Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 04-12-17

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[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Turkey refuses to accept the decisions of the EU Summit.

[02] Erdogan wants to have a peace coffee with President Papadopoulos amongst the thousands of occupation troops.

[03] Hours before the EU Summit Erdogan declares ready to take a step regarding the Cyprus problem.

[04] Solana: It will be difficult for Turkey to accede to the EU without recognizing the Republic of Cyprus.

[05] Turkish sources on the meeting between Mr Karamanlis and Erdogan.

[06] EU Commission President is quoted to have said that Turkey would be in a position to recognize all the EU members when it becomes full member.

[07] Gul rules out direct or indirect recognition of the Republic of Cyprus.

[08] Berlusconi explains that the 3rd October was fixed to give Turkey time to recognize the Republic of Cyprus.

[09] Erodgan is quoted to have reprimanded the Dutch Presidency for not ignoring the Greek Cypriots who are only 600,000.

[10] Turkey ordered investigation against Kurds.

[11] Serdar Denktas stated that the first step in removing the "isolation" imposed on the Turkish Cypriots to come from the USA.

[12] How the Turkish and the Turkish Cypriot press covers last night's Summit.

[13] Direct trade with the occupied areas of Cyprus of concern for Spain.

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[14] Columnist in STAR argues that Turkey´s refusal to co-operate with the US during the Iraq war has meant the end of the two countries´ strategic partnership.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Turkey refuses to accept the decisions of the EU Summit

EU heads of state and government waited till the end of the meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende of the EU Acting President the Netherlands.

Also, European Parliament (EP) President Josep Borrell and United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan can't obey their earlier set schedule.

On the other hand, Balkenende is expected to brief EU heads of state and government on his meeting with Erdogan. Sources say that there can be some new meetings between Erdogan, who is still in the building where the summit is being held, and EU representatives later today.

Ankara Anatolia further reported from that scenarios circulate in Council lobbies regarding alternative ways out as the meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, continued.

The first scenario is: ''Turkey will accept extending the Ankara Agreement to cover all the European Union (EU) countries including Cyprus, by putting some conditions.''

Diplomatic sources said the EU presidency would then have the chance to put pressure on the Cyprus government.

The second scenario says: ''Turkey will depart from Brussels without signing the presidency conclusion added to final statement.'' Diplomatic sources said the ''ties would not be broken'' in this case, stating that a negotiation process that will continue till October 3rd, 2005 could start.

Meanwhile, the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Greece convened to assess the Cyprus issue.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, French President Jacques Chirac, and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder are discussing overcoming the deadlock regarding Cyprus.

[02] Erdogan wants to have a peace coffee with President Papadopoulos amongst the thousands of occupation troops

In response to a question on Turkey-Armenia relations, Erdogan replied that if and when a positive approach is witnessed from the Armenian side, Turkey would be ready to open its border gate with Armenia. "Whatever took place in history must remain in history. We must build our new world on peace. We are positive towards Armenia. We want national borders to be respected. We have made Turkish air space available to Armenian commercial planes. There is no reason as to why we should not open the border gate as well. However, we want to see the same positive attitude from the Armenian side as well. An important part of Azerbaijan is still under Armenian military occupation. This fact should not be ignored and forgotten," said Erdogan.

Erdogan said Turkey is prepared for a temporary ban on the free movement of Turks in EU countries. "Yet a permanent ban on the free movement of Turkish nationals would be against the EU laws and regulations."

In reference to the problems created in Cyprus by Turkey´s occupation of its Northern part, Erdogan remarked that Turkey is ready to discuss Cyprus during its entry talks with the EU.

He noted that it would mean failure of all efforts if EU leaders put a text which they would not say "yes" on the table. "I hope they won't," he added. Turkey expects the formal announcement on the conclusion of the EU summit tomorrow (Friday) at 13.00 hours. "It would be wrong to declare the summit's decision as victory. We must not be spoiled by our success. Furthermore, a possible negative summit decision should not be viewed as a big disaster. Whatever the decision at the summit, Turkey can continue to develop on its own feet," said Erdogan.

