Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 02-09-20

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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 statements before and after the meeting with President Clerides.

[02] Turkish General threatens of crisis in Eastern Mediterranean if no peace in Cyprus.

[03] Turkey and the pseudostate sign civil aviation, maritime cooperation agreements.

[04] Denktas continues informing the pseudo-assembly: Talat and Angolemli criticize Denktas and Gurel.

[05] Gurel proves once again that there is contradiction in his country/s foreign policy, by asking the USA to act according to the UN resolutions on the issue of Iraq, when at the same time Turkey ignores the UN Security-Council resolutions on Cyprus.

[06] Turkish journalist supports that Cyprus should be an independent state with a single sovereignty.

[07] Gurel repeats the threat that Turkey will annex the occupied areas of Cyprus.

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS.

[08] A columnist view Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan importance in terms of strategic balances in Caucasus.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Denktas statements before and after the meeting with President Clerides

Speaking to reporters before leaving for the meeting, Denktas commented on Greek Prime Minister Simitis' statement that Cyprus accession to the EU is a national issue. Denktas said that this statement once again reveals the intentions of Greece. Denktas remarked: "Simitis is openly and sincerely saying that Cyprus is a national issue, as though the entire island which he calls Cyprus is represented by the Greek Cypriots and as though Greece, which signed the 1960 agreement, guaranteed the Greek Cypriots as the legitimate government of Cyprus."

Pointing out that the aim of the Greek Cypriots consists of dragging the Turkish Cypriots into the EU as a minority without accepting the pseudostate Denktas noted: "In this way they aim at ensuring that we assist those who violated the 1960 agreements against Turkey and at settling the Cyprus problem like Crete".

Asked if he was informed about Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Gurel's contacts with EU countries and officials, Denktas said he received the relevant information.

Emphasizing that the Cyprus problem can be resolved if the pseudostate is accepted and some of its authorities are transferred to a jointly established institution, Denktas said that the Cyprus problem is a very simple one, but nothing can be achieved by usurping the rights of the Turkish Cypriots for 40 years.

Asked if the contacts yielded positive messages, Denktas said positive messages were received, but this does not mean that everything was accepted. Denktas asked that people recognize the existence and determination of the Turkish Cypriots.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Denktas said that the talks will continue on 24 September, and added: "We decided today not to make any more statements about the subjects we discuss because of speculation over a couple of words uttered or omitted in the media". Denktas expressed pleasure over being followed by the press, but reiterated that from now on he will not comment on the subjects discussed at the talks.

Reminded about the upcoming "pseudo-Assembly session", Denktas said that he will hear the views of the parties at the Assembly today. He added that during the previous session he did not convey the response of the Greek Cypriots to the Turkish Cypriot side; today he will also deliver that response. If necessary, Denktas noted, another Assembly session can be conducted before he leaves for New York, and added: If everything is concluded today and if we are satisfied, there will not be any need for that.

Asked when he will go to New York, Denktas announced that he will leave the occupied areas on 28 September and spend the night in Istanbul. On 29 September, Denktas stated that he will go to New York, where he will begin his contacts after having rested for one day.

[02] Turkish General threatens of crisis in Eastern Mediterranean if no peace in Cyprus

Denktas pointed out that, as an officer who served in Cyprus in the 1980's, Yalman is well acquainted with the Turkish Cypriot people and their cause, and said: "We sincerely welcome you. We hope you will come frequently, raise our morale, and follow the developments".

Yalman, in turn, conveyed his admiration to Denktas on behalf of the Turkish Armed Forces [TAF] for Denktas' superhuman efforts until now on behalf of the sacred struggle of the Turkish Cypriot people, his exemplary leadership, and his diplomatic efforts that will leave their mark on history. Yalman said that during the ongoing talks launched at the initiative of Denktas, the Greek Cypriot side, supported by the relevant sides, especially the EU, is not willing to adopt a lasting and just solution based on a new partnership between the two states on the island. Yalman expressed the hope that in the period ahead the relevant sides will exploit this opportunity created by Denktas for the establishment of a lasting and just peace.

