Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 02-03-29

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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 stresses that a Turkish army regiment is an integral part of his sovereignty

[02] Statements by Mr Alvaro de Soto in Ankara

[03] Fourteen journalists in Turkish prisons

[04] Denktas insists on the Serbia-Montenegro model for Cyprus

[05] Turkish Cypriot Retired Military Officers claim that Azerbaijan is ready to accept the pseudostate's passports

[06] Extract on Cyprus from an exclusive interview with Mesut Yilmaz in Turkish Daily News

[07] Denktas criticizes those who describe Turkey as "occupying power" in Cyprus

[08] Denktas: "We may close the eyes to Turkish Cypriots' obtaining EU passports when the Greek Cypriots are accepted by the EU"

[B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS

[09] Columnist of Turkish mainland STAR receives e-mails from Turkish Cypriots describing Turkey as "occupying" power in Cyprus

[A] NEW ITEMS

[01] Rauf Denktas stresses that a Turkish army regiment is an integral part of his sovereignty

In his address Denktas said that the belief that the flag will never be pulled down in the "TRNC" is reinforced thanks to a new generation, which is connected to the motherland with gratitude and follows in the footsteps of Ataturk. Recounting that at a time, when efforts are under way to secure an agreement, the important thing is for this agreement to be based on sovereignty, Denktas added: "The agreement should make it possible for the bridges between the TRNC and the motherland to continue in a stronger manner". Denktas noted that he will be proud to put his signature on such an agreement, which will be acceptable to the Turkish Cypriots.

Explaining that from time to time there are doubts as to where the Turkish Cypriots are going, Denktas added: "There are days, when we wonder and worry where our people are being led into. These are people who live for Ataturk, Turkey, the motherland and the flag; who wage a freedom struggle despite the British pressure to make them forget about Turkey and Ataturk; who do not succumb to a colonial administration; and who look with hope to the Toros Mountains. In particular, we are concerned when we look at the army of teachers".

Denktas stressed that he is filled with hope when he has a chance to inaugurate a bust of Ataturk and a school, which is equipped with donations from the motherland. Noting that he is extremely happy for the teachers who are raising the children on the footsteps of Ataturk and with feelings of gratitude to the motherland Denkash added: My faith in that the flag will never be pulled down grows when I see such things. Explaining that love for Ataturk is an honor and that it is very difficult to remain loyal to his principles and follow in his footsteps, Denktas added: Because, Ataturk has shown the path to freedom to the Turkish nation and to all the nations, which lost their freedom. Ataturk gave advice to this end. If you are looking for your rights, look for it on the basis of sovereignty. Because those rights which are not based on sovereignty cannot be considered true rights. They are only rights on paper and if this paper is torn then the rights are also eliminated. Alleging that the Turkish Cypriots lived like this in 1960 Denktas said that the only right, which was not eliminated in 1960, was motherland Turkey's guarantee and that a Turkish army regiment should always be deployed in Cyprus.

The Greek Cypriots tore the constitution, threw it away, and shelved the agreement, Denktas continued and added: "However, they could not drive away the Turkish regiment which is an integral part of our sovereignty. In this way the Greek Cypriots finally realized after all these years that the traps set to destroy us do not work. We hope that they have finally realized this".

[02] Statements by Mr Alvaro de Soto in Ankara

Within the framework of his contacts in Ankara, de Soto met with Foreign Ministry Under Secretary, Mr Ugur Ziyal.

After the meeting, de Soto said that he would leave Turkey for Greece tomorrow after meeting with Foreign Minister Ismail Cem.

Noting that he would go to New York after wrapping up his contacts in Greece, de Soto said that he did not want to make any comment or statement in detail in the middle of efforts to reach a comprehensive agreement on the island.

When recalled by a journalist that any compromise could not be reached in the second round of direct talks de Soto said that direct talks were on the stage of development, and added that the sides should reach compromise on every issue.

De Soto added he was quite sure that a solution would be found to the Cyprus question.

He is scheduled to meet Cem later in the day.

[03] Fourteen journalists in Turkish prisons

"A Press Council report has revealed that there are 15 journalists serving sentences in various prisons.

Press Council Chairman Oktay Eksi, in a press conference held on Wednesday in order to publicize the report, said that there were 11 other journalists whose whereabouts were not clear.

Four of the imprisoned journalists had been sentenced on charges of being a member of a terrorist organization.

Eksi stated that Mehmet Kutlular, the owner of the Yeni Asya newspaper, had been released in February, reducing the number of jailed journalists to 14.