"Maybe we can go to Northern Cyprus one day, and invite Papadopoulos. We can have a coffee of peace and a meal of peace there," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan added.

[03] Hours before the EU Summit Erdogan declares ready to take a step regarding the Cyprus problem

"Turkish Prime Minister Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan has held a news conference in Brussels where he commented on the EU summit. He stressed that Turkey will not reach a decision on Cyprus that runs counter to national interests. He said: "We are ready to take a step in Cyprus, but the nature of the step is important."

The prime minister held a 25-minute news conference for the reporters who are constantly following him. He talked about all his talks today, and pointed out that he met with 12 leaders throughout the day. He summarized the situation ever since the Customs Union of 1996.

The EU leaders are currently at a dinner. Chirac is not attending this dinner. Prime Minister Erdogan said that Chirac would not be attending the dinner due to his own private affairs. Erdogan said that after the dinner, term president Balkenende will call him on the telephone and update him on the developments.

The prime minister was asked about the Cyprus question, because the Greek media reported that at their meeting today Greek Prime Minister Karamanlis asked Erdogan for a written declaration that he would recognize the Cyprus Republic, and that Erdogan rejected this offer. Erdogan said at his news conference: Things that we have not said were published. That is out of the question. This is gossip. These things are not even in the text of the document. The basic principle of our government and of our party is not to take any step that may run counter to our national interests. Neither our training nor our view of history would allow us to do such a thing.

Erdogan stressed that all the leaders he met today did their homework very well and were aware of Turkey's sensitivities. He added: The terms that are used in bilateral talks, especially the terms used in the text of the document, carry different weights. You cannot use certain terms on certain occasions. It is true that we are ready to take a step in Cyprus, but the nature of the step is extremely important for us.

The prime minister said that during the talks he noticed that the issue of privileged partnership is completely out of the agenda. He added: The hard negotiations will begin after the text assumes its final shape. Those developments will take place in the morning hours. We will make our final decision at 1300 tomorrow. You will see then what I am going to do."

[04] Mr Javier Solana stresses that it will be difficult for Turkey to accede to the EU without recognizing the Republic of Cyprus

Releasing a written statement prior to the EU Summit, Finland said that Helsinki was in favour of opening of entry talks between Turkey and the EU in 2005. Finland stressed that the only target of the talks should be full membership of Turkey.

Meanwhile, EU Policy Chief Javier Solana called on Turkey to recognize the Republic of Cyprus.

"If you want to become a part of a family, you have to recognize all members of that family, otherwise you cannot become a member of that family", Solana told reporters.

Solana stressed that if Turkey did not recognize the Republic of Cyprus side, its full membership would be difficult.

[05] Turkish sources on the meeting between Mr Karamanlis and Erdogan in Brussels

Sources said that during the Erdogan-Karamanlis meeting, the Cyprus problem was discussed and Karamanlis told Erdogan: ''It is unacceptable if a country which wants to be an EU member does not recognize an EU member.''

Sources said that Karamanlis told Erdogan: ''At the first stage Turkey can sign the Customs Union protocol covering all new members of the EU and then it can officially recognize the Cyprus Republic". '' Erdogan in return said: ''A solution within the framework of the UN is necessary in Cyprus,'' and he repeated the Turkish stand.

Erdogan did not present a new proposal to Karamanlis, added the sources.

The sources said: ''At the current stage, negotiations are still continuing. Other EU member countries also have the same stance as Athens.'

[06] EU Commission President is quoted to have said that Turkey would be in a position to recognize all the EU members when it becomes full member

Barroso said a balanced attitude was pursued towards Turkey, noting that they were aware of the problems, but at the same time the steps Turkey made were also taken into consideration. He said: ''Time came to start negotiations'' and stressed that the target would be full membership in negotiations.

