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Thursday, 21 November 2024
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Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot Press and Other Media, 00-07-17Cyprus 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. 134/00 -- 15-16-17.7.00[A] NEWS ITEMS
[B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS
[A] NEWS ITEMS[01] Ecevit/s dialogue with EU/s Verheugen on Cyprus, Aegean disputes reportedAccording to a report in KIBRIS (15.7.00) Gunter Verheugen, who is responsible for the expansion of the EU, has asked Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit to see to it that Turkey does not oppose Cyprus/ accession to the organization. Ecevit responded by saying that the EU initiatives will complicate the solution of the Cyprus problem and the disputes between Turkey and Greece. He claimed: "Solutions will be found to the problems if the EU does not intervene".According to a high-level official who participated in their meeting, the dialogue between them was as follows: "Verheugen: Do not obstruct the Cyprus Republic/s accession to the EU. The matter affects the relations between Turkey and Greece. It complicates the solution of the disputes between the two countries and adds to the problems of the EU. We expect Turkey to adopt a more understanding approach. Ecevit: The EU interventions complicate the Cyprus problem and the disputes between Turkey and Greece. The Greek Cypriots will adopt a realistic approach if you decide not to intervene. Verheugen: We mutually look at the matter from different angles. Why have we reached a deadlock? I am unable to understand that. Greece is an EU member and Turkey and the Cyprus Republic are candidate members of the organization. Who said that the Turkish Cypriot side would be left out? It seems that an emotional situation exists. Ecevit: No, an emotional situation does not exist. The fear and painful experiences created by the developments that took place in the past have to be considered. First, confidence has to be established. However, there are no contacts between the two states on the island." [02] Turkish Parliamentary delegation arrives for 20 July "ceremonies"KIBRIS (16.7.00) reports that a Turkish parliamentary delegation which will represent Turkey in the July 20 "ceremonies" arrived in the occupied area last Saturday.The parliamentary delegation is headed by Ali Iliksoy, the Acting Parliament Speaker. At the illegal Tymbou airport, Iliksoy told reporters that Turkey is in favour of the solution of the Cyprus question in the end of reciprocal contacts of the "two states" on the island. The Turkish parliamentary delegation includes Ahmet Derin, deputy of the Virtue Party (FP), Cahit Tekelioglu and Hasari Guler, deputies of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and Turhan Guven, deputy of the True Path Party (DYP). [03] Akinci says "TRNC" not separate state, not democratic, faults Rauf DenktashAccording to KIBRIS (15.7.00) Mustafa Akinci, "state minister and deputy prime minister", has said that it is Rauf Denktash/s political custom to break his promises. In a statement he issued, Akinci commented on the issue of whether or not to attach the "police" to the "civilian authority". He charged that Denktash was acting in line with his political custom regarding this issue too. Akinci said: "President Denktash clearly said in a program aired on BRT in 1998 and again during a visit to our party after the first round of the presidential elections three months ago, that the time had come to attach the police to the civilian authority. Three months later, he seems to have discovered the partisanly practices going on in the country and as a result is opposing this idea".Akinci pointed out that Denktash is trying to ignore the fact that the "government" decided to attach the "police" to the "civilian authority" in line with his (Denktash/s) recommendation and made it part of the socio- economic package. Akinci recalled that the issue was also part of the agenda of the Democratic Party-Republican Turkish Party (DP-CTP) "coalition government". He stressed that if Denktash and the DP had not broken their promise, a consensus would have been achieved on the issue. Akinci said: "Those who look at us from outside can see that our police force and fire brigade are not attached to the civilian authority, that we do not pull too much weight in the pursuing of our national cause, that we are not able to appoint the governor of the Central Bank, and that the Turkish Cypriot officers cannot be promoted to a rank higher than colonel. In short, they can see that we lack the important factors that characterize a separate state. This situation undermines our basic position in the Cyprus problem. The time has come to assess the issues from this perspective. It will not be easy to talk of a really democratic state of law if a normal and democratic demand for a situation that exists in Turkey, in south Cyprus, and in all the democratic countries in the world is met with such excessive attacks". CTP leader Mehmet Ali Talat criticized Rauf Denktash harshly as well. He accused Denktash of inciting the "security forces" commander to insult "deputy prime minister Akinci", the "government", and the "civil administration". In a written statement he issued, Talat maintained that Denktash was the main instigator of the spy operation which, Talat said, is now clear was nothing but a plot. In this way, the CTP leader charged, Denktash is showing that he prefers to divide and rule rather than unify as his post calls for. Mehmet Ali Talat said: "Even though Denktash admitted that he was placed in a difficult position in Geneva when the so-called spy operation - which caused great indignation in the world - was carried out, he did not fail to declare that it was carried out with his own encouragement. When he returned, the reasons Denktash gave for his deeds were even more outrageous than the deeds themselves. The humiliation of the Turkish Cypriots by their own president or by persons supported by that president is unacceptable. We condemn those responsible for this situation". The Patriotic Union Movement (YBH) also criticized Rauf Denktash and called for his resignation. [04] Turkish warships to visit "TRNC" 18-21 JulyA report by Anatolia Agency (12:08 hours, 16.7.00) says that Turkish war ships will visit the occupied area of Cyprus within the framework of the July 20 "celebrations".Five ships commanded by Admiral Metin Atak, the South Mission Group Commander, will anchor at occupied Kyrenia Harbour on July 18. The warships will depart on July 21. [05] Coastguard boatAccording to KIBRIS (17.7.00) the Turkish Naval Forces Command will give to the "TRNC Security Forces Command" a coastguard boat within the framework of the "celebrations" for the anniversary of the Turkish invasion in Cyprus.