Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot Press and Other Media, 00-10-06

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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

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY, TURKISH CYPRIOTS CRITICISE EP RECOMMENDATION

[02] DENKTASH OUT OF HOSPITAL, ECEVIT SAYS TURKISH CYPRIOTS ACCEPTED ECONOMIC PROPOSAL

[03] RAUF DENKTASH INTERVIEWED ON NEW YORK TALKS

[04] FORGED BANKNOTES

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY, TURKISH CYPRIOTS CRITICISE EP RECOMMENDATION

Responding to questions of journalists at the weekly press conference, Huseyin Dirioz, the Deputy Spokesman of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, said that Rauf Denktash had made the necessary statement on the issue.

"It is a distressing development. The European Parliament maintains its manner supporting the Greek Cypriot side", he told reporters.

The report which was submitted to the European Parliament by Jacques Poos, the former Foreign Minister of Luxembourg, defended that the Greek Cypriot side could become a member of the European Union (EU) before the solution of the Cyprus question.

The report which was approved by the European Parliament, accused the "TRNC" and Turkey for lack of progress in efforts to find a solution on the island, and said that Turkish soldiers should withdraw from the island.

Meanwhile, "state minister and deputy prime minister" Akinci claimed on Thursday that it was wrong to take the position and take any decision which said that Greek Cypriot side could enter the European Union (EU) alone before the solution of the Cyprus issue.

Akinci said that such attitudes could not contribute to solution of the Cyprus issue.

Akinci met with the Head of the EU Commission Delegation in Cyprus, Ambassador Donato Chiarini.

Speaking at the meeting, Akinci claimed that the European Parliament's recommendation was one of last things that should be done as the process of proximity talks is continuing.

When asked what kind of a position Turkey would deploy against the decision in question, Akinci said that Turkey's position towards the Cyprus issue was clear since the beginning. "Turkey does not want to do the things that can' t be done regarding the Cyprus issue while entering the EU. The Cyprus issue has peculiar conditions and within the framework of these conditions, Turkey supports and desires a solution which is based on equality."

Alleging that Cyprus could take part in the EU after the solution of the Cyprus issue, Mustafa Akinci said that the Turkish-Greek balance in Cyprus should be protected till Turkey's EU full-membership.

Donato Chiarini refrained from responding to the questions about the issue. "We will wait and see," he said.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party (DP), the main opposition party, issued a statement saying that the European Parliament' s decision in favour of the Greek Cypriot side was an obstacle put in front of the proximity talks.

Stressing that the rights of the Turkish Cypriots should be recognised if a solution was wanted for the Cyprus issue, the statement called on the European institutions to give up taking decisions according to the opinions of the Greece and the Greek Cypriot side.

The statement added that the solution on the island should be the confederation as it was proposed by Rauf Denktash.

[02] DENKTASH OUT OF HOSPITAL, ECEVIT SAYS TURKISH CYPRIOTS ACCEPTED ECONOMIC

According to illegal Bayrak Radio 1 (1530 hours 05/10/00), Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash underwent an angiography yesterday morning and his doctors said he has no problems and that there is no need for any surgical intervention.

Replying to questions on the EP recommendation upon leaving the hospital, Denktash asserted that the agreement in Cyprus will be reached by the two sides, and what others say is not important. He said that the EU should open its eyes to the "realities" of Cyprus and realise that it will achieve nothing by pressuring the Turkish Cypriots or Turkey.

Later, Turkish Prime Minister Ecevit visited President Denktash at the hotel where he was staying and stayed with him for 20 minutes and extended his best wishes.

Replying to reporters' questions on the stability package to be implemented in the occupied area of Cyprus, Ecevit said that the situation is going well. He added: "We had some proposals for improving the Turkish Cypriot economy. The Turkish Cypriots accepted them to a large extent. The civil servants will receive their salaries."

[03] RAUF DENKTASH INTERVIEWED ON NEW YORK TALKS

During the interview Denktash inter alid claimed: "The Greek Cypriots have been stealing our rights by frequenting the talks. They have sequestered the title of the legal Cyprus government by sitting at the table, where we also had been sitting with the hope that we would defend and obtain our rights. At one point, we had to tell them that we would not talk with them until they renounced this title. But we could say that firmly only at Glion in 1997. Things that we should have said far before we said only in Glion because only then the circumstances allowed us to do so. As you know, we are leading a national cause in partnership with Turkey and it is Turkey that shoulders its weight and responsibility on international level. So, this was a matter of international conjuncture and we were therefore a bit late in saying what we had always wanted to say in the first place. Since then, the Greek Cypriots have applied for the EU membership under this stolen title and therefore they are obliged to come to the talks also not to block their EU path. As such we had no doubts that they would return (to the New York talks). They returned to the table and had to announce what they wanted."

To a comment that what the Greek Cypriots want is territory, Denktash replied: "Territory and more. They began with administrative issues. On the administrative issue, they are saying that this [the UN proposal] is an unworkable mechanism and therefore they cannot accept it. They cannot be more right. Really, the mechanism put forward is far more complicated than the 1960 mechanism, and even on some important issues it is worse than the 1960 mechanism, such as the provision concerning the elections. Our right for separate election is being watered down. In line with the long-standing Greek Cypriot wishes, the so-called weighted voting is proposed on a single- list candidates, which could gradually transform the separate referendum into something else." And added: "Whereas our proposal is quite simple. Through an agreement between two states we should decide on which issues we could act jointly, and how and in what manner we could represent Cyprus as a confederal state or institution on the international arena."

