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Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot Press and Other Media, 00-09-07Cyprus 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/>[A] NEWS ITEMS
[B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS
TURKISH CYPRIOT PRESS AND OTHER MEDIANo. 171/00 -- 7.9.00[A] NEWS ITEMS[01] Opinion Poll on preferred Cyprus solution The front page of KIBRIS (7.9.00) under the title "Right: confederation;left: federation" publishes the results of COMAR/s poll on how the Turkish Cypriot people see the solution of the Cyprus problem.Comar, a research firm, asked a sample of 1,085 people questions on the solution of the Cyprus problem. Responses to a question about what solution they want to the Cyprus problem were as follows: - 31.7% bi-zonal federation - 27.2% two state confederation - 23.3% two independent states - 7.7% integration with Turkey - 5.3% a unified state - 3.3% No answer - 1.4% others According to a question of to the poll, 71.8% of Turkish Cypriot people do not have hopes that the Cyprus problem can be solved. A previous poll conducted by Comar in December 1999 showed only 14,5% of Turkish Cypriots preferred the two state confederation solution. The majority of the people who support this solution belong to right-wing parties. The 28.2% who supported bi-zonal federation in 1999, increased to 31.7% this time. This solution is preferred by those who belong to left-wing parties according to KIBRIS. Those who wanted two independent states decreased from 38.5% to 23.3%. On the question of returning territory to the Greek Cypriots, they answered: - Accept : 57% others: 1.6% - Do not accept : 38.8% no answer: 3.1% [02] Denktash: "TRNC" Not escaping from talks on substance of Cyprus issue KIBRIS (7.9.00) reports that the Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash saidon 6.9.00 that they do not avoid from the talks on the substance of the Cyprus issue."If the purpose of these talks is face-to-face meetings, the two sides should show respect to each other and recognize each other/s equality and status", he said. When he was reminded of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan/s call for the two sides to "get ready for the talks on the substance of the Cyprus issue", Denktash said that they had put the whole document about the talks on the substance in front of UN Secretary General/s Special representative to Cyprus Alvaro De Soto in Geneva. "We do not escape from the talks on the substance of the Cyprus issue. If the purpose of these talks is face-to-face meetings, the Secretary General knows very well that the two sides should be respectful towards each other and recognize each other/s equality and status. The face-to-face meetings couldn/t be held due to this reason. However, we do have the expectation for such meetings", he said. Recalling that Glafcos Clerides, had told Denktash and Holbrooke that they were not the government of Turkish Cypriots, and have no right to represent them, Denktash urged the UN Secretary General to call Clerides to voice these facts in front of his people and the World; thus make the face to face meetings possible. "If the talks on the substance of the Cyprus issue means defence of the Cyprus case, we have actually been doing this for 37 years", he said. Denktash said that the reason for the failure in reaching a solution was the recognition of what he called the Greek Cypriot administration as the "legal Cyprus government" with a wrong decision. Denktash said that they expect the states which continue on this wrong decision to tell the Greek Cypriots that "they can/t be the government of whole Cyprus", and he believed that the Cyprus issue will be solved with 2- 3 months if the states of the world tell this to Greek Cypriots. [03] Denktash raps sports embargo imposed on Turkish Cypriots According to YENI DEMOKRAT (7.9.00) the Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktashsaid on Wednesday that the "sports embargo" which has been imposed on the Turkish Cypriots for 37 years is a very serious blow to human rights. Speaking at a meeting with the "TRNC" National Olympics Committee delegation, Denktash said that the embargo was a display of enmity. Noting that doing sports is one of the basic human rights, Denktash said that the world sports organizations which don/t know the realities use the game rules as a pretext.Denktash said that international sports orgnizations can`t achieve anything by showing the rule of "acceptance of one federation from a country" as an excuse. Rauf Denktash stressed that if the Turkish Cypriots are granted the right of doing sports with the people of other countries, this will serve the compromise with the Greek Cypriots and peace, unveiling the lie of the Greek Cypriots. [04] Turkey/s Energy Minister met with Turkish Cypriot official According to Anatolia News Agency (6.9.00) Cumhur Ersumer, Turkey/s Energyand Natural Resources Minister, met with Irsen Kucuk, the Turkish Cypriot so-called State Minister In Charge of Forestry and Energy.A statement of the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry said that Ersumer discussed the energy and water problems of the "TRNC" during his meeting with Kucuk. Ersumer and Kucuk agreed upon many issues in the meeting, including the completion of first leg of the Teknecik-Dikmen-Nicosia Communication Line, worth four million US dollars under the protocol signed in 1999, and the investment of an additional seven million US dollar communication line. Other issues that Ersumer and Kucuk agreed upon are the continuation of initiatives to open a tender for a 1X20 megawatt mobile power station to overcome the electricity problem of the occupied areas, and the Turkish Electricity Production and Transmission Inc.