Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 02-06-07

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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 denies that Alvaro de Soto has submitted a non-paper during the talks.

[0] .The Turkish Cypriot leader denies statements made by Thomas Weston to Anatolia News Agency.

[03] Lord David Hannay held contacts in Ankara.

[04] US envoy sees chance for progress on Cyprus.

[05] Prosecutor is filling a suit against Erdogan.

[06] The occupation regime has banned Turkish Cypriot soccer players from visiting Pyla.

[B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS

[07] Columnist in RADIKAL criticizes the Turkish Armed Forces and the Nationalist Action Party for not taking a clear stance on critical issues.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Rauf Denktas denies that Alvaro de Soto has submitted a non-paper during the talks

Miguel was accompanied by Leopold Maurer, who carries out the membership negotiations of the EU with Cyprus, the Danish Foreign Ministry Director General Grason Zorterkar and the EU representative to Cyprus Donato Chiarini.

No statement was issued before the meeting. When reporters reminded Denktas the news to the effect that UN Secretary-General/s Cyprus Special Representative Alvaro de Soto submitted an unofficial document during the negotiations, Denktas said that there is no UN document or non-paper.

Denktas stressed that de Soto notes the things said by the sides during the talks, adding that ``no document has been submitted. There is nothing like U.N. document or non-paper.``

The Greek Cypriot press claimed on Thursday that de Soto submitted an unofficial document to the sides on the security issue during yesterday`s Denktas-Clerides meeting, reports Ankara Anatolia.

[02] The Turkish Cypriot leader denies statements made by Thomas Weston to Anatolia News Agency

Referring to the statement by Thomas Weston, US State Department's special envoy for Cyprus, to the effect that agreement has been reached on one of the core issues, Denktas said:

"Probably, authorities we are not aware of told Mr. Weston things we are not aware of and we have not yet attained. I wish this were true, but we are still trying. I hope that what Mr. Weston said will come true, but this is not yet the case."

Denktas was asked: "What is the source of the reports that EU and NATO forces will be deployed in Cyprus? Has this subject been raised via special envoys or at the negotiating table?" He answered:

"This matter was not put to us. I saw that the Greek Cypriot press is focusing on the subject, therefore, I reacted to it. Such a thing was not discussed or raised in any meeting."

Answering the questions of AA yesterday, Weston had remarked that progress was registered in one of the core issues during the negotiations that have been continuing for the past five months, but he cannot provide details because of the secrecy principle.

[03] Lord David Hannay held contacts in Ankara

Lord Hannay held a meeting firstly with Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal and later with Foreign Minister Ismail Cem.

Responding questions of reporters following the meetings, Hannay said that he could not comment on the continuing talks between the sides in Cyprus as comments on this issue would harm this process.

[04] US envoy sees chance for progress on Cyprus

The US ambassador to the United Nations said that he saw an opportunity for progress on solving the Cyprus problem and he urged both sides to seek a mutually acceptable solution.

Ambassador John Negroponte met Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem in Ankara for talks that covered Iraq and the Middle East as well as the UN effort currently underway to reunite the divided island of Cyprus.

"I did listen attentively to the point of view of the Turkish government," Negroponte told reporters after the meeting that took place on the same day as that of Britain's special envoy for Cyprus.

"We believe an opportunity does exist to move forward on the Cyprus question but I also emphasized that responsibility lay principally with the two parties themselves to seek a mutually satisfactory negotiated solution," Negroponte said.

Meanwhile, the United Nations special envoy for Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, will meet U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Rome this weekend as talks to solve the division of the island continue, an official source said on Thursday.

One of Denktas' top advisers said talks in the past two weeks had focused on the issue of security, one of the core issues in the talks along with territory and the status of the two sides in an eventual settlement.

"It appeared that the security issue was the easiest topic that the two sides could agree on but since the Greek Cypriot side is insisting on a solution based on the existing republic instead of a new partnership, an agreement on this point is not possible," said Mumtaz Soysal, an adviser to Denktas.

Annan, who is due to arrive in Rome this weekend to attend a food summit, visited Cyprus last month and urged both sides to make real progress in the talks by the end of June.

The official source said de Soto had met Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem last week during Cem's visit to the island.

Britain's special envoy for Cyprus David Hannay was in Ankara on Thursday for talks with Turkish officials, while the United States ambassador to the UN also met Cem on Wednesday and discussed the Cyprus problem.

The Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr Rauf Denktas and President Glafcos Clerides began face-to-face talks in January. The U.N. has urged both sides to make real progress by the end of June.

The talks have been given added urgency by the fact that Cyprus is due to finalize by the end of the year membership talks with the European Union, and to join as early as 2004.

One of the key stumbling blocks in the negotiations has been Turkish Cypriot insistence on recognition of their state, something the internationally recognized Cyprus government refuses to contemplate.

Turkey appeared to harden its stance on Cyprus last week when Cem visited the island for talks with Denktas. He reiterated Turkey's support for Denktas' insistence on a two-state solution and said Ankara and Turkish Cypriots would not be forced into accepting a solution at any price.

[05] Prosecutor is filling a suit against Erdogan

Meanwhile Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals Sabih Kanadoglu filed a suit at the Constitutional Court requesting the closure of the Turkish Socialist Workers Party (TSIP) on Thursday.

Kanadoglu sent his seven-page indictment to the Court the same day.

The indictment noted that the pictures, banners of armed organization members were found in the headquarters of TSIP in a search conducted on December 13, 2000. Kanadoglu defended the view that the things found in the party headquarters prove that the party supported the activities of the armed organizations which defend the idea of class dictatorship.

