Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 02-12-31

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

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] The Turkish Cypriot political parties again failed to establish a so-called Assembly Council. Denktas to meet party leaders on 02.01.03.

[02] Kenan Akin resigns from NJP and calls on the right-wing parties for unity.

[03] The Turkish Cypriot Technical Committees have begun the preparatory meetings.

[04] Retired Turkish Vice Admiral: "Cyprus is not an important strategic piece of land for Turkey".

[05] The Turkish Government is determined to challenge the Supreme Military Council through legal means.

[06] Kutan: JDP follows defeatist foreign policy.

[B] COMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[07] Denktas family won't give up dynasty.

[08] Turkish Cypriot columnist says that the "uprising" of the Turkish Cypriots will continue until occupation ends.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] The Turkish Cypriot political parties again failed to establish a so-called Assembly Council. Denktas to meet party leaders on 02.01.03

In statements issued after the meeting, it was noted that the party leaders reached agreement on the need to change some articles of the Annan plan in favour of the Turkish Cypriots, and that conciliation was reached to a certain extent with regard to the articles that must be changed. The political party leaders remarked that the establishment of the council was not discussed during today's meeting, and another meeting will be held to this end following the talks to be held with Rauf Denktas on 02.01.03.

[02] Kenan Akin resigns from NJP and calls on the right-wing parties for unity

Mr Akin is since yesterday independent "MP" in the illegal assembly of the puppet regime. The distribution of seats in the "assembly" has changed as follows: NUP 20, DP 13, Communal Liberation Party 5, Republican Turkish Party 5, independent 3, RPP 2 and empty 2.

[03] The Turkish Cypriot Technical Committees have begun the preparatory meetings

Olgun also said that they will also convene again during the first days of January and they will work continuously to be prepared for the negotiations.

[04] Retired Turkish Vice Admiral: "Cyprus is not an important strategic piece of land for Turkey"

The first part of the interview was about Turkey's relation with the USA on the Iraqi issue and the EU relations. Regarding the Cyprus problem when asked by Nese Duzel; "While all of us are concentrated on the possible Iraqi war, on the other hand a very serious Cyprus problem is being experienced. You are a Cyprus war veteran. Being a person who fought there and witnessed how the troops martyred there today what kind of solution do you propose in Cyprus?"

Kiyat: The Annan plan should be accepted as the basis for a settlement and a solution should be secured as soon as possible. It is wrong to use expressions such as 'The Greek Cypriots will again slaughter the Turks, do not forget the blood that was shed. Who will slaughter whom in a country which is an EU member? Apart from this had the people not forgotten the blood that was shed, we would not have peace today and there would be no country friendly with each other. Today in Cyprus a generation is living who are not enemies of each other. This is not a generation that would say;' You have come 28 years ago and saved me and I will pay the blood money for 500 years to you'. This generation wants peace in Cyprus. It wants to live a normal life .One has to listen to this generation.

Question: Metin Munir wrote that the Security Forces' radio in Cyprus broadcast programs in which it opposes the Peace plan. They say that this radio belongs to the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF). Is the TAF against peace?

Kiyat: I do not think so, making or not making peace is not a military decision. The politicians would decide on it.

Question: The government says that it wants to solve that Cyprus problem. Even Tayyip Erdogan with statements wants to convey certain messages to certain people, by saying 'What will you do if in case of a non-solution the Turkish Cypriots in the north start moving to the richer south thus evacuating the north?'. Whom is he trying to convince, who is precluding the settlement in Cyprus?

Kiyat: The Justice and Development Party is the government but not the ruling power. If you want to solve the Cyprus problem and you have bureaucratic military men who are opposing to you, you should have the power to tell these people 'as the government I have the responsibility'. If the government wants to solve the Cyprus problem it could do so. Why could it not? It is a success to secure 35% of the votes but there are another 65%.They are unsuccessful to convince these old fashioned thinking of 65%. The government sees its continuity in the administration by going along well with the armed forces. If they could convince the 65% then they could be the ruling power.

Question: What kind of interest Turkey might have in the non-solution of the Cyprus problem?

Kiryat: None, to defend the non-solution in Cyprus is to oppose to Turkey's EU membership. Just look at Denktas' advisors. Did you ever hear from them that EU membership is good for Turkey?

Question: Is the island of Cyprus strategically so important to Turkey that it could even make us come to the point of rejecting the EU membership?

Answer: Not at all. Cyprus is no more an important piece of land for the security of Turkey. In the past it was very important. In the past there were no missiles hitting targets thousands of kilometres away. The range of the air force was very limited .However, if we want to revive the Ottoman Empire in the future and we come and say that we want to control the Suez from Cyprus, and then Cyprus has strategic importance. I also believe that the Turkish Armed Forces have cast its vote in favour of the EU membership.

[05] The Turkish Government is determined to challenge the Supreme Military Council through legal means

Responding to questions from reporters at a meeting in Bursa, Yalcinbayir stated that the scope of the legal condition regarding SMC decisions might be extended although the European Court declared that choosing legal way for SMC decisions complied with the law.

The government members, for the first time, attended a SMC meeting last week, when six soldiers were expelled from the army for involvement in reactionary activities. Prime Minister Gul and Defence Minister Gonul signed the SMC decisions but criticized that the path of appeals should be opened for SMC decisions.

Stressing that the point was not to discuss the SMC decisions, Yalcinbayir stated that they only aimed to provide a fair trial to citizens. "The military has its own discipline and everybody should obey this discipline. If a soldier is expelled from the military, we cannot deprive him of his right to apply to the court," he added.