Mentioning the concerns in several member countries and Europe´s public opinions about Turkey's accession to the EU, Barroso called on Turkey to take more steps toward Europe.

Barroso said Greek Cypriots would also be at the table, ''however,'' he noted Turkey did not recognize the Republic of Cyprus.

Replying to a question about the Cyprus issue, Barroso said no new political conditions would be imposed on Turkey and that Turkey would be in a position to recognize all the member countries when it becomes the EU full member.

Replying to a question about permanent derogations proposed for Turkey, Barroso said he thought this problem would be solved in the summit and that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sensitively focused on this issue.

Barroso said the European Commission brought this proposal about free movement of Turkish workers, yet that any discrimination or special status was not in question. He said there was much concern about this issue in some member countries, noting that permanent derogations were implemented on some member countries.

Focusing on the concerns of the EU public opinion often, Barroso said Turkey would be in a position to struggle much to convince the public.

Replying to a question about the genocide committed against the Armenians, Barroso said bringing new political conditions in front of Turkey at the last minute was out of the question.

[07] Gul rules out direct or indirect recognition of the Republic of Cyprus

When reporters reminded the statements of Danish Premier Anders Fogh Rasmussen who said, ''Turkey is ready to recognize Cyprus,'' Gul who is in Brussels said: ''There are misunderstandings about these issues. Direct or indirect recognition of the Cyprus Republic is out of the question for Turkey.''

[08] Berlusconi explains that the 3rd October was fixed to give Turkey time to recognize the Republic of Cyprus

"We expect that until the 3rd of October 2005 the Turkish government will recognize the Republic of Cyprus", Mr Berlusconi said.

The paper also reports that the Italian Prime Minister said that the Turkish Prime Minister told him that they could recognize the Republic of Cyprus but this can be done by a decision of the Parliament and they need time.

"In order to provide time to Erdogan we have chosen the 3rd of October", said Mr Berlusconi, concludes KIBRIS newspaper.

On the same issue, Ankara Anatolia (17.12.04) reported from Brussels the following:

"The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has quoted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying that ''they were ready to start initiative to recognize 'Cyprus Republic', but they needed time to make majority of Turkish parliament accept it in the past.''

Berlusconi told a group of journalists in French: ''Erdogan has told me that they were ready to start initiative to recognize Cyprus, but they would need time to make the majority of Turkish parliament accept it. We have given him required time. One should recognize all members of the family if he wants to join that family. This is not a condition, but a reality.'' Noting that Austria and France did not take a step back in the working dinner, but they supported Turkey and they would do their best till morning.

Turkish diplomatic sources told A.A that Berlusconi made this statement in French which he was not very fluent so that there may be differences in the meaning. They added that ''it was out of question that Erdogan made such statements regarding Cyprus to Berlusconi.''

[09] Erodgan is quoted to have reprimanded the Dutch Presidency for not ignoring the Greek Cypriots who are only 600,000

Mr Unlu replied: It is still too early to say whether it would turn into a crisis. But it is possible to state clearly that there is a serious anxiety concerning this issue. Even, according to information reaching us, during yesterday's meeting between Balkenende and Erdogan voices have been raised a bit. The condition for the indirect recognition of the Greek Cypriot sector, that is the extension of the Ankara agreement by 3 October, has infuriated Prime Minister Erdogan. Prime Minister Erdogan has said: You preferred 600,000 Greek Cypriots to 70-million Turks; this means that we have not been able to explain anything to you.

Erdogan has openly voiced his concern on this issue by saying: How can I explain this to 70-million-strong Turkey?