Further on the issue of territory, Denktash said: "... no map has been given to us on the territorial issue. We were not told about cantons or about the return of 49 villages. Our position is that first our sovereignty should be recognised and the lands should be declared as being ours and only then we can discuss what can be done along the two borders. And we have advanced criteria on the methodology of discussing territory: Such as productivity, sufficiency, security, and property ownership.

There are also fields and plots and buildings that belonged to the partnership Cyprus Republic Government established in 1960 and destroyed in 1963. We have equal share in those as well. When you put all these together, our territorial right goes above 33 percent. We are calling for the discussion of these issues within these criteria. Why are they avoiding the talks? There is also the 3 percent buffer zone. We have rights over the buffer zone as well. Come, let us talk all these. But they do not.

What do they want instead? They are offering us land in proportion to our population and without sovereignty. They want to recognise to us something like municipal administration inside municipal boundaries with most Greek Cypriots, or even all the refugees, enjoying the right to settle here, because, they say, it is against human rights to deprive persons of their property. They are saying that the Loizidhou case has confirmed the Greek Cypriots' human rights and hence we have to accept the principle of returnability of the properties to all the Greek Cypriots. This is what they are saying. But then where will our people go? Naturally to the sea, considering that they will not return to their original homes. To this they reply that the Turkish Cypriots should take charge of their lands and sell them off."

Repeating that they cannot renounce the "two-state" foundation, Denktash said the Greek Cypriots insist on the EU norms, especially as regards the right of all refugees to return to their homes. "But their return will make life complicated on the island. That would be the undoing of even bizonality. That is what the EU norms will do. When could the EU norms not harm us and when could we alter the principles in the EU norms that now work against us? When our status is accepted and when we conclude an agreement with the EU under that status. Only then we can protect ourselves. To ensure our rights, we have to conclude a Cyprus agreement in the first place. This is our priority. Whereas, the Greek Cypriots' priority is to join the EU even before an agreement," Denktash said.

Being precise about what the Turkish Cypriots want, Denktash inter alia said: "First of all, we want equality. The Greek Cypriots reply that yes we are equal but they are more equal than us.

Second, we want a new formation with rights vested in it by the two sides. No, they say, there is already the constitution of the Cyprus Republic--the constitution that has not been working for the last 37 years and which Makarios had declared dead--and we will repair it and give some rights to you in it. So, here too we want something radically different from theirs. As Hugo Gobi wrote in his book, the federation envisaged by the Greek Cypriots is actually a unitary state federation; a federation that could destroy us within three or five years.

In the past, the Greek Cypriots used to say that though Denktash talks about a federation what he really wants is a confederation. And that is what we indeed want. Even our own Turkish Cypriot pro-federation colleagues used to level a similar accusation against me, criticising me for creating difficulties by raising the issue of sovereignty and self-determination. I was not creating difficulty, I was simply expressing the form of the federation we wanted. Later on, the form we wanted turned into a de facto state."

And he went on claiming: "Our side is not intransigent. But there are things we cannot forgo for the sake of conciliation. Let me repeat things we cannot make concession on: Supported by the United States and Britain, the Greek Cypriots agree to the continuation of Turkey's guarantorship but want to reduce its effect to such an extent that it would be replaced by an international force and police. The Greek Cypriots also want to make the UN Secretary General endorse this idea. If we are not vigilant all these would lead to the repetition of the Cretan scenario. Such a thing is impossible. This place is under the sphere of influence of Turkey and Greece, and this state of affairs cannot be changed. The Greek Cypriots applied to the EU precisely to eliminate this situation. This is why we say that we can join the EU only after an agreement that would also firmly uphold Turkey's rights over Cyprus. With Crete in our minds, we want such an agreement to forestall the destruction of Turkism here.

We also cannot make concession on our equality. This position has already been well stressed. And we have been told that this principle cannot be questioned anymore. But Clerides is still questioning it. He is only conceding the equality found in the Set of Ideas. He says equality is recognised on certain issues, such as during amendment of the constitution, but it does not amount to numerical equality. In a way, he wants to say that one side is more equal than the other. We do not accept such a definition of equality. That kind of definition of equality has no place in our new approach.

Another issue on which there can be no concession is the principle that one side cannot represent the other. This too has been included into the talks.

There is also the issue of global property exchange. This is really a humanistic approach. The human rights of the two sides in Cyprus are in conflict. For the Greek Cypriot to return to his home means the ouster of the Turk from his home, given that he will not be able or would refuse to return to his original home. So, the global exchange is the compromise solution.

The Greek Cypriots are rejecting it asserting that this is incompatible with the EU norms. So they are in a hurry to join the EU before our status is clarified. If we join the EU before protecting these rights then we would be vindicating Clerides statement that if the Greek Cypriots join the EU before the definition of the Turkish Cypriots' status the guarantee agreement would be rendered ineffective, all the refugees will gain the right to return to their homes, and thus the offers made to Turks in the Set of Ideas, such as the restriction imposed on three freedoms, would be eliminated and Hellenism will attain victory. This is their path my friends. Let us open our eyes. But thanks to the Motherland, we are able to block their path by advancing our proposal for talks between two states."

[04] FORGED BANKNOTES

It further reports that forgers were able to lure the people and succeeded in by-passing one of the twelve safety measures that were introduced to discourage forging. The forgers were able to incorporate the metal strip embossed o n the banknote. The forged banknotes are circulating mainly in the occupied Kyrenia region.

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

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