[06] "Security Forces" commander given the "TRNC citizenship"Kalayci in his column in AVRUPA (15.7.00) under the title "Price of the Service Rendered" says that the so-called Security Forces Commander Brigadier-General Ali Nihat Ozeyranli, who is the main actor behind the operation carried out against AVRUPA editor-in-chief Sener Levent and the paper/s three other journalists who are accused of "treason", has been "rewarded" after this operation. Himself, his wife, his three children, his brother and his sister-in-law have been given "TRNC citizenship"."From now on, no one can say that the Security Forces Commander is a foreigner, he too is a citizen, he is more Cypriot than the Turkish Cypriots who are born in Cyprus... He too now has the right to say `this country is ours/... Who knows, when he is retired he can come here and open a bank or because of his distinguished services he could be given an hotel or a hostel... After all, every service rendered has its price...", AVRUPA says. [07] Britain/s National Union of Journalists protests detention of AVRUPA journalistsAccording to "AVRUPA" (16.7.00) the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) of Britain and Ireland has declared that the detained "AVRUPA" journalists were not engaged in "spying". Tim Gopsill, the spokesman of the Union, which has 30 thousand members, has said that "the detained journalists did not write about military secrets and there is no case of spying."The NUJ has expressed concern over the treatment meted out to the AVRUPA journalists. [B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS[08] Columnist says Denktash possibly plotting with military to bring down "TRNC government"Columnist Erdal Guven, writing in RADIKAL (15.7.00) says: "And they say things can only get worse. Why, you ask? This is because it turns out that it was Denktash himself who asked the Security Forces Commander to say those words that got the TRNC up in arms. Look, this is what Denktash said in KIBRIS newspaper the other day:`Excuse me, but ought the Security Forces Commander not to have spoken? He spoke. I wanted a speech from the Security Forces Commander... He spoke for the Security Forces Commander and not for Turkey. As our civil servant, as our commander he had no choice but to speak out for once against the ugliness and the errors he saw. That is why he spoke/. Whichever way you look at it, these words give food for thought. And why wouldn/t they? A President looks for salvation in the form of a `civil servant/, a commander, in order to kill off a constitutional amendment on the agenda of his own country/s government and backed by the opposition. Can this thing be done? This man, whom he called a `civil servant/ just as he had called himself once, is not attached to Denktash but to the Prime Ministry. Leave the opposition aside a moment, Denktash is riding roughshod over the government, the representative of the will of the people. Secondly, if he is so put out, why does not Denktash speak up? Is he worried he would lose face? Maybe, but was he not elected as President not three months ago? Or is it, and true, he is claiming the exact opposite, that by getting the commander to speak out he was trying to give the message, `look, the commander is from mainland Turkey, what he says is what Ankara wants/? According to a copy of YENI BINYIL newspaper the other day, Ankara does not see things this way. True, Ankara is trying to maintain a meaningful silence over recent events in TRNC but, according to that newspaper, the government is unhappy both with the Security Forces Command/s behaviour and the spy scandal. However, the situation is so delicate that it is obvious Ankara is trying as much as possible to avoid open intervention. On the one hand, this silence and indifference does not bear comment but, truth to tell, the fact that there have been no statements in favour of the situation is gratifying. On the subject of Ankara/s behaviour... The people of TRNC may be justified in demanding the commander be removed from office, but this demand is, unfortunately, hardly realistic. Besides, doing such a thing to a man who does not have long left in that office anyway would be hard. The only authority that could do this is the Chief of the General Staff. Just what they think of the latest developments is unknown. We all still remember a Security Forces Commander, who intervened in the elections in TRNC in favour of Denktash and was later reassigned as Turkish Peace Keeping Forces Commander. Furthermore, such a decision would further ruin Denktash/s prestige, and, bearing in mind the general state of affairs in TRNC together with the critical stage the Cyprus issue has entered, would not be Ankara/s best interests at all. If we get back to our subject, Denktash/s initiative brings to mind one more possibility, a possibility spoken about in Cyprus for ages now. Is the crisis or the subsequent spy scandal part of a plan by Denktash and the Security Forces Command to bring down the government? The last presidential elections showed that relations between Denktash and Prime Minister Dervish Eroglu were beyond rescue. And it cannot be said that Denktash/s relations with coalition partner the Communal Liberation Party (TKP) are particularly brilliant. In fact, TKP leader Mustafa Akinci is the one who has been putting on the pressure to get the police attached to the Interior Ministry and has therefore found himself at loggerheads with the Security Forces Command. It is quite obvious that there is a problem. This is the problem of style of government for TRNC. The President has fallen out with the government. And he is not adverse to using the military against the government. The worst thing is that he can do this and openly justify it saying `Turkey wanted/ it/. So what about the demands of his own people? The situation in TRNC is really grave". /SK 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 |
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