Kutlular faced trial on charges of threatening the public order by writing a series of articles claiming that a powerful earthquake in Turkey in 1999 was God's punishment for Turkey's secular policies.

"The borders of freedom of expression should be expanded. Penalties regarding freedom of expression should not include jail terms," Eksi added.

Turkey is often criticized for its bad human rights record. Turkey is amending its articles on the freedom of speech and expression as a part of its pledges to the European Union."

[04] Denktas insists on the Serbia-Montenegro model for Cyprus

The Commission of the European Union has found the model of Serbia-Montenegro, which Denktas has mentioned that it can apply in the Cyprus problem, contrary to the regulations of the EU.

Insisting on the issue that this model is a good example because its structure is based on the existence and the equality of two separate units, Denktas said: "We are ready to give this model in such a way that the EU will be able to accept it. Accept our existence as a separate state; accept that the Greek Cypriots are not our government. Then we can provide with the Greek Cypriots a model that the EU will be able to accept. The value of this example is that two separate units will be able to continue their road by establishing a union. By determining that no one will have the right to dominate the other and by accepting the equality. Although it will be a huge difference in numbers the equality will be accepted. This is what is important."

[05] Turkish Cypriot Retired Military Officers claim that Azerbaijan is ready to accept the pseudostate's passports

They claimed that they had travelled to Azerbaijan with the passports of the so-called TRNC and they had not faced any problems there. They also alleged that during their contacts with Azerbaijani officials they got the impression that Azerbaijan will in the future accept the pseudostate's passports.

[06] Extract on Cyprus from an exclusive interview with Mesut Yilmaz in Turkish Daily News

The extract on Cyprus, published in the second part of the interview on 29/3/02, is as follows:

"Talking on the decision of Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktas and Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides to open a direct talks process, and their success in keeping that process alive for the past several months, Yilmaz said the direct talks process was a step taken in the right direction.

The Cyprus direct talks process, that has boosted expectations both on the island and in the international community that finally a Cyprus settlement has become discernible, aimed at reaching a "freely negotiated mutually acceptable settlement" that would enable the two communities share power under a new government model, Yilmaz said.

"We think that the Denktas-Clerides meeting of Dec. 4 has been a step in the right direction. Denktas took the initiative and paved the way for a new negotiation process. He made a sincere and constructive effort to find a way out of this impasse," Yilmaz said.

He said reaching "a freely negotiated and mutually acceptable comprehensive and viable settlement" in Cyprus that would secure the "coexistence of the two co-owners of the island under a new partnership" was what Turkey wanted.

He said it must be kept in mind that "there exist two different nations and two sovereign states in the island," and that "the fundamental basis of the search for a just and lasting solution in Cyprus, which has been going on intermittently since 1968, has been the partnership of the two equal and sovereign peoples in the island." He further stressed that, "A settlement in Cyprus can be viable if it is based on this reality."

In addition to these, Yilmaz said a comprehensive settlement must preserve the internal balance between the two parties in Cyprus on the one hand, and the external balance between the two motherlands on the other. It must also provide security for the two parties to preserve their separate identities and existence under a new partnership structure, which would fully respect the interests and concerns of the two parties, the Deputy Prime Minister said.

"On the other hand, as long as the Greek Cypriots claim to be the sole and legitimate government of Cyprus, which is neither based on political realities nor has a legal basis, enjoy acceptance by the third parties, it is difficult to engage the Greek Cypriots in a meaningful process in search of a settlement. Third parties should rethink and reassess their approaches to Cyprus. In this context, it is crucial that third parties should send the right messages to the Greek Cypriot side," Yilmaz stressed.

Stressing that Cyprus was a national cause for Turkey, Yilmaz said Turkey had been expressing at every opportunity and at all levels that if the unilateral and unlawful application of the Greek Cypriot Administration resulted in EU membership, it would have adverse effects on peace and tranquillity on the island and in the Eastern Mediterranean, and that, due to its historical and treaty-based rights and interests, Turkey would never accept this.

Similarly, he said, Turkey has been emphasizing that its membership to the EU cannot be linked to the settlement of the Cyprus problem, a position that has been put on record in the relevant EU documents."

[07] Denktas criticizes those who describe Turkey as "occupying power" in Cyprus

It is noted that Mr Idiz wrote that he received a lot of e-mails from Turkish Cypriots living abroad who expressed their support to the statement of the EU commissioner responsible for the enlargement, Mr Gunter Verheugen who stressed that the Republic of Cyprus will accede the EU with or without a solution to its political problem. The e-mails were sent after Mr Idiz had criticized Mr Verheugen's statement.

