Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot Press and Other Media, 98-12-21

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From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>

TURKISH CYPRIOT PRESS AND OTHER MEDIA

No. 235/98 -- 19-20-21

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Denktash hears leaders views on ``government'' composition

[02] Denktash ``assigns'' Eroglu task of forming ``government''

[03] Environment master plan protocol'' signed with pseudostate

[04] Birlik attacks Denktash on settlers party remark.

[05] Idealists criticize Denktash stance on settles party.

[06] Existing integration process with Turkey to speed up.

[07] Options for new Turkish government

[08] Eroglu: Cyprus problem long been rsolved for UBP.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Denktash hears leaders views on ``government'' composition

In a short statement he issued after the approximately 15-minute meeting with Denktash, Communal Liberation Party lelader Mustafa Akinci said that the task of forming a ``government'' should be assigned to the UBP.

In a statement issued after meeting with Denktash, Democratic Party leader Serdar Denktash said his party is ready to serve either in a ``coalition government'' or in the opposition. Serdar Denktash continued:

``UBP lelader Dervis Eroglu is the one who has to decide on the coalition issue''. Explaining that views were exchagned with Denktash on the initiatives the Greek Cypriot side launched with the UN Security Council on reducing the number of soldiers in Cyprus, Serdar Denktash added: ``It is evident that the talks will be suspended in the event that such a decision is adopted. It is becoming obvious that the work conducted along these lines failed to yield favourable results.''

[02] Denktash ``assigns'' Eroglu task of forming ``government''

Last Saturday, Dentkash met for a second time with the leaders of those political parties who won the right to have ``seats'' in ``parliament'' as a result of the 6 December ``elections''. Denktash announced at the end of his meetings that he has ``assigned'' Eroglu the task of forming a ``government''.

In turn, UBP leader Eroglu said that he will meet with the Democratic Party (DP) and the Communal Liberation Party (TKP) leaders on 21 December in order to discuss the issue of forming a ``government''.

The UBP had won 24 ``seats'', the DP 13, the TKP seven, and the Republican Turkish Party six ``seats'' at the pseudo-assembly after the 6 December ``elections''.

IIlegal Bayrak radio (11:30 hours, 19.12.98) said that after tasking Eroglu with forming a ``government'', Denktash called on Eroglu to set up a ``Government'' as soon as possible.

Eroglu, in turn, thanked Denktash for the confidence he has shown and added that it is his wish as well to submit the ``Council of Ministers'' list to Denktash as soon as possible. Stressing that it is their duty to keep the ``TRNC'' alive and proceed with the ongoing process, Eroglu said the ``government'' will aim to bolster the economy.

Noting that the developments with regard to the ``national cause'' will be followed together with Denktash, Eroglu added that they will work in line with the interests of the Turkish Cypriots so that they can safeguard their ``state'' on their own ``territories'', as he called them.

Explaining that the only way for the Turkish Cypriot population to remain on the island is by having a strong economy, Eroglu added that they will encourage investments in order to create more jobs.

Recounting that it is impossible not to pursue the former policies in the face of the EU full membership talks with the Cyprus Government, Eroglu added: ``The new government will assume its responsibilities on this issue as well.''

[03] ``Environment master plan protocol'' signed with pseudostate

Speaking in the ceremony held on ITU campus, Ertugrul Hasipoglu, so-called health and environment minister, said that they aimed at carrying the pseudostate, which has a potential of tourism, ``to the twenty-first century as a country without environmental problems and as a developed country''.

Hasipoglu noted that they would take the necessary precautions depending on the results of the enviornment master plan.

Emphasizing that the island faced a significant water problem, Hasipoglu stressed that this problem would be solved as water is carried from Manavgat river of Turkey to the occupied area.

The environemnt master plan will be carried by a group of expert engineers and 13 academicians under the presidency of Derin Orhon, the dean of the ITU Constructive Faculty.

The environment master plan will be completed on December 31, 1999.

[04] Birlik attacks Denktash on settlers party remark

What is more, by also saying that he would meet the planners of the new party and prevent them from doing so, Denktash showed that he would not refrain from interfering in the internal political balances, BIRLIK says.

The paper adds that after assessing Denktash´s remarks, observers said the following: ``For esteemed Denktash to consider those who leave one party to set up another party as mischievous, imprudent, and separatist and to accuse them of working against the Cyprus cause and people is an entirely new development. With these remarks, the esteemed president is first of all indicting those who set up the Democratic Party (DP) and the National Revival Party (UDP). Going back, he has extended this indictment over to the founders of the DHP, SDP, TAP (expansion of the preceding three defunct parties unknown), BP (Our Party), MAP (Nationalist Justice Party), and YDP (New Birth Party). These could only be overstated and ill-considered remarks.

We leave it to our people to make sense out of this 180-degree turnabout only from the recent glorification and laudation of party fragmentation when it was in the interest of the DP.

And, we are really interested to know what Serdar Denktash, Atun, Borman, and Adaoglu are thinking about these remarks, as after all they too must be considered separatists for having established the DP in the first place.''

[05] Idealists criticize Denktash stance on settlers party

Declaring Denktash`s remarks to be ``extremely deplorable'', the statement asserted that ``forming a political party is a constitutional and democratic right, a right that cannot be obstructed'', and that such polemics only harm the pseudostate.

