Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 02-02-01

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

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Rauf Denktas wants a solution in Cyprus based on the existence of two sides and not on the size of their population.

[02] Mehmet Ali Talat called on Denktas not to oppose issues associated with relations with the EU.

[03] Depositors of bankrupt PEYAK cooperative bank jeered general Ozkok.

[04] ORTAM wonders whether the Turkish Cypriot recipients of pensions from the republic of Cyprus are filed by the occupation regime.

[05] Turkish MP/s on the pseudostate/s status at ICO - EU meeting in Istanbul.

[06] EU officials express concern over Turkey's mini reform package.

[07] Piskinsut: The current version of the draft adaptation law increased restrictions further.

[08] Turkey wants to control education in the occupied areas.

[B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS

[09] Middle East Balances come under strain.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Rauf Denktas wants a solution in Cyprus based on the existence of two sides and not on the size of their population

He was replying to reporters' questions on recent statements made by Greek and Greek Cypriot officials. A reporter asked him to comment on the remarks by Cyprus Foreign Minister, Mr Ioannis Casoulides who said that in a system of rotational presidency, it would not be right if 9% of the Turkish Cypriots elected a president. Denktas replied by alleging that the United Nations has been issuing conflicting statements for years, that on the one hand it says that the two sides are equal, and on the other accepts the Greek Cypriot side as the legitimate government of Cyprus. It is due to these conflicting messages, Denktas charged, that the Cyprus problem has not been solved for years.

Denktas further said that for an agreement to be reached in Cyprus, the two sides must start from the premise of accepting that they both exist and then seeking the common point on which they can converge. He added: "While trying to reach a solution we must set aside rigid rules and look at the realities. We cannot solve this problem if we start off by looking at the size of the land on which each side lives or at the population figures. The aim should be to find the common point on which the two sides -- whose existence is undeniable -- can meet. If we can do that, we will succeed".

[02] Mehmet Ali Talat called on Denktas not to oppose issues associated with relations with the EU

In a statement he issued today, Talat said that the policies pursued by the "Turkish Cypriot Airlines", Denktas, the National Unity Party, and the Democratic Party, which do not produce anything but empty statements, eventually hurt tourism as well.

Talat also criticized the pseudogovernment for its stand in the "protocol" negotiations conducted with the labour unions. He stressed that the same mentality fails to inject a new concept into the relations with the EU, in parallel with the Cyprus talks process. Talat stated that the questions of the relations with the EU should not be opposed for the sake of the people's future.

[03] Depositors of bankrupt PEYAK cooperative bank jeered general Ozkok

Talking yesterday after a meeting with a delegation of Higher Education Control and Accreditation Council (YODAK), Mr Eroglu said he did not approve of the behaviour of the members of the Administrative Committee of PEYAK and described it as "a great shame".

[04] "Ortam" wonders whether the Turkish Cypriot recipients of pensions from the Republic of Cyprus are filed by the occupation regime

The paper writes, that its reporters have conducted a research after complaints from the people concerned who have not received their check yet, despite the fact that they usually get them 2-3 days before the end of the month.

The journalists of "Ortam" found out that some so-called "state officials", who are not post office employees, took the checks to "examine them".

The paper notes that all the names and the salary of every Turkish Cypriot who receive pensions from the Republic of Cyprus are known. This situation makes someone to wonder, "Are those citizens filed?", adds "Ortam".

Turkish Cypriots who take salary from the Republic of Cyprus called the paper and complained saying that this money is their legitimate right because they have deposited it when they worked. They also reminded that some other Turkish Cypriots are taking pensions from England and from Turkey, as they have been working there.

Meanwhile, "Yeniduzen" (01.2.02) writes that the people who have confiscated the checks are employees of the "Civilian Affairs Unit", which is bound to the so-called administration of the "Security Forces".