Mr Denktas alleged that those Turkish Cypriots who had sent the e-mails are people either who "have lost their mind" or received huge sums of money from Karen Fogg.

[08] Denktas: "We may close the eyes to Turkish Cypriots' obtaining EU passports when the Greek Cypriots are accepted by the EU"

Asked yesterday on the issue by students of the media department of the illegal "American University of Kerynia", the Turkish Cypriot leader said, inter alia, the following: ".Some people say that in case the Greek Cypriots accede to the EU a lot of Turks will obtain, openly or secretly, EU passports. Let this day come and we shall think what to do. Measures will be thought of. When such a day comes, we might say that we have not entered with the Greek Cypriots, but let us close our eyes and let it be as if everybody entered. We shall say, let everybody take (passports). Then the Greek Cypriots will take measures, so that not everyone will be able to obtain (passports).

[B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS

[09] Columnist of Turkish mainland STAR receives e-mails from Turkish Cypriots describing Turkey as "occupying" power in Cyprus

Under the title "Towards a crisis with fast steps in Cyprus" Mr Idiz expresses the opinion that the occupied part of Cyprus is heading towards a "serious crisis", which will reach a peak in case the threat of Turkey to annex the northern part of the island be implemented.

Mr Idiz writes, among other things, the following: "Because of the supportive (to the Greek Cypriots) statements of the EU commissioner responsible for the enlargement, Gunter Verheugen, I have written that he has no credibility any more, as far as the Turkish side is concerned. I preserve this opinion, due to the fact that his statements have signs of Greek Cypriot propaganda. It is obvious that Verheugen played not a constructive, but an extremely destructive role. .

I had written it many times before: The nature of the Cyprus problem is 'extremely predictable' from the point of view of both sides. Therefore, making 'negative predictions' is very easy. In the past, those who described us as 'people who always predict the worst' began to say the same things after a while. Now I am going to make another prediction.

The thing that surprised me the most, are the reaction messages, which I received after my article regarding Verheugen from both Cyprus and Europe. They surprised me, because all of them were sent by Turkish Cypriots. The following message shows clearly what was their spirit:

'I fully agree with Verheugen. The Turkish Cypriots and Northern Cyprus are under occupation. Verheugen satisfies the wishes and the will of the Turkish Cypriots. We congratulate him for this. If Turkey is not an occupier, then what is it? Is Cyprus its own land?'

Of course, I am not going to reveal the identity of the person who wrote this message. However, on the basis of messages, which I receive from some Turks in Cyprus, in Europe, in Northern America and Australia, I can say that these are definitely not opinions that came by 'the isolated' and 'traitor' Avrupa newspaper.

A lot of Turkish Cypriots who have written to me believe that on the issue of the EU accession their community is about to loose a 'historical opportunity' because of Turkey. They assume that both their economic and security problems will be solved in the EU. They support that in any case their situation cannot be worse than the situation, which exists today in the island.

I have been told these things not only by those who sent me these e-mails, but also by Turkish Cypriots whom I have met in the island or in Europe. They have said these things to me without any hesitation.

The 32nd Day television program, which Mehmet Ali Birand made some time ago in the Eastern Mediterranean University in Northern Cyprus and the young people who talked on it, had given a good point of view on this issue. After listening to those young people who said that they are Cypriots and not Turks, Mr Denktas could not hide his disappointment and said to Birand: 'It means that we were not able to vaccinate these young people of ours with the spirit of a fighter'. This statement was enough to show that the gap between the generations in Cyprus is continuously getting deeper and their opinions are becoming more and more different.

My last prediction is that this gap will become even deeper as long as the accession of the Greek Cypriot side to the EU approaches and we shall face problems to which we were not used at all before.

Meanwhile, let me point out the following as well: In the messages, which come recently, it is often noted that Turkey's Embassy is being organized in Northern Cyprus and created a 'parastate', which is allegedly concentrating around Volkan newspaper.

According to this allegation, which I listen to more and more often recently, while the accession of the Greek Cypriot side to the EU approaches, this organization will increase its threats against those who support the opposite opinion in the North. Many people claim that the initiatives to intimidate (those who have the opposite view) by using threats have already started.

Even though these are allegations, which have not been proved, they are not too pleasant things for Northern Cyprus. Furthermore, they are things, which the other side will use in the EU. All these show that Northern Cyprus is heading fast towards a serious crisis and this crisis will reach a peak when the 'annexation' alternative is put into force, which almost all the Turkish Cypriots I know oppose. .".

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