After noting that Denktash´s remarks have damaged ``the national unity and solidarity'', that it is difficult to find any sense behind the claim that the formation of a party by those who have settled on the island after 1974 would be separatism, that those who engage in separatism are all too well known, ``that the TRNC people cannot be divided into Cypriots and Turkey Turks'', and that Denktash is branding those who elected him as separatist, the statement called for an end to such behaviour.

[06] Existing integration process with Turkey to speed up

Addressing a panel discussion on ``Turkey from the point of view of our foreign friends in the 75th anniversary of the Republic,'' Hakki Atun said that ``The Turkish Cypriots are the children of a society who believe that they will exist only with Turkey''.

Stating that Turkey is the element of balance in a very critical region like the Middle East, Mediterranean and Central Asia, Atun said, ``Turkey and the TRNC have powerful ties. Our destiny has a very close relation with Turkey. For instance, we catch cold if Turkey sneezes.''

Noting that Turkey and the pseudostate pursue foreign policies which are totally congruent in the issues of the solution of the Cyprus issue and the European Union (EU) membership, Atun stated that they will speed up the existing integration process with Turkey if the membership of the Greek Cypriot side to the EU is accepted.

``Of course, this process will be based on international agreements. Thus we will continue our existence as a state'', Atun said.

[07] Options for new Turkish govenrment

The failure of the vairous government formulas that have been proposoed so far has led to discusisons about new scenarios in Ankara. These scenarios gained impetus after the decision of DSP leader Ecevit, who expected a favourable response from the True Path Party up to the last minute, to return his assignment to Demirel.

The govenrment models being discussed in political anterooms are:

Deputy government (subhead)

If the two formulas (as published), cannot be realized, the primary option will be a government led by a deputy who is not a party leader. After Ecevit returns his assignment, Demirel will talk to the parties and set in motion procedures for the formation of a ``Deputy Government''. The Virtue Party (FP) cares about who the appointed person will be. If the FP finds the appointed person reasonable, it will not object to not having any ministers of its own on the cabinet. The Motherland Party was originally opposed to this formula but is now more favourably disposed to it. The DSP wanted a govenrment on the same basis except that it would be led by Ecevit. The Repubilcan People´s Party (CHP) insisted on this formula from the outset. In contrast, the True Path Party (DYP) is opposed to the appointment of a third person because it wants (its leader) Tansu Ciller to be prime minister.

Demirel Factor (Subhead)

The most important factor that would determine the feasibility of this formula is the name of the person who will be appointed to form the government. Demirel is reportedly not favourably inclined toward appointing Hikmet Cetin so that the government crisis is not compounded with a crisis over electing a speaker of the National Assembly.

Agreement among rejectionists (subhead)

Another formula is a government comprising the DYP, the CHP, and the FP, which rejected all the formulas proposed to them. This secret cooperation will reportedly turn into joint action in forming a new government (sentence as published).

Election govenrment (Subhead)

If all efforts to form a govenrment that can win a vote of confidence fail (within the 45 days allowed), all authority will pass into Demirel´s hands. In that event, Demirel may decide to hold fresh parliamentary elections after consultations with the speaker of the National Assembly. If the President decides not to hold fresh elections, then the issue of a provisional government will disappear. If Demirel makes such a decision, then, according to the constitution, the election government that will be formed will not need to win a vote of confidence and will be able to serve for at most three months.

[08] Eroglu: Cyprus problem long been resolved for UBP

For Dr. Eroglu, there has been no problem since the Turkish invasion in 1974.

``... From now on I don´t speak of `the Cyprus problem´ , I speak of `the Cyprus issue´ . The current picture is a solution. There is a government in the North and there is a government in the South'', he said. ``This is a form of soluiton''.

For UBP, the ``national cause'', and with it foreign policy, is paramount, and the party says the ``TRNC'' must be recognized internationally before it can talk with ``South Cyprus'', as he put it.

``Talks with a side that can assume the presidency, whose flag flutters at the gates of the United Nations, and which opens its doors to the European Union, cannot be possible,'' he added.

In Eroglu´s opinion, the only way the two sides can sit across from each other at the negotiating table, ``is... when the realities in Cyprus are taken into consideration and seen.''

``The South has to be forced by the rest of the world to accept that there is, as in the South, a democratic state in the North, a government, a Parliament and a Constitution. Once these are accepted, then talks can continue'', he claimed.

For Eroglu, the UN´s goal of a federal solution, as the means of uniting the island, is a ``non-starter''.

``Talks between the communities are not posible; the parameters of the UN Security Council no longer apply'', he claims.

In his view, there is a new agenda - of two ``separate states'' - under which negotiations can continue, ``so stability can be achieved''.

Failing a diplomatic solution, one alternative, of integration with Turkey, is an option, but according to Eroglu this is not currently on the ``TRNC´s'' or Ankara´s agenda.

What is on the agenda is ``the strengthening of cooperative efforts on all levels, such as economic, diplomatic, military and cultural integration''.

And while there is peace, the UBP leader acknowledges it is not yet complete, the paper says.

``We have to be able to look forward, but for now we are unable to. An agreement needs to be made, but since there is no agreement on the horizon, for now the Turkish military has tor remain,''Eroglu said.

EF/SK

From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/

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