Yalcinbayir noted that it was proper to close the court way for military appointments and promotion but emphasized that the right to apply to the court should be given to people.

Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said that all actions and procedures of the administration were subjected to legal inspection according to the Constitution when asked a question on the same topic on Monday.

[06] Kutan: JDP follows defeatist foreign policy

Strongly criticizing the government at his party's Ankara provincial council meeting over the weekend, Kutan touched on the recent developments on Iraq and Cyprus.

Claiming that the U.S. implemented a policy that would alienate Turkey in the Middle East and deteriorate its relations with the Islamic world, Kutan noted that the U.S. wanted bases and ports from Turkey including Black Sea province of Trabzon port since the U.S. plans to make a second operation against Iran, following Iraq.

Kutan said that the government was indecisive and confused on the Iraq issue, adding that the government members were delivering different remarks on the same topic. He called on political parties and non-governmental organizations to discuss the Iraq matter as soon as possible.

Touching on the Cyprus issue, Kutan said that the government failed to put forth a clear policy on Cyprus and added that JDP ignored Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktas' views.

Kutan warned that Turkey would lose Cyprus if it failed to take measures, saying that Turkey was surrounded by an Orthodox circle at present.

[B] COMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[08] Denktas family won't give up dynasty

"Each passing day convinces me more strongly that at any cost, Rauf Denktas is determined not to give any concessions in Cyprus. He does not care what the public opinion is regarding peace both in Cyprus and Turkey.

He does not care at all for blocking Turkey's road to the EU.

Interestingly enough, all those falcons against peace both in Turkey and Turkish Cyprus are also all anti-EU!

Why is Rauf Denktas so determined to not solve the Cyprus problem?

Because the status quo is already a solution for Mr Denktas and his falcons, as they together have enjoyed a "dynasty" in Turkish Cyprus for the last 28 years.

I will only give you one simple example today to verify what I mean when I insistently use the term: "Those who enjoy the system cannot change that very system i.e. the status quo."

Mr Salih Boyaci's daughter is married to Mr Rauf Denktas' son Serdar Denktas. Boyaci is the Minister of Tourism in Turkish Cyprus, he is known as "In-Law" in Cyprus, and used to own a bank there i.e. Cyprus Credit Bank. He owned the bank since 1983.

This bank went into insolvency some two years ago. According to the official report; $80 million worth of deposits vaporized in the bank! So far, the State of Turkish Cyprus has paid around $40-42 million worth of deposits back to the owners but some $35-38 million is still not paid.

The monies vaporized in the hands of the "In-Law" but the State is paying for the losses. Whose money is "state money" anyway? Most probably, the money sent from the motherland out of our collected taxes!

The Exchequer and Audit Department of Cyprus accused the "In-Law" Salih Boyaci of distorting official documents he gave to the Central Bank and, according to them, Mr Boyaci has reported fewer deposits than there actually is in the bank. The distorted documents cover the years 1991, 1995, 96, 97, 98 and 1999.

Mr Salih Boyaci was chairman of the board of the bank and Mr Rauf Denktas was the President of Turkish Cyprus during this entire period.

On the other hand, the general manager of the bank, in his testimony, declared that the chairman insisted that the losses of the bank should be reported as profits to the officials in many cases.

Thus, they have manipulated the so-called "Interest Rediscount Account" in many cases.

The "family firms" also owned by "the Dynasty," have not paid a total of $27 million in interest to the bank for the credits borrowed from the bank. The credits used by the "family firms" are also not recorded in the official records.

Now read this statement very carefully:

Mr Salih Boyaci was acquitted from all 12 cases he was held responsible for in the bankruptcy of the bank in the mid-December of this year!

A Final Note: Mr Rauf Denktas has recently appointed the lawyer of Salih Boyaci and the main prosecutor who will appeal this very court decision at the higher Court, to the peace-seeking committees ordered by Kofi Annan's Report on Cyprus.

[09] Turkish Cypriot columnist says that the "uprising" of the Turkish Cypriots will continue until occupation ends

"Every part of my country is under occupation. Despite the will of the people, Denktas does not want to leave the authority given to him by force from Turkey. Despite the people, the occupation continues.

The administration is under occupation, the parliament is under occupation and the seats of the government are under occupation. What are these authorities, which do not represent the will of the Turkish Cypriots, waiting for? The people have said in a loud and clear manner what they had to say to those who seized power by violence. Are they not occupiers those who close their ears and pretend that they do not hear?

Denktas, being at the post he seized, has created committees in the name of the people that he does not represent. However, these committees have no right or power to act on our behalf. Denktas is the one who has established these committees. These committees, the members of which are from Turkey and Denktas' people, cannot represent us.

While the representatives of the people are standing idle, these committees which represent Denktas, will sit at the table not for the solution, but for the non-solution and after fulfilling their duty of blocking (the talks) they will say: "We have talked and could not reach a consensus, an agreement". They will only talk, just like Denktas does.

These committees of Ankara and Denktas cannot talk on our behalf. Our people have removed Denktas from his office and rejected his policy. The office belongs to the people now.

All the powers, which support the solution, must establish alternative committees and get into action. We are waiting for the implementation of everything needed according to the declaration approved by thousands of Turkish Cypriots at the (Inonu) square. This document must be sent to the UN, the EU, Turkey and the whole word and let all these know that no one could decide for the people, without the people.

The Turkish Cypriots demand their country to be freed from this occupation, as soon as possible. No one can resist to this demand, because the people declared Denktas to be a traitor and Turkey to be an occupier.

The struggle against occupation will be increased and continue until the occupation ends".

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