Let me also note that the final draft from the delegation has again been submitted to the EU term chairman. We can say that the talks that continued into the morning hours have entered their last round. The leaders will pose for a family photo at around 1300 [1000 GMT] and with that the time will have reached for the knot to untie, as Prime Minister Erdogan put it yesterday. The summit text will be announced then. The text is proposing the start of Turkey's negotiations with the EU on 3 October 2005, but the condition on the recognition of the Greek Cypriot sector has greatly disturbed Turkey."

[10] Turkey ordered investigation against the Kurds for the advertisement published in foreign newspapers

The Justice Ministry sent newspaper clippings of the advertisement to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office for an investigation. Press Prosecutor Kursat Kayral has been assigned to conduct the investigation.

After the advertisement was published in foreign newspapers, some of the persons who had signed it said that they had not seen the last version of the text".

[11] Serdar Denktas stated that the first step in removing the "isolation" imposed on the Turkish Cypriots to come from the USA

Mr Serdar Denktas stated that after the 17 December he expects steps to be taken as regards the removing of the "isolation" imposed on the Turkish Cypriots. However he said that these steps will not come only from the EU, but firstly from the USA.

[12] How the Turkish and the Turkish Cypriot press covers last night's Summit in Brussels

Turkish mainland MILLIYET under the banner headline "Marathon bargaining for Cyprus", writes that Ankara gave the message "we will take steps", as regards the Cyprus problem which was an issue of priority in Brussels. It also writes that the Ankara formula is the following: It can sign the Customs Agreement but Ankara will determine when.

Turkish mainland HURRIYET, under the title "New life", writes that the historic date was announced for Turkey as regards the EU membership which will be the second most important step for the country since the establishment of the republic. It also writes that the decision is the beginning of a new era.

In addition Turkish mainland SABAH newspaper has Ataturk's picture in its first page with the caption 29 October 1923-17 December 2004, and under the banner headline "Gentlemen!" writes the following using capital letters: "We said what we said 81 years ago. We did for ourselves what we did for the modernisation. From now on we will move forward on the road we consider to be right".

Local KIBRIS newspaper, under the headline "Date for Turkey" writes that the leaders of the EU suggested the 3rd of October 2005 as a date for the beginning of the negotiations for the country. It also writes that the end of the negotiations is still open and there is no guarantee for full membership.

AFRIKA under the title "3rd of October 2005 the final date for Turkey" writes that the negotiations will start aiming for full membership and that a compromise solution will be found in case the negotiations will not be completed successfully. In addition the paper writes that Turkey will recognise the Republic of Cyprus before the 3rd of October 2005.

Under the headline "Destiny date", VATAN quotes the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's statement that if the developments are not as Turkey wants them to be, they will "cut" the efforts for joining the EU as Norway did.

ORTAM covers the issue under the title "Danger from the bitter result for the Turkish Cypriots" publishes statements by Mr Huseyin Angolemli chairman of the Communal Liberation Party that the policy of "wait-and-see" until the 17 December on which the Turkish Cypriots were relying on started to give results and stated that these results will be bitter for the Turkish Cypriots.

Under the title "Open-ended negotiations for Turkey", HALKIN SESI writes that Turkey will start negotiations on the 3rd of October and the target of the negotiations will be the full membership of Turkey. In addition it writes that the bargaining as regards Cyprus and the derogations will continue until the last moment.

CUMHURIYET North Cyprus, under the title "We will not recognise Cyprus at this point" writes that the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan did not change his attitude despite all the efforts made by President Papadopoulos.

GUNES, under the title "Cyprus knot" writes that the Turkish Prime Minister did not support the recognition of the Republic of Cyprus before a solution. It also writes that Mr Erdogan met with the Geek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and that he said that "tomorrow (today) at 13:00 'the Cyprus knot' will be solved".

VOLKAN under the title "If they have the firman (the imperial edict) we have the mountains", writes that the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan by saying that 'the Cyprus knot will be solved today at 13:00' it became obvious that the fate of the persons who live in occupied Cyprus will be determined today.