Kanadoglu noted that Article 68 of the Constitution provides that "political parties shall not aim to protect or establish class or group dictatorship or dictatorship of any kind, nor shall they incite citizens to crime.`` Kanadoglu noted that TSIP violated that article of the Constitution.

Kanadoglu also applied to Constitutional Court requesting it to determine if the legal existence of the parties namely Turkish Justice Party, Justice Party, Socialist Unity Movement Party and Our Existence Party ended as they dissolved. Kanadoglu said that these parties didn`t hold big congresses since their foundation.

[06] The occupation regime has banned to Turkish Cypriot soccer players from visiting Pyla

Bulent, a Turkish Cypriot soccer player, went recently to the occupied village of Pergamos in order to visit Pyla. An occupation regime's officer told him that it is illegal to visit Pyla. He also said that all popular Turkish Cypriot soccer players, as well as Ufuk and Dervis, are forbidden to visit Pyla.

Bulent tried in vain to convince the so-called officer that he is not going to flee to the free areas of Cyprus. He was able to visit Pyla only after some prominent individuals in the occupied Nicosia intervened on his behalf.

[B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS

[07] Columnist in RADIKAL criticizes the Turkish Armed Forces and the Nationalist Action Party for not taking a clear stance on critical issues

The full text of the commentary is as follows:

"First of all the NAP [Nationalist Action Party], then the military... They kept quiet at the NSC [National Security Council] meeting and spoke outside the meeting. That was not right. We say, "the military kept quiet at the NSC", because the final paragraph of the statement of the General Staff yesterday was almost like a confession: "Furthermore, mainly the subjects of Turkey's accession to the EU and Cyprus were discussed at the NSC meeting held on 30 May 2002. The views of the Turkish Armed Forces [TAF] on the subjects of the death penalty, education and broadcasts in the mother tongue did not come onto the agenda".

It means that at the meeting of the NSC on Thursday, 30 May, because Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit was ill at home, because Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli was in China and the military members for some reason did not announce their views on the subjects of the death penalty, Kurdish education and broadcasts thus did not contribute to the decision process. It is the duty of every citizen to criticize those who avoid using the only constitutional platform where the civilian and military wings meet in this critical process. However, recently just the opposite is being experienced. The nongovernmental organizations are thinking, producing and proposing. Those who think that they are governing us are criticizing and threatening the nongovernmental organizations. Under the disguise of responding to the TUSIAD [Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association] and the nongovernmental organizations, it is desired to mortgage the historical summit at Cankaya [Presidential Residence]. Turkey spent the past week debating the EU. It appears that this week will also close with the same agenda. The attitudes of the NAP and the TUSIAD were clear throughout this process. However, what about the military? Let us go over the events quickly:

- Let us see what the Second Chief of the General Staff, General Yasar Buyukanit said according to the official statement yesterday [Wednesday, 5 June] upon a question while chatting with the media during a symposium: "Do not ask us these types of questions, ask those who produce ideas on these types of subjects. For example, if someone comes out and says, 'Cyprus should not be an obstacle in front of the EU', then ask that person. How, what is your solution? If someone else comes out and says, 'The death penalty should be abolished', then ask that person. 'All right, you abolished the death penalty. A short while later as a result of the present system, will the bloody terrorist murderers be released or will it be possible to keep them in prison for life by taking legal and constitutional measures?' Ask these questions to those who are trying to direct the society."

- Buyukanit did not have to wait too long. The next day, the TUSIAD's Chairman Tuncay Ozilhan and Prof. Suheyl Batum, 'among those who are trying to direct the society', paid a visit to Gen. Buyukanit. Their response to the question in the mind of Buyukanit, 'will the bloody terrorists be released', was ready. The TUSIAD presented a package to the General Staff including heavy life imprisonment without parole rather than the death penalty, and the right for broadcasts and education in the mother tongue connected to certain criteria. Ozilhan mentioned this talk on the "Cafe Politics" program broadcast on CNN Turk on Sunday [2 June] with the following statement, "We saw with pleasure that we were in agreement on many subjects".

- The name of the TUSIAD was not even mentioned in the statement yesterday of the General Staff: "A nongovernmental organization formed by the business world visited the Second Chief of the General Staff on 29 May 2002. During the visit, the visitors explained their activities on the subject of the death penalty and language and gave the documents they had prepared. The visit had the form of a courtesy visit and their expressions in the form that these sensitive subjects were discussed and a consensus of opinion was reached does not reflect the facts".

The TAF should abandon playing shadow games on the subject of the EU from now on. Particularly, it should not resort to the deception of 'impartiality' on the subject of the execution of Abdullah Ocalan, because everyone knows that keeping Abdullah Ocalan locked up is much better for the security of Turkey. An alive Ocalan is better than a dead Ocalan, because:

- The PKK [Worker's Party of Kurdistan] or with its new name KADAK [Freedom and Democracy Congress of Kurdistan] cannot engage in armed actions and they are especially avoiding bloodshed in order not to harm Abdullah Ocalan.

- As long as Ocalan is alive, the terrorist organization cannot elect a new leader, the struggle for power is heightening and the probability of division is increasing every day.

As for the permission for opening Kurdish TV and courses... Last weekend the examinations for private schools were held and 14 thousand students took the exams. This weekend half a million students will take the exams for the Anatolian High Schools. While the people are sweating to have their children learn English, French, German, Italian and even Japanese, why are we afraid of Kurdish?

Do not forget that the Western civilization entered into these lands, thanks to the reform movement in the Ottoman army. Centuries later, it is unfortunate for the military to give the impression that it has fallen into the same line as those who are against Europe."

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