Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 04-11-30

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

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] NTV broadcast details of the draft text for the 17 December summit.

[02] Statements by Gul before leaving for the Hague. He thinks that occupying another country militarily is not contrary to the European values.

[03] Reference to Cyprus by the speaker of the TGNA. Efforts to hide the Turkish occupation of Cyprus behind the referenda held last April.

[04] The US Embassy in Ankara denies Turkish press reports of genocide in Iraq.

[05] A bomb was placed at the headquarters of the "Polatkan Tourism" company in occupied Lefkosia.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] NTV broadcast details of the draft text for the 17 December summit

The draft, to be discussed on Wednesday for the first time by the ambassadors, is also asking Turkey to extend de facto recognition to the Republic of Cyprus.

The EU chairman Netherlands last week sent a questionnaire to the EU members on issues to be broached at the summit.

The questionnaire's result has gained clarity. So have the questions put by the term chairman to the member countries as regards the decision to be made on Turkey.

Numerous heads of state and government, various member countries, underlined that Turkey has fulfilled the Copenhagen political criteria and that the reforms undertaken by Turkey over the last one year are satisfactory. Two-thirds of the EU members, that is some 20 countries, supported the start of negotiations with Turkey. But there is as yet no consensus among the member countries when to commence the negotiations. Only countries such as Britain, Italy, Spain, and Luxembourg are favouring the start of negotiations as soon as possible. Germany is favouring the start of negotiations in the second half of 2005. In this, Germany is supported by countries such as Denmark and Sweden. Whereas, France wants the negotiations to start in the first quarter of 2006, that is, in March.

And are there any conditions for the negotiations or any condition for the star of the negotiations?

The Republic of Cyprus wants de facto recognition from Turkey either before the start of negotiations or after the decision is made for the start of the negotiations. And by de facto recognition they mean that Turkey should sign and enforce the Customs Union Protocol by extending its scope over the Republic of Cyprus.

Greece has expressed the view that the need to solve the Aegean problem should definitely be mentioned in the final communique.

France and Austria have expressed the opinion that the issue of special status, not only the negotiations for full membership, should also be put on the agenda, that the special status option should also be considered, and that this should be mentioned in the final communique.

In addition, all the member countries have noted that Turkey's full accession should be considered after 2014, that is, after the 2007-2014 budget becomes clear.

Now the EU member countries' ambassadors will meet on Wednesday to draw up the final communique.

[02] Statements by Gul before leaving for the Hague. He thinks that occupying another country militarily is not contrary to the European values

Speaking at Ankara's Esenboga Airport prior to his departure, Gul informed the journalists about the schedule of his meetings and replied to questions.

Gul said he would have bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of Palestine, Israel, Malta, Britain and Germany within the framework of the conference.

When asked: ''There are allegations about the draft text of the decisions of the EU summit on December 17th. It has been claimed that there are articles in this draft text regarding de facto recognition of Cyprus and permanent restriction of free movement of work force. Have you received such a text?,'' Gul said: ''We had received such kind of drafts before previous important meetings. Turkey's views and thesis are clear. We have been clearly conveying those to our interlocutors. First of all, our expectations should be met and negotiations should start. We can think of these after our expectations are met.''

Gul also said: ''For the time being Turkey has expectations. The EU should fulfill its responsibilities.'' Such kind of texts always appear. Those are all tactics. Turkey is sure of itself. We will take into consideration the text that would be issued in December.''

Regarding Turkey´s expectations Mr Gul elaborated: ''Definite, open and net starting date of full membership negotiations, a clear full membership perspective, sustainable negotiation process, and no political conditions.''

Alleging that Turkey´s military occupation of Cyprus was not a condition for starting full membership negotiations with the EU, Gul said the conditions were only the Copenhagen criteria, and that Turkey met them.

[03] Reference to Cyprus by the speaker of the TGNA. Efforts to hide the Turkish occupation of Cyprus behind the referenda held last April

Arinc and De Croo made statements after their meeting.

Arinc said: ''Mr Croo and his delegation praised the reforms Turkey has made and the laws they enacted. He has stated that no unobjective thing or any discrimination could be thought for Turkey in the EU Summit on December 17th.''

Arinc said the Belgian delegation will meet the leader of the main opposition party, NGOs, leaders of religious communities and National Security Council general secretary.

Comparing Turkey's relations with the EU with university examinations, Herman De Croo said: ''You should be successful in university entrance examinations in order to get education in university. However, it is not enough. You should be successful in every year's examinations to graduate. Turkey has to be successful in the December 17th entrance examination and should prove its success in a negotiation process.

''Yet you should not dream aloud. A consensus is necessary for Europeans. For the time being many European countries have the same problems while trying to make their people adopt the European Constitution. Ten more countries have joined Europe and Europe is enlarged. We ask ourselves important questions about Europe's getting deep. Those who founded Europe ask themselves questions about the borders which have gone far away.''

A Belgian journalist asked Arinc whether Turkey would recognize the Republic of Cyprus to prevent a probable veto at the December 17th summit. Arinc in reply said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan could answer this question.

