Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 01-09-19

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

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Denktas tries to exploit the unspeakable terrorist attack against humanity to justify his intransigence.

[02] EU/s Fogg: Turkey not yet ready for accession negotiations.

[03] Cosar promises to get money from Turkey for the needs of the farmers.

[04] Eroglu meets with the president of Crans Montana Foundation.

[05] A protocol in sports is to be signed between Turkey and the pseudostate. B. COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS

[06] Turkey warned against participating in possible NATO operation.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Denktas tries to exploit the unspeakable terrorist attack against humanity to justify his intransigence

Speaking in Gaziiantep, southern Turkey Denktas referring to President Clerides/ USA visit said: ``Clerides bewildered foreign diplomats by leaving for New York to attend a meeting which Turkish Cypriots decided not to attend. The Cyprus question can be solved only between two equal nations. His attitude was meaningless. For the time being, Greek Cypriots are concerned about the fact that Turkey's importance has increased following recent developments. ``

When reminded that U.S. President Bush named the fight against terrorism as ``the Crusade`` and asked about his evaluations, Denktas said that Bush made a ``slip of the tongue. ``

Responding to a question about his meeting with Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, Denktas said, ``I held one of my regular meetings with Cem and we debated about what may be done to overcome the impasse in Cyprus proximity talks.`` Denktas noted that they have not received any new demands regarding the Cyprus question on the other hand they have some new demands.

``We want a realistic diagnosis of the Cyprus question. They have not made such a diagnosis so far. What is the Cyprus question? They are trying to settle it down but they cannot achieve it. They did not make the right diagnosis but they caused an impasse by calling the Greek Cypriot administration as the `legal government of Cyprus`. Let`s find a diagnosis. What was demolished? It was the partnership. What will be re-established? A new partnership, `` Denktas said.

Denktas added, ``among who? Among former partners. Then, what does the Turkish partner want? A stronger, more permanent partnership that cannot be redemolished by the Greek Cypriots. We are talking about all these and inform the foreign world about these.``

[02] EU's Fogg: Turkey not yet ready for accession negotiations

Fogg stated that most EU candidate countries had gross national products much lower than the EU average and that they came from very different cultures.

Speaking about Turkey`s situation, Fogg said Turkey was going through a much more complicated period compared to the past and it has Copenhagen criteria which it has to meet. ``There are other political criteria. All candidate countries should have an operating democracy. The third one is the economic criteria. All candidates should have a healthy and competitive economy. The fourth criteria is the harmony between countries within the EU,`` she explained.

Fogg stressed that Turkey`s candidacy application was not as credible as the applications of other candidates. She said that there was a wrong impression in Turkey that the EU did not financially help Turkey and indicated that the aid to Turkey was doubled after the Helsinki Summit.

``My personal opinion is that Turkey`s economic performance in the next few months is very important,`` she continued. ``If it cannot recover in the economic field, it`s very difficult in other fields. It will have difficulties in political reforms and foreign policy. The Cyprus talks should be finalized next summer.``

``Turkey is in a very complicated process compared to the past. It could move towards membership with an incredible speed or it might not move at all,`` Fogg commented.

[03] Cosar promises to get money from Turkey for the needs of the farmers

Mr Cosar had a meeting yesterday with a delegation of the Turkish Cypriot Farmers Union (TCFU), which demanded the pseudo-government to pay soon the price of the cereals they had delivered to the so-called «Grain Purchasing Corporation».

Alican Kabakci, president of the TCFU said that they visited Mr Cosar in order to find out at which point is the procedure towards paying the farmers their money.

Mr Cosar noted that the pseudo-government wanted to pay the money the latest by the end of August. Expressing his sorrow for the fact that until today no money has been transferred from Turkey to the pseudostate for this purpose, he added that they are making a great effort to ensure that the money is paid. Mr Cosar said, among other things, the following:

«...We must say sincerely that under the current circumstances and the serious economic crisis the government does not seem to have the power to try to pay the money by taking loans from local banks with a certain rate This is true and we must realise it, because the economic problems still exist in the market of the country. We have not yet achieved what we wanted on the matter of improving the financial sector. There is still a problem. Therefore, it is not easy to get a loan with high cost and pay through the Central Co-operative Bank or any other bank. As you know a protocol has been signed and a decision has been taken in Turkey on this matter. This decision does not include the 161 thousand liras (translator's note: the price which the pseudostate defined that it will pay the farmers for the barley). A few extra trillions are needed so that we could pay this price. We have sold for 130 thousand liras and we are going to pay for 160 thousand. The state has to cover this difference from somewhere. Under these circumstances the main thing we are going to do is to undertake a more active initiative in order to bring this money to the country within this week and meet in the best way the needs of our producers in the new sowing period...».

[04] Eroglu meets with the president of Crans Montana Foundation

After the meeting Mr Eroglu said that this is the second time that Mr Calteron visits the pseudostate and added that the Crans Montana is a foundation, which organizes meetings and discussions in Switzerland and other European countries about politics and the economy. Mr Eroglu added that the pseudostate is a member of the above-mentioned foundation and has participated in three such meetings.