`s implementation of a master programme prepared by Eltem-Tek for the solution of the energy problem of the area in the long term. [05] Denktash met British High Commissioner KIBRIS (7.9.00) reports that the Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash metyesterday with the British High Commissioner Edward Clay.In the meeting, Denktash/s advisers Ergun Olgun, Necati Munir Ertekun, Mustafa Evran and Taner Etkin were also present. No statement was made before or after the meeting. [06] Talat holds press conference YENIDUZEN (7.9.00) reports that the leader of the Turkish Republican Party(CTP), Mehmet Ali Talat, will give a press conference at 10:00 this morning. He will assess the latest developments on the Cyprus problem.[07] Protest Groups meet Eroglu The front page of YENIDUZEN (7.9.00) under the title "The so-calledcoalition government NUP (UBP)-CLP (TKP) betrayed the people" refers to yesterday/s protest March of the 41 Non-governmental Organisations/ (NGOs) in front of the so-called price minister/s office building.The strikers asked the so-called "Council of Ministers" not to convene anymore, because every time there is a meeting, price increases follow as a result of their decisions. After the demonstration, the so-called prime minister Dervis Eroglu had a meeting with the representatives of 41 NGOs where he told them that the pseudostate is going through economic difficulties like other countries, adding that because their so-called government is not a self-sufficient one, they must cooperate with Turkey/s governments. Finally, Eroglu pointed out that the responsibilities must be shared. [08] Pseudostate in Youth Congress in Baku According to BIRLIK (7.9.00) the 10th World Turk Youth Congress has begun inBaku, Azerbaijan. The Congress is organized by the world Youth Turk Unions and 150 delegations from 43 Turkish speaking countries will participate. A delegation, headed by the Chairman of Turk-Bir Erhan Arikli will represent the pseudostate at the Congress. Arikli will inform the participants on the latest political developments in the occupied areas and on the proximity talks taking place under the UN umbrella.The congress will complete its work on 11th of September. [B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS[09] Simitis/ call for patience, is seen as Greece/s intention to put pressure on Turkey through EUIstanbul MILLIYET (5.9.00) Commentary by Sami Kohen: "Be Patient!" Greek Prime Minister Simitis said in Thessaloniki two days ago: "It is said that Turkey does not want to make a gesture. That cannot be done in 24 hours. Turkey needs time. We have to be patient".The gesture Simitis wants is common knowledge. He wants Turkey to make certain concessions related to the Aegean Sea and the Cyprus problem. That is why Athens tries to use the European Union as a means to achieve its objectives. Simitis said that clearly. And so did foreign Minister Papandreou a few days ago. Nevertheless, Simitis/s trying to calm those who impatiently criticize his government by saying that Turkey needs time is an important development. But, that should not be taken to mean that Athens will exercise patience and avoid using the EU as a means to put pressure on Turkey. In fact, Papandreou did everything he could to put pressure on Ankara during the EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Evian. The Greek diplomats use the EU- Turkey Association Partnership Document as an opportunity to intensify their activities against Turkey. The work on the document will begin in September. The Greek officials/ objective is to have the Aegean disputes and the Cyprus problem included in the EU "road map" for Turkey. They believe that they will be able to persuade the EU to put pressure on Ankara to force it to make concessions if they achieve their objective. Papandreou is convinced that the Helsinki Summit decisions, in other words, the Helsinki Summit final Communique, allows the inclusion of expectations on the Aegean and the Cyprus problem in the Association Partnership Document. However, Turkey/s viewpoint is quite different. In fact, Foreign Minister Cem addressed a letter to the 15 EU members two days ago to inform them that the inclusion of the Aegean disputes and the Cyprus problem in the document should be avoided because the final communique does not call for such an action. The dispute on the matter is due to the different way Ankara and Athens interpret the summit decisions. Two facts will come to light if they end their argument. [49] The EU is concerned with the relations between Turkey and Greece and the Cyprus problem (even if indirectly). Regardless of Ankara/s argument thatthe Helsinki Summit Final Communique does not outline the EU/s concern, the organization has taken responsibility. That is quite clear. As Papandreou said, Cem deciding to write to his 15 EU counterparts confirms that the EU is involved.[56] The EU does not want to deal with the Cyprus problem and the Aegean disputes every now and then. Papandreou is trying to force the organizationto include the two problems in the Association Partnership Document. However, the information we have received from Brussels indicates that the organization will disagree with him. To say it more clearly, the EU, which has enough problems of its own, will not want to be directly involved. A diplomat said: "At the most, the document might recall the Helsinki Summit Final Communique in vague terms. So, it will be up to the two countries to correctly interpret the organization/s approach". However, that will not be very important in practice.It seems that Simitis is aware of that. That is why he advised his people and politicians to be patient. The message he conveyed called for patience. It is true that the new process between Turkey and Greece required patience. But, it is also true that it requires Ankara and Athens to avoid provocative initiatives. Otherwise, "patience will not lead to salvation". 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 |