Stating that relations between Turkey and the EU had a legal basis, that is the 1963 Ankara Agreement, Arinc said Turkey did what had to be done since that time.

Arinc stressed that Turkey met the Copenhagen political criteria since it had become a candidate country of the EU in 1999.

Pointing out that the Cyprus problem was not a political criterion, Arinc recalled that EU had made recommendations for a solution to this problem.

Arinc said Annan's plan was put to referendum in both sides of the island for the solution of the problem. He said 65 per cent of the Turkish side voted ''yes'' in the referendum and showed they wanted a solution, while 75 percent of the Greek Cypriot side voted ''no''. ''However, despite this result, the Greek Cypriot side was accepted as full member of the EU,'' Arinc said, alleging that, ''those who supported solution have been punished, those who support non-solution were rewarded.''

Arinc said: ''It is essential in the EU criteria that any territory, having problems within itself, should not be taken to membership. There is a de facto division in Cyprus. There are two communities in the south and the north describing themselves as state. It seems that the EU punished the Turkish Cypriot side although it had to overcome this division, unite the community and put pressure on the Greek Cypriot side for a solution.

I think the EU officials very well know how a solution can be as they accepted within the EU a controversial territory. We think that making new demands to Turkey would not be a sincere attitude,'' Arinc concluded.

[04] The US Embassy in Ankara denies Turkish press reports of genocide in Iraq

The U.S. Embassy issued a written statement and said: ''Reporting in many Turkish press outlets over the past several weeks has drawn an inaccurate picture of the U.S. and coalition operations in Fallujah.''

''Among the most ridiculous claims is that the United States is committing genocide in Iraq. This suggestion is baseless, inflammatory and offensive. The recent operations in Fallujah were conducted to free the people of that city from violent insurgents who were terrorizing Iraqi citizens and murdering Iraqis and foreigners, including Turkish truck drivers and contractors. Coalition forces made every efforts to minimize civilian casualties during the operation. The charge made by some in the Turkish press that U.S. soldiers have deliberately killed civilians in Fallujah is patently absurd,'' it said.

The statement further said: ''There have also been claims that U.S. forces have used chemical and atomic weapons, poison gas, nerve agents, cluster bombs, phosphorous bombs and napalm. All of these charges are demonstrably false. As is customary in disinformation campaigns, these press reports are generally unsourced or sourced to an unidentified 'eyewitness' account. Some are taken from dubious internet sites in the region. Uncorroborated reports from such unreliable sources are not credible and have no place in a responsible debate about U.S. actions in Iraq.''

[05] A bomb was placed at the headquarters of the "Polatkan Tourism" company in occupied Lefkosia

KIBRIS under the banner headline "Bomb to the Tourism" writes that the bomb was placed at the main offices of the "Polatkan Tourism" by unknown persons and reports that despite the fact that there were no victims but only damages to property by the explosion, it has created panic in occupied Cyprus. The paper stresses that "Polatkan Tourism" is one of the biggest tourism companies in occupied Cyprus and it is well known as a company which sends tourists from south Cyprus to Turkey. KIBRIS also noted that it took twenty minutes for the so-called police to go to the place of the incident, despite the fact that its so-called headquarters are only five minutes away from the building of the "Polatkan Tourism".

AFRIKA under the banner headline "A tourist agent was bombed" writes that a bomb was placed to "Polatkan Tourism" which is known for its partnership and the cooperation with Greek Cypriot travel agencies. The paper publishes statements made by Mr Ali Polatkan, the owner of the firm who criticised the incident and stated that the bomb must have been put by an organisation. He also said that "the dirt" must be cleaned from the Turkish Cypriot community. "We will either create a clean community or we will be vanished", he said.

In addition, KIBRISLI under the title: "Bomb! This time the bombing incident was not political but there is a high probability to be commercial", reports about the bombing and writes about an incident relevant to the case. According to KIBRISLI Mr Polatkan and one of his directors visited Romania ten days ago in order to bring tourists from this country to occupied Cyprus. During their visit they went to a club and two girls sat with them. However, in an investigation conducted by the Romanian police, heroin was discovered in the purses of the two girls and as a result the girls and both Mr Polatkan and his employee were arrested. Mr Polatkan paid 54.000 dollars in order for his employee and himself to be out on bail. Upon his return to occupied Cyprus he informed the pseudo police about the issue and claimed that the whole incident was a trap that was set for him by certain circles that have connections with occupied Cyprus.

YENI DUZEN under the title "They were trapped in Romania and were bombed" writes that according to Mr Polatkan's statements the incident that took place in Romania is related to the bombing. Mr Polatkan also said, inter alia, the following: "This is a job of an organisation'I worked on my own for a solution and this incident took place".

Under the title "Bomb to 'Polatkan Tourism'" VATAN writes that the bombing created panic in occupied Nicosia and publishes statement of Mr Polatkan who said that the bombing is related with his cooperation with Greek Cypriot travel agencies.

HALKIN SESI writes under the title "Bomb to 'Polatkan Tourism'" about the bombing and reports that the owner of the firm did not receive any threats during the recent days.

/SK

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