On the other hand, Mr Calteron said that he and the Crans Montana Foundation are very interested in the Cyprus problem and noted that positive developments must take place regarding this problem.

Mr Calteron claimed that the embargo applied against the pseudostate by the international community has started to cause damage even to the aim for which it had been implemented.

Mr Calteron went to the occupied areas on Monday and is expected to leave on Friday.

[05] A protocol in sports is to be signed between Turkey and the pseudostate

According to the paper, Mr Kasif and the Turkish Cypriot delegation which will accompany him, are to have meetings with the State Minister responsible for Cyprus, Sukru Sina Gurel and the Sports Minister, Fikret Unlu.

[B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS

[06] Turkey warned against participating in possible NATO operation

«In the past couple of years Turkey had been trying to establish new regional alliances despite the pressure put by the European Union and the United States regarding Turkey's strategic interests. It was trying to further and ameliorate its relations with the Turkic Republics in Asia as well as with its southern and northern neighbours.

The reasons for this change in policy were very clear:

1. The Cold War era had ended and the world was no longer divided between western and eastern blocs. This new situation was especially important for Turkey. It was no longer receiving a preferential treatment from the West as it did during the Cold War. Furthermore, Europe and the United States had established very close relations with Asian countries, bypassing Turkey.

Turkey, on its part, had to improve its relations with the countries in its region in order not to be left alone, albeit it had delayed taking this step. In the first half of 1990s Turkey had focused only on the Turkic Republics in Asia, neglecting other regional countries. It intensified its initiatives targeting the region in the second half of the last decade, especially in the last couple of years.

2) The European Union and the United States stepped up pressure, which was accompanied by new demands.

- The United States had set the stage for formation of a Kurdish state in north Iraq. The final step would be declaration of this puppet state. Ankara was resisting pressures aimed at persuading it to accept this plan, warning that it would consider it a casus belli. Turkey was under relentless pressure.

- The EU had the intention to exclude Turkey from the ESDI and was trying to persuade Turkey to accept a plan which would deprive Turkey of the right to have a say on military issues, just like it did in the political field under the agreement signed on 6 March 1995. Ankara had opposed this suggestion and the problem lingered on.

The pressure put by the EU on Turkey regarding the Cyprus and the Aegean questions as well as the accompanying efforts to keep Turkey at bay by means of new resolutions on Armenian genocide started to open Turkey's eyes to realities. The EU was clearly procrastinating and trying to pressure Turkey into making concessions.

- The United States and the EU had imposed an arms embargo on Turkey. They were supporting an excessive arms build-up in Greece while tying Turkey's hands through the embargo.

In the light of the conditions listed above, embarking upon new policies targeting countries in its own region and in Asia appeared to be the sole option for Turkey in order to be able to cope with the new challenges. In this context, close relations were established with Iraq and our economic interests were taken into consideration for the first time. A similar process started in Turkey's relations with Syria. A step-by-step approach was adopted to ease artificial tensions between Turkey and Iran, which had been created in the past.

The most important of all, momentous steps were taken to improve relations with Russia and China. Some defense technologies, which we could not buy from the West, were purchased from Asian countries.

A new trap?

Could the recent incidents in the United States eventually force Turkey to assume a role within the NATO as the West's police force in the region protecting its interests against the regional and Asian countries once again? Could any such thing happen 11 years after the end of the Cold War era? Furthermore, could Turkey make a promise to join NATO countries, which had remained silent while Turkey was fighting successive terror campaigns first launched by the ASALA [Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia] and then by the PKK [Workers' Party of Kurdistan] and even lend their support for terrorism, in a military crusade they could launch?

Would not any such move entirely ruin the new relations that Turkey has been trying to establish with countries in its region and in Asia? Those, who have such designs, are probably delighted after the recent events. Turkey should not fall into this trap. Would not Turkey's participation in a new Crusade constitute the second mistake made by Ankara, which had opposed Algeria's independence years ago, while Norway refuses to join a possible military operation and many European countries are dragging their feet?

- I was surprised by Foreign Minister Ismail Cem's recent statement. "The incident that has taken place in the United States is a war between democracy and terrorism," he said in front of TV cameras on 13 September. This sentence was only used by Cem and some US and British officials. Interestingly, nobody else made similar remarks.

"This is an inhumane attack and we condemn it," he could rather have said. Or, he could have said, "Turkey will lend assistance for punishment of the perpetrators of this crime as a result of legal proceedings," or "We have suffered a lot from acts of terror and we are going to help you although you did not help us."

However, asserting that this is a war between democracy and terrorism should be the last thing a politician could say in Turkey. Mr. Cem should know that these conflicts are not between democracy and violence and terrorism, but are the result of the unfair system and imbalances in the world. Could it be that he does not really know who has trained and let Usamah Bin-Ladin and his associates loose?»

P.Hadj/SK

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