Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 03-08-25

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

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Two Turkish Cypriot political parties merge. Peace and Justice Party formed.

[02] Statements issued after a meeting of the National Security Council.

[03] Statement by Sertar Denktas during a visit to occupied Famagusta.

[04] Akinci stated that a population census under the supervision of the Council of Europe is needed in occupied Cyprus.

[05] The pseudostate granted citizenship to the Chairman of the Turkish Football Federation.

[06] The Chairman of the Turkish settlers described Rauf Denktas as a tyrant.

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[07] Columnist in SABAH supports that the dominant view in Ankara is that Kofi Annan will revise his plan on Cyprus.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Two Turkish Cypriot political parties merge. Peace and Justice Party formed

Commenting on the structure of the political parties and the political life in the occupied areas, Hasipoglu claimed that the existing system of delegate selection is monarchic and disrespectful of the people. He also noted that as JPP, they have formally limited the services of the party leader to only two terms as a way of consolidating democracy. Calling on those ^Ódeputies^Ô who are disenchanted with their present parties to join the JPP, Hasipoglu criticized the political movement formed under Ali Erel, the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, adding that the JPP is the address for those votes that would not be cast for the National Unity Party [NUP] and Democratic Party [DP].

After Hasipoglu's address, the unification protocol between the NRP and RPP was read out and put to vote. The protocol was signed by Ertugrul Hasipoglu on behalf of RPP, Guner Goktug on behalf of NRP, and Bekir Mertoglu in the name of the New Reconciliation Platform. Following the merger, the JPP held its first congress for elections to the party leadership. Ertugrul Hasipoglu, who was the only one who put forward his candidacy 48 hours before the opening of the congress as stipulated by regulations, was elected as party leader.

[02] Statements issued after a meeting of the National Security Council

1. At the meeting, a general assessment was held on the Cyprus and Aegean problems.

2. The latest developments in Iraq were discussed in detail. In this context, the international developments for the restoration of peace and stability and for the restructuring of Iraq were assessed, and the contacts being held with the concerned countries and with the various sectors in Iraq were reviewed. Turkey considers the fast elimination of the instability and the restoration of public order in Iraq as a priority political target, and is consequently following the developments with sensitivity. In light of these developments, Turkey must pursue its policy toward Iraq by assessing the issue in all its aspects and in line with national interests.

3. The security and public order situation in the country was discussed.

4. It has been found appropriate for the NSC to convene on a date to be set in September 2003.

In other words, the NSC will not convene in two months, even though a legal amendment was enacted to hold NSC meetings every two months. It looks like a very clear stand did not emerge at the meeting today, and that a meeting will be held next month to further discuss the Iraq issue. In other words, Turkey will continue to assess this matter.

[03] Statement by Sertar Denktas during a visit to occupied Famagusta

In his speech, Serdar Denktas underlined that his party is deeply attached to Mr Rauf Denktas and supports his struggle on the Cyprus problem.

Mr Serdar Denktas also expressed the conviction that in the forthcoming so-called elections the DP will be rewarded for its great services to the Turkish Cypriots.

Mr Serdar Denktas said that with the emergence of the Annan plan the people have been divided between the supporters and opponents of the plan. The DP, however, has refused to be part of this classification. Pointing out that it would be wrong to accept or reject the Annan plan out of hand, Serdar Denktas noted that the party discussed changes to the plan and submitted them in a 14-point report. Serdar Denktas added that unlike certain circles they did not see the plan as an opportunity to deceive the people, and went on:

^ÓWhat needs to be done in this country is to reach a solution by finding out a method whereby we could protect our rights, firmly stand up for our sovereignty, emphasize our equality, and preserve the validity of Turkey's guarantorhsip, which is our future insurance, within the EU as well. To do this we have to forge unity and solidarity. But, regrettably, one segment of our society besmirches, weakens, belittles every step we take, and by going over to the Greek Cypriot side it also deceives the Greek Cypriots by claiming to speak in the name of the Turkish Cypriots and represent the views of the entire people. All these only create a weakness for us. What should be done is this: First of all, we do not want any favors from anyone regarding our sovereignty. The sovereignty already belongs to us. We only want the Greek Cypriots to admit what we already have. And every time that we say this, the representatives of foreign missions reply: My dear, you are already joining the EU and sovereignty is not such an important thing there, why do you insist on it?

I have asked them, and I am now asking again: If sovereignty is not such an important thing, why is then the Greek Cypriot side so adamant on rejecting our sovereignty? Why do they still insist that the Turkish Cypriots are not sovereign, that they are a part of the Cyprus Republic, that they should fully endorse the agreement with the EU, and that they should let the settlers--sorry, the Greek Cypriots are no more using the term settlers, preferring instead the term the guests of Denktas--leave the island as a way of resolving the problem? In the face of people with this mentality, what we should say as a united body is this: My friend, we are already sovereign, we enjoy the same rights as you do on these lands, we set up our own home, our own state, when you destroyed the Republic established in 1960, and since 1963 we have been administring ourselves first within separate regions and then in a single region after 1974. You must accept this. Once this is acknowledged, we could open up new vistas and a better future for our children.^Ô

Also touching on the policies conducted between Turkey and the occupied areas Serdar Denktas underlined the fact that the Turkish Republic is the motherland, adding that with the implementation of the initialed Customs Union Framework Agreement the country's economy will soar. Also speaking about the existing problems, Serdar Denktas said that the job-creation is important but the people should not be annoyed with the state as the slots for the state cadres would be limited. Indicating that the DP has implemented many things that it has promised, Serdar Denktas said that they would continue serving the people without discriminating between the ^ÓTRNC citizens^Ô and ^ÓTRNC citizens^Ô with roots in Turkey.