The director of the so-called "Post Office Department", Alp Ayidinova, claimed that the aim of the confiscation of the checks was to find out who among these people have died. "Yeniduzen" notes that the work of writing down the names and the addresses of the 4.200 people who receive salary from the Republic of Cyprus is expected to take seven working days.

Furthermore, the chairmen of two trade unions, DEV-IS and TURK-SEN, Ali Gulle and Onder Konuloglu respectively, criticized the behaviour of the occupation regime, underlining that the payment of the salaries from the Republic of Cyprus to the Turkish Cypriots is conducted through their trade unions. Mr Gulle said that they make the investigations to find out whether someone is dead, as the Social Insurances Department of the Republic of Cyprus gives to the above mentioned trade unions lists and asks whether the names in the lists are dead or alive.

"'Civil Affairs' Union have nothing to do with this. If there are human rights, personal immunity and freedom of correspondence, no envelope should be touched", noted Mr Gulle.

[05] Turkish MP's on the pseudostate's status at ICO - EU meeting in Istanbul

Mr Sunnetcioglu noted that the Republic of Cyprus will be represented as a state and wondered whether this "is in harmony with the policy of two federal states, which is accepted and defended with determination for years" by Turkey.

[06] EU officials express concern over Turkey's mini reform package

A war of words between two deputy prime ministers, Nationalist Action Party (NAP) leader Devlet Bahceli and Motherland Party (MP) leader Mesut Yilmaz and the stubbornness of the NAP side on reaching a reconciliation on the reforms, has caused a serious uneasiness in the European Union.

"We don't want to believe in the worst scenario," said a senior EU official, in reference to the refusal of the NAP to take steps back for the modification of the mini reforms package.

"We want to see as much progress as Turkey can realize. But we don't have an obsession for the first anniversary of the short-term criteria. The Progress Report to be prepared in October will be the first official assessment of what was realized after the declaration of the National Programme by Turkey," a senior EU official said. "The reason for the meeting between the EU troika and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, which was held on Friday, was the uneasiness of the European Union on the existing reforms package. If no modification will be made on the amendments, it is only natural that the European Union will continue to voice dissatisfaction," EU diplomats commented.

A number of official meetings will take place between Turkey and the European Union, which will be used as opportunities for the EU expectations to be once more reminded.

The EU Commissioner responsible for enlargement will be visiting Ankara on February 14 and 15, as the first of the contacts.

Foreign Ministry to brief EU embassies

Meanwhile, Selim Yenel of the EU Department of the Turkish Foreign Ministry will give a briefing for the EU embassies in Ankara on the recent Turkish-EU Association Committee meeting, which took place in Brussels on Jan. 24.

Motherland Party members meet with experts from the EU Secretariat General

A Commission headed by State Minister Nejat Arseven, formed for the draft on the harmonization laws, met with deputy secretary general of the EU Volkan Bozkir and two experts from Bozkir's office.

Senior MP members, such as Erkan Mumcu and Beyhan Aslan, were also present at the meeting.

It was decided that the text to be prepared would be shared by the MP and the Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit-led Democratic Left Party (DLP).

The commission will present its conclusion to MP leader Mesut Yilmaz on February 4.

[07] Piskinsut: The current version of the draft adaptation law Increased restrictions further

Holding a press conference in Parliament, Peskiest avoided speaking openly and clearly on the demands for Kurdish language education. She said that there were concerns over Turkey's integrity but CDP was supporting the idea that everybody should speak his native language in the scope of individual rights. She added that the current version of the adaptation law draft increased the restrictions further.

Peskiest stated that they knew which circles made the criticisms just after the establishment of their party. "Nobody will succeed in pushing us into personal discussions," said Peskiest and added that the only aim of the circles supporting the status quo was to prevent change of the system.

Peskiest noted that the claim of some circles that top CDP members established a dynasty of leaders stemmed from a distortion of the party's regulations. According to the regulations, an election may be held upon the will of the party leader in CDP. Stating that the first party congress would be held on March 28, Peskiest noted that if there was controversy concerning party regulations, they might be changed at the congress.

[08] Turkey wants to control education in the occupied areas

AFRIKA (1/2/02) reports that the faculty staff of the so-called "NEU" held a press conference in Ankara, where they launched a harsh criticism on HEC because with it stance it is considering the NEU as an illegal institute and as a result of that they will dissuade the students from Turkey to go to the occupied areas. The Dean of the Communication faculty, Prof. Dr. Levent Koker said: "We came to Ankara to protect the rights of our students." He also said that the HEC does not have the legal right to use the expression "no recognition".

According to KIBRIS (1/2/02) the Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktas got angry about the action of the faculty staff of the so-called "NEU" and said that the "universities" which accept students from Turkey must apply the conditions of the HEC. He also said that the "university " must raise the standard of its education level so that every university in the world will accept it.

[B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS

[09] Middle East Balances come under strain

The commentary is as follows:

"There are signs indicating that new tremors will shake the strategic balances in the Middle East. For the time being, the main factor putting a strain on these balances is the Israel-Palestine clashes which are turning into a war.

But this is not the only factor. The disputes coming to the surface between the United States and Saudi Arabia is another factor that can change the old balances.

Yet another such phenomenon is the way Iraq, a country faced with the United States/ intervention threat, is seeking support from various quarters including Russia, China, Iran and the Arab League.

And, finally, there is the Iran factor. During the intervention in Afghanistan, Iran gave the United States indirect support. Now, it is conducting policies directed at its own aspirations - such as trying to bring southern Afghanistan under Iranian influence.

Israel-Palestine clashes, which have escalated over the past few months, are now transcending the local dimension. This is not only because the attacks which take place almost every day and the reprisals are turning into a very bloody war. This is also because of the latest developments: Israel/s rendering Yasser Arafat ineffective, the United States/ flashing the green light for that, the radical organizations increasingly gaining control in Palestine, and, in the latest instance, a weapons ship being captured and Iran turning out to be behind that incident. These developments carry the dispute onto a regional, even international platform.

Due to these developments, the support the United States obtained from the Arab world in the aftermath of September 11, may now start to erode. In fact, the Arab countries that have merely watched the developments taking place on the Israel-Palestine front, are now starting to raise their voices against the Bush Administration.

Saudi Arabia is among those countries. In a statement he made to two American newspapers on January 29, Crown Prince Abdullah warned that the US support for Israel could adversely affect the Washington-Riyadh relations. Earlier reports from Riyadh had already indicated that the Saudi royal family was planning to ask the United States to withdraw its troops from Saudi Arabia. Riyadh has not made such a demand yet. However, it is obvious that the Saudi administration is under strain due to the pressure exerted by the pro-bin Laden public who hate America and, also, is against the Saudi Dynasty. It is not clear to what extent Prince Abdullah can dare alienate the United States in order to bolster the position of the Saudi dynasty. On the other hand, this situation is definitely worrying the United States.

Losing its bases in Saudi Arabia would definitely harm the US military presence and political influence in the Gulf and in the Middle East. In such a case Washington would have to seek alternatives. Already there is talk of alternative such as the United Arab Emirates, even Turkey.

Such a development would be welcome to all powers that want the US influence in the region to wane. Undoubtedly, bin-Laden and the masses that support him, would rejoice. But more than them, Iraq, which is resisting to the US pressure, would be encouraged.

With an intensive diplomatic offensive, the Saddam Administration is now trying to rally support from those countries who oppose a potential US military intervention in Iraq. On this occasion, Russia, China, Iran and the Arab countries have announced that they are against such an intervention.

This indicates that if the United States attempts to strike at Iraq, this may disrupt the balances established in the aftermath of September 11 and during the intervention in Afghanistan.

Ankara has been cautioning Washington in a friendly manner on this issue all along".

KV/SK

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