TURKISH CYPRIOT PRESS AND OTHER MEDIA (96-07-09)

From: Panayiotis Zaphiris <pzaphiri@glue.umd.edu>

Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Directory

TURKISH CYPRIOT PRESS AND OTHER MEDIA

No.122/96 9.7.97

NEWS ITEMS

[01] 54th Turkish government gets vote of confidence.

[02] US Cyprus envoy postpones visit to Turkey.

[03] Denktash: "We want to play it safe".

[04] Denktash: I do not mean that Adali was killed by the people coming from Turkey.

[05] Adali's assassination discussed at the pseudo-Assembly.

NEWS ITEMS

[01] 54th Turkish government gets vote of confidence

The entire RP assembly group, except Istanbul Deputy Aydin Menderes, voted in favour of the government. All the deputies belonging to the Motherland Party, the Democratic Left Party, and the Republican People's Party voted against the government. Demir Berberoglu, True Paty Party (DYP) deputy from Istanbul; DYP Istanbul Deputies Hayri Kozakcioglu and Tekin Eneremli; and DYP Kilis Deputy Dogan Gures did not participate in the vote. DYP Istanbul Deputy Cefri Kamhi abstained. DYP Antalya Deputy Emre Gonensay, DYP Aydin Deputy Ismet Sezgin, DYP Bartin Deputy Koksal Toptan, DYP Bursa Deputy Cavit Caglar, DYP Gaziantep Deputy Mehmet Batalli, DYP Izmir Deputies Mehmet Kostepen, Gencay Gurun, and Rifat Serdaroglu, DYP Manisa Deputy Ayseli Goksoy, and DYP Ordu Deputy Refaiddin Sahin voted against the government.

[02] US Cyprus envoy postpones visit to Turkey

Diplomatic sources said that the aim of Beattie's visit would be to listen to all parties, not to bring a solution.

Beattie's visit will be the fourth in the past two weeks related to the Cyprus problem.

A senior official from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the real initiatives will begin after the US presidential elections.

"After the elections they will put pressure on us. They will demand concessions on land from us, and from Greece they will demand concessions about guarantors' rights. Right now they are doing their homework", he said.

[03] Denktash: "We want to play it safe"

In reply to a remark that international media and reports project him as the intransigent one, Denktash, inter alia, referred once again to the 1960 Cyprus Agreements and claimed that "it is my duty to my people and to international justice not to budge even a centimeter from this agreement." He also repeated his known allegations that the Greek Cypriot side has no right to be the legitimate government of Cyprus and added: "People do not like to be reminded that they have done wrong or that they are in the wrong. My duty is not to please others by bowing to their unjust rulings.

Asked about the new special Cyprus representative of the UN Mr. Han Sung-Joo Denktash said: "His job is to understand and help. We liked him from the beginning. He infuses confidence and certainly is not one of those diplomats who regard the Cyprus problem as an easy problem to solve `if the Turkish Cypriot minority makes concessions!' He was a good listener."

Reminded again that the Greek Cypriot side is treated as the legitimate government of Cyprus by the Security Council and others, he repeated his known views and allegations about enosis with Greece and domination of the Turkish Cypriots by the Greek Cypriots and claimed: "Today, under the blackmailing tactics of Greece, the EU is doing the same thing, ignoring of the rule of law, shutting its eyes to the realities of Cyprus and treating the Greek Cypriot administration as the legitimate government of `a nation state.' This is not tenable in law or in fact. This is a monstrous fiction which we cannot afford to help make a reality or allow to be treated as the foundation of a future settlement. There is no nation of Cyprus or of Cypriots."

And further on he claimed: "Will Mr. Han be given a free hand in making up his mind on these issues or will he be burdened, as all his predecessors were burdened, with the task of finding a solution based on false assumptions, on the assumption that the Greek Cypriot side is the legitimate government of Cyprus. If so, and if the EU under the blackmailing tactics of Greece begins negotiations with the Greek Cypriot side on accession to Europe, then we have one and only one alternative and that is to integrate with Turkey, immediately and unequivocally."

In reply to a question that the EU say they will not grant any veto right to Turkey or to anybody else on the question of "who becomes a member", Denktash claimed again that if Europe is for the rule of law then it has to heed the veto right of Turkish Cypriots under the 1960 setup and continued:

"If Europe is to do an injustice to us by ignoring our vested rights and status and by treating the Greek Cypriot side as the legitimate government of a nation-state, then what alternative is left to us except national defiance - and I mean national together with Turkey - and full integration with Turkey!"

