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Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot Press and Other Media, 98-11-09Cyprus Press and Information Office: Turkish Cypriot Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>TURKISH CYPRIOT PRESS AND OTHER MEDIANo. 206/98 6 - 9.11.98[A] NEWS ITEMS
[A] NEWS ITEMS[01] CLP FINDS UK POLICY ON CYPRUS 'UNFORTUNATE AND DANGEROUS'According to illegal Bayrak Radio (1130 hours, 8/11/98) the Republican Turkish Party (CLP) has said that the statement by Robin Cook, British secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs, to the effect that the Cyprus problem and the EU membership of Cyprus should not be directly linked "is an extremely unfortunate and dangerous approach."CLP leader Mehmet Ali Talat issued a statement claiming that "the Cyprus problem and Cyprus' EU membership are 100 percent linked." He claimed that "spoiling the Greek Cypriot side, behaving as though they are authorized to act on behalf of the entire island, encouraging them to act single-handedly, and giving them the hope that they can make the Cyprus problem disappear might lead to a new war tragedy." He called on the interested parties to pursue a realistic policy and warned them that, otherwise, the negative consequences of their action and regional instability might harm their own interests. [02] ETKIN ON EU CYPRUS REPORTAccording to Anatolia Agency (1308 hours, 8/11/98) Taner Etkin, the so- called foreign and defense minister of the pseudostate, claimed on Sunday that the report of the European Union (EU) Commission dated November 4, 1998 concerning the full membership of Cyprus to the EU "constitutes a new chain of mistakes."Addressing a press briefing, Taner Etkin said that the EU will be responsible for making the division on the island permanent by starting full membership negotiations with the Greek Cypriot side on November 10 as if the latter was the representative of the whole island. Claiming that the report is based on wrong assumptions and date, Etkin said "the report says that no direct information can be got concerning the TRNC and it uses wrong, misleading information given from the Greek Cypriot administration and other unofficial sources as if they are correct." Etkin stated that "while referring to the issues of human rights in TRNC, the report makes an evaluation which is contrary to the last two reports published by the UN Secretary General and to the reports of the US Department of State. TRNC is a republic which is governed by pluralist democratic system which protects all the human rights and freedoms; sovereignty is used by people", he claimed. Alleging that a such a mentality which describes the intervention of Turkey on the island in 1974 as occupation, can not contribute to solution of the Cyprus question, Taner Etkin said that "TRNC proposed a confederation on the island on August 31, 1998 for a permanent peace on the island. We expect this proposal to be evaluated well and not to be wasted. Confederation is a final proposal as our President Rauf Denktash says." Responding to a question asking the measures that will be taken in return to the commencement of negotiations between the EU and Cyprus, Etkin stated that "we have completed our activities concerning the measures that will be taken, we will announce them later. We firstly warn the counterpart, who try to achieve their goals by being a member of the EU." [03] TURKISH TRANSPORT MINISTER IN THE OCCUPIED AREAAccording to illegal Bayrak Radio (9.11.98), Turkish Minister of Transport Ahmet Denizolgun arrived in the occupied area today. According to information given to illegal TAK by the Turkish Transport Ministry, Ahmet Denizolgun will make an on the spot inspection of the infrastructure work carried out in the occupied area as regards transport and communications and will see to new requirements.Denizolgun and his escort will stay in the occupied area for one day. (MY) [04] "TRNC" - REGISTERED SHIP CAUGHT CARRYING ILLEGAL REFUGEES TO ITALYAccording to YENIDUZEN (9.11.98), the ship caught with 400 illegal Kurdish refugees off the Italian coast the other day was the occupied area registered ship "Zeynep".According to information received from reliable sources the ship, which recently sailed off from the occupied Famagusta port for Istanbul, was put under arrest by the Italian police. In world and Turkish press the name of the ship was given as "Zeynep", under Turkish registration. In fact it is mentioned that the ship is occupied area registered. The "director" of the so-called "TRNC Port Authority" Enver Yethili said that he received information that the aforesaid ship is "TRNC registered". However, he said, he did not receive any "official" information to this effect. The ship, seen off the Mariba di Novaglie Beach on the southern coast of Otranto, near Capo di Santa Maria Leuca (name as mentioned by the paper), was put under arrest by the Italian police. With a view to evading night patrols the ship had been painted black. It is speculated that approximately four hundred Kurdish refugees, among them children and women, have paid three thousand US Dollars each to go to Italy. The illegal refugee smuggling is causing a lot of headache to Italy. There is a big wave of refugee influx because of the civil war in Albania, and at times from Turkey. Moreover, KIBRIS (9.11.98) reports that the so-called director of the "TRNC Ports Authority" Enver Yethili said that it is possible that the ship be "Demiray", owned by Ayhan Demiray, which left the occupied Famagusta port on 28 October, 1998 with an eight man crew, for Istanbul. Yethili added that after receiving information from Italy they will hand the issue to the so-called Attorney General. (MY) [05] SOLDIER FOUND DEAD IN BARRACKSAccording to AVRUPA (8.11.98), Osman Mercan (25), serving in the first company of the 4th infantry battalion stationed in occupied Karavostasi, committed suicide with his weapon. According to information that reached the paper, Osman Mercan, who was drafted into the occupation army as a sergeant, was later on demoted to simple soldier because of the fact that the school diplomas he had presented to the conscription office were forged. The paper reports that it had conducted its own investigation into the case and revealed that Mercan was depressed because he was posted to nine hours sentry duly daily and subjected to other training sessions.It is also mentioned that Osman Mercan was not in good terms with his commander and as a result of this his military service responsibilities were not eased despite the fact that in 17 days he would have been discharged from the army. The "official" statement released from Denktash's "police" regarding the case gives no detailed information. Avrupa reports that similar suicide cases committed in the army camps and barracks were not investigated in detail and no attention is paid to the reasons of such acts. However, Avrupa (9.11.78) reports that there is a claim that Osman Mercan did not commit suicide but was killed. According to information from sources close to the so-called "State Hospital" in occupied Nicosia, the fatal shot was fired at the back of the soldier. Following this information, adds the paper, they again contacted Denktash's "police" and asked for clarification. The "police" said that they as well received such information but that the authopsy results stated that it was a suicide. The family of Osman Mercan are settlers from the mainlan Turkish town of Gaziantep. They settled in the occupied Karpass village of Vassili. AVRUPA reports that Mercan's family is in a state of shock following the news of their son's death. (MY) From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/Cyprus Press and Information Office: Turkish Cypriot Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |