Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot Press and Other Media, 00-10-24

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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] No.204/00 24.10.00

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Denktash meets UN envoy, says Greek radar lock on to Turkish planes means war

[02] Denktash defines opening of Paphos base `not a positive development/

[03] Turkey claims Nikiforos exercise hurts peace, stability in East Mediterranean

[04] Church turned into barn

[B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS

[05] HURRIYET questions Turkey/s policy toward Greece

[B] NEWS ITEMS

[08] Denktash meets UN envoy, says Greek radar lock on to Turkish planes means war

Denktash said that he does not expect a surprise from the fifth round of talks. ``I do not expect a surprise as long as the Greek Cypriot side claims it is the legitimate government of Cyprus and Kassoulides declares that they have a right to establish sovereignty over the Turkish Cypriots'', Denktash claimed.

Referring to the incident in which Greek radar locked on to Turkish planes, Denktash threatened: ``You locked you new radar on to the Turkish planes. This means war. If you are not careful, they would come and eliminate your radar. They would retaliate. Do not launch a race of armament and show. You would not win, nor would we; Cyprus would be the loser in this''.

In reply to a question, Denktash said that the Turkish Cypriot side is submitting proposals during the proximity talks process, and added: ``We submitted proposals on maybe 10 issues, not only four; however, we did not receive any reaction from the Greek Cypriot side''.

Denktash claimed that the Turkish Cypriot side is trying to prepare the grounds for face-to-face talks, but the talks will end if the sides fail to find such grounds. Denktash added that such a development would not be good for Cyprus.

When Greek Cypriot journalists attempted to ask de Soto questions, Denktash said that de Soto is not staging a news conference, adding that the UN envoy will listen to his views and he, in turn, will convey his own views on the matter.

In a statement before the meeting, Alvaro de Soto explained that he arrived on the island in order to conduct preparations before the fifth round proximity talks and he will assess his contacts in Cyprus during a news conference he will hold at the Ledra Palace on 27 October.

Tahsin Ertugruloglu, ``foreign affairs and defense minister''; ``presidential adviser'' Ergun Olgu; ``political affairs director'' Mustafa Evran; Necati Munir Ertekun, ``political affairs special adviser and coordinating ambassador''; and ``political affairs adviser'' Taner Etkin also attended the meeting between Denktash and de Soto.

[55] Denktash defines opening of Paphos base `not a positive development/ Anatolia Agency (11:53 hours, 23.10.00) reports that Turkish Cypriot leader

Speaking to reporters following his meeting with Alvaro De Soto, the United Nations (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan/s Special Envoy to Cyprus, Denktash claimed that the visit that the Greek and Greek Cypriot officials paid to this base prior to De Soto`s visit to Cyprus was ``intentional''.

Denktash said that De Soto and he exchanged views during the meeting and that he informed Do Soto about the ``behaviours'' of the Greek and Greek Cypriots in the last days.

Expressing views on the allegations about the locking of the Greek Cypriot missiles on Turkish planes, Denktash said, ``especially their locking on the Turkish planes by the radars is directly an invitation for a big disaster. We hope Greece will make the necessary warning to them and they will not make such a madness. If the Greek Cypriots really get prepared for such a disaster, if they wish it, they should frankly tell it and we should learn about it''.

Denktash continued, ``if they wish a compromise like we do, they should become sane. If they think that they can resist to Turkey by looking at their weapons and if they are getting prepared for this, I think they have gone too far. We expressed all these to De Soto. We think he will use this information in the required way''.

Claiming that the Cyprus questions can be settled if the Cyprus government accepts that it is not the government of Turkish Cypriots, Denktash said, ``they should accept it rapidly. They should also accept that they will not be our government in the future. They should accept that our state will exist''.

De Soto said that he is listening to the sides and that he will stage a press conference following his contacts.

[93] Turkey claims Nikiforos exercise hurts peace, stability in East Mediterranean

``The said exercise is being viewed as a development that will negatively affect peace and stability in eastern Mediterranean''.

The Foreign Ministry statement also says that ``with determination, Turkey will continue to take the necessary countermeasures to every threat levelled against the security of the TRNC and against peace and stability in eastern Mediterranean, and to efforts to upset the balance between Turkey and Greece over Cyprus''.

[110] Church turned into barn AVRUPA (21.10.00) reports that an historic church on the road between

occupied Nicosia and Trikomo, instead of being restored and opened to tourists, has been turned into a barn.

The paper does not give the exact location of the church nor its name.

The paper strongly criticizes the occupation regime for leaving the church to peter out.

The dilapidated state of the historic church, writes the paper, is a shameful thing and turning it into a sheep pen is a disgrace.

C. COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS [125] HURRIYET questions Turkey/s policy toward Greece Rauf Denktash/s advisor Mumtaz Soysal, writing in HURRIYET (20.10.00), says

that it appears now that a low-key withdrawal tactic is being pursued in Turkish-Greek relations and that the veto card held by Greece in Brussels has drifted Turkey, which is in a hurry to join the European Union as soon as possible, toward a tactic based on enduring some unacceptable attitudes and being continuously submissive in its relations with Athens.

Soysal adds: ``We witnessed the latest example during the recent NATO manoeuvres. Greece attempted to include Limnos, which cannot be armed due to Turkey/s opposition, in the plans of these military exercises. When Turkey objected to this idea, it refused to have its aircraft, which had already landed at an airfield in Balikesir, take off.

Finally, a compromise was reached: Greece dropped its plans, in exchange for which Turkey agreed not to do what it always does as a reaction to the landing of Greek airplanes in Cyprus during the manoeuvres being carried out under the `joint defense doctrine/ between the Greek Cypriot administration and Greece. In the past, a couple of jets used to land at Lefkoniko Airport in the north of the island to give a warning that demonstrated the importance Turkey attached to this matter. This time no aircraft was sent.

In other words, Turkey desisted from doing something it should actually do in exchange for Athens/ decision not to do something that it should not do.

Furthermore, it did so by implicitly accepting that there is a connection between the Aegean issue and the Cyprus question; two separate issues that should not be linked to each other.

This can be done, if the strategy is correct.

Such a submissiveness, consenting to what is being done and tolerating the establishment of a wrong connection between the two issues can be tolerated for the sake of a correct strategy.

Would accession to the EU be guaranteed even if all of Greece/s demands are satisfied? This is the question that should be asked and discussed. Or, could it be that Greece is being used in a different manner to hamper Turkey/s full accession, and Athens, capitalizing on its new position, is trying to have its demands accepted, and that some people in Turkey are abetting this insidious plot because of their naivete or personal designs?''

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

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