In reply to another question on how can the problem be solved Denktash referred to "a great member of the parameters set out by the UN Secretary-General, as endorsed by the Security Council" and with which they agree. He referred to these parameters as being:

1. "Two communities are political equals and their relations are not that of a minority and majority".
2. "Cyprus is the homeland of both communities".
3. "The Treaty of Guarantee and Alliance shall continue".
4. "Bizonality".
5. "The sovereignty of Cyprus was assured by both communities through the Greek Cypriot elected president and the Turkish Cypriot elected vice president conjointly. This philosophy of approach has been vocalized by the Security Council. What we want is this be transferred into a Swiss-cantonal shape, so that any future attempt by the Greek Cypriot side to convert Cyprus into a Greek Cypriot republic will not be treated by the world at large as an internal matter. This was the argument of the Greek Cypriot side from 1963 to 1974: The conflict in Cyprus is an internal matter; no one should interfere in the way the government is tackling the problem etc.... So, this time, since we have to enter into a new agreement with the same partners, we want to play it safe."
6. "The bi-zonal Federal Republic shall be established by the two constituent communities and any power not directly vested in the joint central government shall be retained as residual powers by the Federated States."
7. "Neither party will have the right to dominate the other".
8. "Enosis, partition and cessation shall be prohibited."
9. "Effective participation of both sides in the central government and full autonomy to the constituent states within the Federal Constitution shall be ensured."
10. "Territorial adjustments shall be made in line with the criteria agreed at the High Level Agreements (of 1977 and 1979, between Denktash-Makarios and Denktash-Spyros Kyprianou respectively) and a committee shall be set up, composed of an equal number of members (from each community), for settling all property claims through an arrangement of exchange and for compensation."

[04] Denktash: I do not mean that Adali was killed by the people coming from Turkey

Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, in a statement yesterday, called on the Turkish Cypriots to come forward and help "the police" by giving information.

Denktash claimed that the police had done a great job in the occupied area, however, he added, it faced difficulties as well. He went on and said: "I have always been satisfied with the police organization because it did a great job. However, on these issues what we are expecting is not becoming a reality. The police itself is telling about the difficulties. The reason is the people's silence. If the people choose to keep silent, and refuse to tell what they know, the police is not a magnet that can attract the criminal to its side. I am complaining about the people's silence. People's silence will gradually increase crime in the country where the perpetrators remain at large. If the people talk we will be able to stop these crimes."

Saying that the increase in murders, terrorism and burglary cases in the occupied area has reached fearful dimensions Denktash said: "The timing and the way Kutlu Adali was killed is a gloomily pensive act that needs to be thought over. Committing such a crime at a time when the Turkish Cypriots' cause has started finding understanding, and at a time when we are having senior visitors coming to Cyprus or on their way to the island with a view to solving the Cyprus problem, I think it is not an act that is conducive to the Turkish Cypriot community's cause. On the contrary it is a harmful act. The majority of the people who are engaged in killings, robbery and thefts, that make us uneasy, are jobless, penniless people who do come here from Turkey for one or two days. This is a known fact. However, by saying this I do not mean that Kutlu Adali was killed by the people coming from Turkey or that there is a connection. No one should misunderstand this".

Denktash claimed that the problem is not created by removing the "passport" formalities in entering into the occupied area from Turkey but by "uncontrolled" entries.

He criticized the so-called past "governments" for not paying heed to his warnings regarding the uncontrolled entries into the occupied area. Admitting that there is lack of public order and security in the occupied area, Denktash said that he had urged the "government" to take effective measures. When asked, he declined to reveal these measures.

Denktash then elaborated on the way Adali was assassinated and said that "police" should consider various scenarios and urged the "police" to evaluate carefully the clues, including the telephone call made by an unknown person to KIBRIS newspaper who claimed the assassination in the name of the Turkish Revenge Brigade (TIT). (MY)

[05] Adali's assassination discussed at the pseudo-Assembly

Addressing the so-called Assembly, Communal Liberation Party (CLP) leader Mustafa Akinci noted that recent killings and crimes in the occupied area made the Turkish Cypriot community feel worried and uneasy. He said that with the 22nd anniversary of the 20 July Turkish invasion only a few days ahead, the Turkish Cypriots, while demanding safeguards against the Greek Cypriots, have started fearing each other.

Noting that Adali's murder is a political assassination and the fact that the Turkish Revenge Brigade (TIT) has claimed the murder, Akinci said that this shows that the crime was the planned work of an underground organization.

Pointing out that prior to this political assassination the common crime rate in the occupied area had dramatically increased, Akinci said: "There is not a single house where these issues are not being discussed. Our women, our old people, our families are afraid in their own homes. Well, why?

This did not happen from one day to the other. By opening our gates as `TRNC' to the good, to the bad, to the unemployed and to the dangerous ones of the 60 million population of Turkey, we have created this quagmire. And what is being done today is to hunt down mosquitoes from the quagmire. In fact, what has to be done is to solve the problem at its source. The seeds of discontent between the `TRNC' and Turkey is growing under these conditions, with wrong applications and uncontrolled entries.

At this moment, the perpetrators of Adali's assassination are not known. However, it is a fact that this assassination was encouraged by the fact that the perpetrators of bombings against people's houses, party offices, cars and night clubs are still at large.

We have to stop this course at its source. On this issue the President, the Government, the political parties and especially the government of Turkey have great responsibilities. With a view to demonstrating that we en masse condemn the assassination, our attachment to democratic values and that we want an end to be put to the current developments, I call upon all to attend Adali's funeral today", concluded Akinci.