Also issuing the warning that unless the process is well utilized and a just and lasting peace is achieved, the eastern Mediterranean will be dragged into a permanent crisis atmosphere, Yalman declared: "The TAF has the strength and determination to counter any kind of crisis". Also remarking that a possible crisis will not benefit any party, including the EU, Yalman reiterated that Turkey will not accept any solution that is not based on the equal sovereignty of the Turkish Cypriot people, and it will not approve the unilateral accession of south Cyprus to the EU.

According to TRT 2 television (19.09.02) General Aytac Yalman, commander of the Ground Forces, has issued the warning that the unilateral accession to the EU of Cyprus Government in violation of international agreements will inevitably drag the region into an atmosphere of continuous crisis.

General Yalman left for the "TRNC" in order to inspect the troops belonging to the Turkish Cypriot Peace Forces. Yalman began his speech by saying: "The purpose of my visit is to conduct an on-the-spot inspection of the troops' readiness for war". He noted that the Turkish Armed Forces [TAF] will continue to stand by the Turkish Cypriot people as has been the case in the past.

[03] Turkey and the pseudostate sign civil aviation, maritime cooperation agreements

Addressing the signing ceremony, Transportation Minister Naci Kinacioglu said that Britain which had the responsibility of search and rescue in air over Cyprus transferred it to the Greek Cypriot side on March 1, 2002 and that the "TRNC" started to give search and rescue service in occupied Tymbou Ercan airport`s airspace.'

Kinacioglu said that the agreement aims to develop the capacities of "TRNC", adding that ``the agreement signed today will complement the agreement signed between Turkey and the pseudostate on September 8, 1996 in cooperation for search and rescue in sea and the cooperation protocol signed in June 16, 2000 on improvement of maritime matters. The agreements target to improve cooperation in maritime, civil aviation and search and rescue activities between Turkey and "TRNC". The agreements that foresee cooperation in maritime and civil aviation fields require the two countries to form common policies in naval and air transportation, to make their laws in these fields be in harmony to each other and to determine common stance and policies against developments that take place in the international platform and to encourage tourism activities.``

Transportation Minister Kinacioglu said that a common commission will be formed to implement the agreements effectively and the commission will convene in Turkey and the pseudostate from time to time.

The State Minister in charge of maritime matters, Ramazan Mirzaoglu, said that Cyprus is a national cause for Turkey, adding that it is not possible for the Turkish side to accept a solution, which will not take into consideration the strategic interests of pseudostate and Turkey, the balances.

Mirzaoglu said that "TRNC" has its connection with the external world mainly by the sea, adding that the Turkish maritime office will have a very busy sea traffic in line with the need to increase political, strategic and economic activities in the East Mediterranean and in line with Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. Mirzaoglu remarked that the cooperation between Turkey and "TRNC" will continue.

The so-called Transportation Salih Miroglu said that they aim to improve cooperation, to ease sea and air transportation, to meet the basic infrastructure needs, to open to the world by the support of Turkey and to assume a common attitude against the developments that take place in the international arena.

[04] Denktas continues informing the pseudo-assembly; Talat and Angolemli criticizes Denktas and Gurel

Upon his arrival in the "assembly" Mr Denktas said that he had submitted some documents to the "body" and added that when he departs from the occupied areas he wants to leave behind an "assembly", which "knows everything".

According to KIBRIS, the discussions on Monday and yesterday lasted overall six hours.

After the meeting Mr Denktas said he was very satisfied, but added that the opposition parties "have not expressed the same feelings".

Meanwhile, talking to the press after the meeting, Mehmet Ali Talat, leader of the Republican Turkish Party, accused Mr Denktas of not informing the political party leaders before submitting his proposals to President Clerides and of being "the absolute ruler" in the occupied areas.

"My views have not changed", said Mr Talat adding that the meeting was disputatious and argued that the future of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots "is in great danger". Mr Talat added:

".Turkey is a candidate EU-member. It is going towards becoming an EU member. If Turkey's Minister of Foreign Affairs says that the Cyprus problem is a separate issue from Turkey's EU accession course, then we have to be sad and not feel happy, because if they separate the Cyprus problem from Turkey's EU accession course, as Turkey's honourable Foreign Affairs Minister said, and if they feel happy about this and if Mr Denktas is also on the same line, then it means that they have not realized the seriousness of the situation. .What we need is to have is the international community, the UN and even the EU on our side. We need to have their support. We have to work for this. I do not see such a thing. Therefore, I am sad. .".

Meanwhile, talking after the meeting, Huseyin Angolemli, leader of the Communal Liberation Party (CLP), expressed the opinion that both sides must make a step backwards form their "vision", in order to reach an agreement. Referring to Mr Denktas, Mr Angolemli said that the will of the Turkish Cypriots for peace "does not reflect on him" and added: ".Mr Denktas must also know the limits until where he will give. How he will do this? He will listen to the opinion of the Turkish Cypriots, the civilian organizations and the political parties. He will discover these limits in the direction of these opinions. However, unfortunately Mr Denktas does not do this. He walks separately from the people. We think that this is wrong.".

[05] Gurel proves once again that there is contradiction in his country's foreign policy, by asking the USA to act according to the UN resolutions on the issue of Iraq, when at the same time Turkey ignores the UN Security Council resolutions on Cyprus

Talking at a press conference in Turkey's embassy to Washington after his meeting with US officials at the White House, Mr Gurel said, inter alia, the following:

".On every opportunity Turkey declares that it favours a behaviour according to the UN resolutions and international law. However, Turkey does not want measures and behaviour, which will harm the sovereignty and territorial integrity rights. Behaviour that we could tolerate is the legitimate behaviour according to the international law, the UN resolutions and the consensus. .".

[06] Turkish journalist supports that Cyprus should be an independent state with a single sovereignty

Mr Altan noted that if the Cyprus problem is not solved, Turkey will not be able to join the European Union and added that Turkey would have declared war against the EU in case it annexed the northern occupied part of Cyprus.

Arguing that the recent so-called "municipal elections" showed that the Turkish Cypriots want peace in Cyprus and accession to the EU, Mr Altan noted that the Turkish Cypriot community is constantly becoming poorer and deprived of its freedoms.

Asked whether the so-called "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" will die, Mr Altan wondered if the "TRNC" has been born so that to be able to die.

[07] Gurel repeats the threat that Turkey will annex the occupied areas of Cyprus

Talking at a press conference in Turkey's embassy to Washington after his meeting with US officials at the White House, Mr Gurel said that on Turkey's agenda there is no such issue such as annexing northern Cyprus, but there is a possibility for the EU to annex southern Cyprus, he claimed.

"We have said that we shall come closer to the TRNC in the same way that the EU make steps to come closer to the Greek Cypriot side. We shall keep our promise", he added.

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[08] A columnist views Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan importance in terms of strategic balances in Caucasus

The full text is the following:

"The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline that will carry the Caspian oil to the world markets set off in the midst of the Iraqi crisis -- a crisis that is closely related to the Middle Eastern oil. After waging a 10-year commercial and diplomatic struggle, Azerbaijani, Georgian, and Turkish presidents Aliyev, Shevardnadze, and Sezer will finally be able to launch this project.

As of 2005, when it will be operational, the 1730-kilometer pipeline will annually carry 50 million tons of Caspian oil to the Ceyhan Port that is located along the Mediterranean. There is no doubt that with its current capacity, this pipeline constitutes no alternative to the Iraqi or the Middle Eastern oil. This is the first time, however, that an oil pipeline and an outlet that are not under the control of the Arabs or the Russians and that are being physically secured by the United States and its allies have been established. The fact that Ceyhan is very close to the Incirlik Airbase, one of the United States' largest operational centers in the world, has played an important role in the realization of this project.

