europe and Asia presenting particular
challenges,” the British embassy in Ankara said in a statement released on Oct.
7. “The new agency will build on its already strong relationship between law
enforcement in the U.K. and Turkey,” the embassy added.
Kicking off immediately, the NCA will use
more than 4,000 specialist crime fighters to tackle some of the most organized
criminals, stretching across 150 countries.
The agency will work with overseas partners to tackle organized crime
groups in-country, share intelligence on joint threats and targets, and
intercept people, property and money moving to and from the U.K.
“Tackling serious and organized crime goes
way beyond the shores of the United Kingdom. Some of the biggest threats to the
national security of countries around the globe come from individuals and crime
groups who globally cost us billions of pounds every year and ruin lives and
communities. These people must be stopped, and the NCA will lead the U.K.’s law
enforcement role at an international level,” Director of Border Policing
Command for the NCA David Armond said.
The new agency will have a much wider remit
than its predecessors, with an additional focus on cybercrime, fraud and
economic crime, alongside the more familiar types of serious and organized
criminal activity such as drugs, child sexual exploitation, human trafficking
and firearms.
The agency estimates there are some 37,000
individuals spread across 5,500 groups involved in organized crime in Britain,
with the annual cost of fraud from such gangs amounting to almost 9 billion
pounds ($14.6 billion).
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