Also commenting on speculations on the December ^Óelections^Ô, Serdar Denktas said that the DP would run in the ^Óelections^Ô on its own without any alliance with any other party.

[04] Akinci stated that a population census under the supervision of the Council of Europe is needed in occupied Cyprus

In a written statement after a meeting of the Central Administrative Committee of PDM on Saturday, Mr Akinci declared that the Party continues to be against the random distribution of the so-called ^Ócitizenship^Ô of the pseudostate. He also stressed that the Party believes that it is useful for a population census to be carried out under the supervision of the Council of Europe the sooner the possible.

[05] The pseudostate granted citizenship to the Chairman of the Turkish Football Federation

According to the paper, the occupation regime has also ordered 50 thousand new identity cards for 8 billion TL.

Turgut Afsaroglu, a columnist in the Turkish Cypriot daily AFRIKA newspaper (24.08.03), wonders if the identity card number of Ulusoy is 244944, then it means that there are about 245,000 ^ÓTRNC citizens^Ô. And if we consider that the children, under the age of 12, do not have identity card, then the population in the occupied areas is 300,000, of which 215,000 are Turks and 85,000 Turkish Cypriots.

The paper continues as follows:

^ÓThe voters in the 1976 ^Ñelections^Ò were 76,000.

During the ^Ñelections^Ò of June 2002 the electors were 134,000.

Let no one be confused or be surprised if at the ^Ñelections^Ò of December 2003, the number of electors reaches the 150,000 figure^Ô.

[06] The Chairman of the Turkish settlers described Rauf Denktas as a tyrant

Cevikel described Rauf Denktas, as a wild tyrant, who has been trading the blood of the Turkish Cypriot martyrs for the last 40 years. He also added that the pseudostate has only used and exploited the Turkish settlers and wondered how they (the pseudogovernment) can look at the eyes of these people and continue to lie.

Cevikel went on by saying that his people trust and attach great importance to the Turkish army, which is an integral part of their nation.

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[07] Columnist in SABAH supports that the dominant view in Ankara is that Kofi Annan will revise his plan on Cyprus

^ÓNext month there are three critical thresholds in front of the government.

The first of these is sending troops to Iraq.

The second is the EU Progress Report.

The third is the elections to be held in the `TRNC´ in December.

This time, there is no negative approach within the government on the subject of sending troops to Iraq.

There is no minister who definitely opposes sending troops to Iraq, like the former Minister of State Ertugrul Yalcinbayir did in the past.

Also, the number of Members of Parliament [MPs] in the party group who oppose sending troops is not as many as it was previously. The difficulty in front of the government is very different this time. It has not yet been able to measure completely the difficulties to be confronted in Iraq in case soldiers are sent there. For this reason, first of all, it is making efforts to form a public opinion by inviting to Turkey the representatives of groups, which have a certain influence in Iraq. It does not want to send troops to Iraq with the appearance of an occupation force.

In order not to give this image, Ankara is making an intensive activity for meetings, which will be held with the tribal leaders from the Baghdad region, who will come to Turkey as of next week.

The development, which has disturbed the government, is the attacks made against the Turkomans in Kirkuk yesterday [Saturday, 23 August].

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has devoted all of his time for the past two days to the developments experienced in Kirkuk.

Evidently, Minister Gul has expended intensive efforts to have the recent attitude of Jalal Talabani and his forces in favour of harshness against Turkey and the Turkomans be recorded both in Baghdad and in Washington, D.C.

Ankara is pleased about the appearance of cooperation between the Turkomans and the US soldiers reflected on the television screens yesterday during the incidents in Kirkuk and the reflection of these within Turkey.

After the contacts that will be held in the beginning of September and the activities for creating a public opinion within Iraq, it can be said that a draft permission will be passed in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) around the middle of September and that Turkish soldiers will be sent to Iraq.

Subtitle: The EU Progress Report

Another effort of Ankara is the EU process. The government, after the Seventh EU Convergence Package, is preparing to go on intensive EU tours as of the beginning of September. The first stop of the EU tour will begin with the visit of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Germany. During September and October Prime Minister Erdogan and Minister Gul are planning to go to many European countries, including Italy, Spain and Austria.

The goal of these visits is the EU Progress Report, which will be published in October.

In case the report is positive, then this will contribute to obtaining a date for full membership negotiations next year.

For this reason, both Prime Minister Erdogan and Minister Gul will be engaged in an intensive EU attack, just as was done last year.

Furthermore, Turkey's EU General Secretariat is about to conclude its campaign activities aimed at the European public opinion.

It is planned to put the European public opinion under a great pressure for one year as of September.

Subtitle: Cyprus

Another problem of the government for September is the subject of Cyprus, which came onto the agenda of the National Security Council (NSC) meeting the day before yesterday [Friday, 22 August].

The view is dominant in Ankara that the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will make a new revision on his Cyprus Plan after removing the Cyprus Special Representative, De Soto from his position and appointing him to another position.

The elections to be held in December in the `TRNC´ prior to the full EU process are what confuse Ankara.

It is not known what the elections will bring or take away. But Ankara believes that it will be confronted with an obstacle with the starting of the full membership negotiations without the Cyprus problem being solved, even if it has been stated that it is not related to Turkey's EU process.

While the government is preparing for spending the month of September in intensive foreign policy efforts, it is also experiencing a problem in domestic politics related to the general elections held last year.

The cause of this is the court judgment related to the fact that the DEHAP [Democratic People's Party] participated in the elections in a fraudulent manner. This judgment will be finalized at the Supreme Court of Appeals on 10 September.

Subsequently, the Supreme Election Board will announce its view related to the elections.

The expectation is in the direction that the election will be annulled, partially or completely.

When the domestic politics are also added to the intensive foreign policy agenda, a September syndrome, with its full meaning, is being experienced in the government.^Ô

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