Despite the fact that for the time being adequate emphasis is not being put on Ceyhan, we have to admit that it is a very important outlet. As a matter of fact, Ceyhan constitutes the outlet of two additional pipelines. Two pipelines that carry the Iraqi oil from Mosul and Karkuk end in Ceyhan. Currently Iraq is the second richest country in the world in terms of oil fields. The first country is Saudi Arabia. The star of the Iraqi oil is the oil fields in Karkuk -- and not in the Basra. The quality and the quantity of the oil in Karkuk are very high. Furthermore, the oil in Karkuk is very close to the surface. In other words, compared to the other oil fields, the cost of the Karkuk oil is low. Due to the embargo and within the framework of the United Nation's oil in return for food program only enough oil to prevent the Karkuk oil fields from drying flows through the Karkuk-Ceyhan line. The fact that Iraq did not allow the UN weapon inspectors to conduct inspections in its territories until yesterday constituted the greatest obstacle that prevented the removal of the embargo. The day before yesterday however, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan announced that a letter has been received from Iraq, saying that the Baghdad Administration "unconditionally" allows the inspectors to conduct inspections in its territory. Similarly to Turkey, a great number of European countries viewed this as a positive development. The US Administration, on the other hand, viewed this as a new tactic that resembles Iraq' former tactics.

This once again proves that the US Administration is determined to hit Iraq.

Ankara, which sees preventing a military operation against Iraq as its primary goal and which has been making efforts to this end for months, knows that it cannot remain neutral and impartial in the face of such an attack that will be launched by its closest ally. Foreign Minister Gurel said to the US delegation that visited Ankara a while ago: "If we are your strategic partners and if we will be at your side in Iraq, you should support us against the EU regarding the Cyprus issue." The fact that the written statement that was issued after Prime Minister Ecevit talked to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on the evening of 16 September put emphasis on Iraq and Cyprus is also very meaningful.

There is yet another country that demands the support of the United States in return for its support in Iraq: This is Russia. Turkey is trying to prevent an intervention against Iraq. Keeping in mind that it might not be possible to prevent such an intervention, however, Turkey is also making efforts to prevent the establishment of Kurdish or a Shiite state. Russia, on the other hand, has demands related to the armed Chechnyan groups that are positioned in the Pankisi Valley in Georgia. Exploiting the lack of supervision, Turkey had pursued the PKK [Workers Party of Kurdistan] in the Iraqi territory -- for example in the Hakurk Valley. Russia wants to do the same thing in Georgia. To this end, Russia is presenting as evidence the US intelligence reports to the effect that the Chechnyan groups cooperate with the AL Qai'da militants who have escaped Afghanistan in the Pankisi Valley. Giving a speech on terrorism on 11 September, Putin issued a warning. Following this speech the tension further intensified. Despite the fact that Russia's warning was issued after signing a $40 million oil agreement with Iraq, we should not forget that Russia also wants to remain as close as possible to the Caspian oil basin.

Not being able to control its territory, the Georgian Administration is quite distressed. Despite the fact that it has deployed additional troops to the region following the Russian warning, the Georgian Administration also drew attention to the fact that Russia has issued this warning just prior to the ceremony of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project. As a matter of fact, Shevardnadze even tried to cancel his participation in the ceremony in Baku on this basis.

Ankara is closely following this issue. Turkey has military observers in the region. Furthermore, Ankara has agreements both with Azerbaijan and Georgia. The United States constitutes the third axis in these agreements. Within the framework of these agreements, the US soldiers positioned in Georgia constitute the guarantee of Turkey and, in fact that pipeline. On the other hand however, the United States is not expected to take any steps that will prevent Russia from "fighting against terrorism." In this regard, the tension might further intensify in the region."

/SK

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