Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 01-09-12

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

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Ismail Cem rules out pressure on Denktas to return to the talks.

[02] Turkish Cypriot secondary education teachers criticize Denktas/ policy on the Cyprus problem and call on him to participate in the negotiations.

[03] The so-called Undersecretary for Tourism and Environment goes to Germany.

[04] The forests in the occupied areas are being burned in order to be exploited as land.

[05] Cooperation protocol signed between the retired army officers of the pseudostate and Azerbaijan.

[B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS

[06] Columnist in Turkish Daily News says that the current Turkish government cannot solve the Cyprus problem.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Ismail Cem rules out pressure on Denktas to return to the talks

Participating in the "24-Hour" program on NTV, Cem said that during his contacts in Brussels he did not encounter any request to apply pressure on Denktas. Cem stated: «The people I spoke to, namely EU leaders who are in a decision making position, know, for one, that our relationship with Denktas is not one of applying or not applying pressure. At the same time, they are also people who know that Denktas would not act in accordance with such pressure».

Cem also pointed out that the Cyprus issue could pose a problem in the EU progress report.

[02] Turkish Cypriot secondary education teachers criticize Denktas` policy on the Cyprus problem and call on him to participate in the negotiations

In a written statement issued yesterday, Mr Barcin stressed that the «silent majority» of the Turkish Cypriots are in favour of peace, democracy and the solution of the Cyprus problem. Expressing the view that this silent majority is the 60 % of the population in the occupied areas, Mr Barcin argued that this has been proved by the massive participation of the people in some protest meetings.

«Denktas is obliged to act according to this majority», underlined the Turkish Cypriot Teachers/ Union Leader concluding that «no one has the right to eliminate the Turkish Cypriots the number of whom is continuously being reduced».

[03] The so-called Undersecretary for Tourism and Environment goes to Germany

[04] The forests in the occupied areas are being burned in order to be exploited as land

[05] Cooperation protocol signed between the retired army officers of the pseudostate and Azerbaijan

The chairman of the association, who was also heading the delegation, Halil Sadrazam said that the aim of the protocol is to cooperate on national issues. He also said on their return to the occupied areas they stopped over in Ankara where they met with the military attaches of USA, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan in Ankara.

[B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS

[06] Columnist in Turkish Daily News says that the current Turkish government cannot solve the Cyprus problem

"Prime Minister Ecevit once took the opportunity to say that Turkey did not have a Cyprus problem. Turkey does have a Cyprus problem though and it has got to be resolved. It can be resolved. According to the unwritten rules of the international order, any country that wins land in a war gives a proportion of it back to the loser and thus secures peace. We have been ready to do this ever since the Peace Operation of 1974.

We have got all the time until December 2002 in which to resolve the Cyprus issue. There is no compelling reason to rush things. On the contrary, there are plenty of reasons to take things slowly. However, the crux of the matter lies in whether this government, with this prime minister, will actually be able to resolve the issue. The answer to this unfortunately is a negative one.

The EU also knows this, so why is it applying pressure?

The threat of accepting southern Cyprus into the EU even without resolving the issue does not particularly bother us. You can take her if you wish. You will gain southern Cyprus and lose Turkey. You will take Turkish-Greek relations back to the conditions that existed during the Kardak Island crisis. The preliminary effects will at least be seen in the Balkans, the Middle East and the Caucasus and you will be the cause of a strategic tremor in this part of the world that will last decades. If hand in hand with Greece you do all this then you deserve the consequences.

Seeing as you are in a position to make these calculations, one really does not have any choice but to consider that your real aim is to come up with pretexts for not accepting Turkey into the EU. If Turkey itself does not want to become an EU member, because it may not be able to tolerate the racism exhibited by some of the organs representing the EU public to the effect that Turkey is the source of all evil, it will not cause complications. However, if the EU rejects its membership with fabricated pretexts, nothing will be able to prevent the strategic upheaval in the region.

The European Parliament has taken on the role of "bad cop" while Prodi and the member countries are the "good cop", and this is a ploy too dumb for anyone to fall for. By means of these tactics, which are known to for wearing down resistance, then as The Economist said that Turkey's resistance was not going to crack. However, judging by the EP's pathologic-political attitude, it has become clear that the EU is not going to be a just facilitator in the Cyprus issue because the Turkish public sees the EU through the prism of the EP.

As will be recalled, similar EP resolutions had absolutely no effect on Turkey's policies vis-a-vis the PKK. However, the doubts they rose regarding Europe's intentions are now the biggest invisible obstacle today to the reforms necessary for compliance with the Copenhagen Criteria. With just a little more effort in this vein, the EP could make Cyprus an intractable problem.

The intercommunal talks held to date have been used to make it appear they are resolving the problem. The Greek-Greek Cypriot party has to date not made any proposal regarding what they want while in contrast to this the Turks, who are supposed to give something, are continuously seeing the ball in their court. If the issue is going to be resolved now, both sides have to abandon their current attitudes.

Frankly speaking, the problem involves the great dangers in leaving the Turks at the mercy of the Greek Cypriot ruling elite and community, which persecuted the Turks between 1963 and 1974 but denies doing so and instead of apologizing throws up spurious topics such as "missing persons" and which has convinced its people through a propaganda campaign of lies and deceit that they were unjustly treated and which is slavering for revenge. The EP being so full of racial hatred against the Turks as to put all the blame on them shows just how far the EU cannot be trusted to protect the Turkish Cypriots.

For this reason, the correct thing for the Turkish Cypriots to do before December 2002 would be to personally sue all living Greek Cypriots responsible for the incidents of 1963-74 and the Akritas plan, starting with Mr. Clerides, and accuse them of crimes against humanity and attempt at genocide. Under the circumstances one can consider applying to the Belgian court or invite the Greek Cypriot community to a court of arbitration.

It is clear that the solution will not lie within the framework of the "good will missions" made by the UN Secretary-General, who said there were no preconditions yet presented preconditions during the proximity talks and thus lost all his credibility. When the time comes and when Turkey's EU accession is on a steady footing, those who wrote the Zurich Agreement will solve the Cyprus problem."

KV/SK

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