YENI DUZEN under the title "Cyprus 'calm' before the storm" writes that after the end of the 17 Summit very important developments will follow and stresses that most important of them is related to the issue of the recognition of the Republic of Cyprus which, according to the paper is a tough issue.

KIBRISLI is the only paper which gives minimum coverage to the Summit in its first page and writes only that the 3rd of October 2005 was the suggested date for the beginning of Turkey's EU negotiations.

[13] EU regulation for direct trade with the occupied areas of Cyprus is a great concern for Spain

An EU official, who said that there is on the negotiation table a "package" of the regulations of the Direct Trade and the Financial Aid, which is about 259 million Euro, noted that the "Greek Cypriot Administration's" attempt to separate the two regulations were unsuccessful.

The surprise is that apart from the Greek Cypriot side and Greece that are against the direct trade Spain is also against. The reason that the Madrid administration, which did not say much until now about the Cyprus issue, is against the regulation is very interesting.

A high level official from the Enlargement Section of the EU Commission made interesting statements to YENIDUZEN at the Brussels summit regarding the efforts of lifting the isolation and what is expected at the Cyprus problem after the summit.

The high level official, who wanted to remain anonymous, reminded that the preparations regarding the isolations, which were decided after the outcome of the referendums, were suspended until the 1st January 2005, when Luxemburg will take over the EU's term Presidency. The official, who believes that the new term President will bring to the agenda for discussion this issue, sent the message that important developments are expected after the 17 December summit.

The official announced that Spain doesn't support the direct trade with the Turkish Cypriots and gives support to the Lefkosia administration and Athens on that issue.

According to the information the EU official gave, the reason why the Spanish administration is against the direct trade is three small areas, two near Morocco and one in Gibraltar. Giving direct trade possibilities to the Turkish Cypriots will create precedence to these three areas, namely Ceuta, Melilla and Gibraltar.

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[14] Columnist in STAR argues that Turkey´s refusal to co-operate with the US during the Iraq war has meant the end of the two countries´ strategic partnership

"While hoping that we shall be moving one step closer to the European Union at the end of this week, Turkey's foreign policy, which all along has been one step more on the side of the United States, has changed direction because of the Iraqi war. Having reluctantly accepted within democratic rules the result of the voting on the 1 March [2002] authorization bill [for the dispatch of Turkish military units abroad and deployment of foreign forces in Turkey], the US officials had said the decision, although a democratic one, would inevitably have a cost in the political sense. It appears that this political cost has spelled out the end of the strategic partnership, which had a name but no effect in the relations between the two countries. Well, what does this mean? How does Washington assess an Ankara that is close to Europe? Here are a few observations:

Following his talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul in Ankara in April 2003 and in Washington in July 2003 and January 2004, US Secretary of State Colin Powell had described, at the joint press conferences, the relations between the two countries as strong, friendly and historic. He had not used the word strategic. This must not have been a coincidence, because former US Ambassador in Ankara Mark Parris, with the comfort of having retired, said there were certain issues that would not be conducive to continuity in the relations with Turkey due to the Turkish Government's dialogues with Washington in the last two years. He noted, though, that this was not due to Turkey's closer relations with Europe.

Despite the fact that the Americans officially state that they have overcome the 1 March shock, they do not fail to say that a strategic partner would not have acted in the way that Turkey did. It is the failure to overcome this shock that has led Washington to watch with caution and interest Ankara's approach to Brussels. Let us immediately emphasize, though, that Washington lends full support to Turkey's EU objective. Yet, ahead of our historic week, both Parris and Under Secretary for Political Affairs Marc Grossman, in the statements they made on various occasions, emphasized that Turkey did not have to distance itself from the United States just because it is approaching the EU.

While stressing that political and economic stability in Iraq would be to Turkey's advantage, Grossman also gave the message: You should not forget that this depends on our success in Iraq. Behind this warning is the unease felt over the increasing opposition to the United States in Turkey. The accusation that the United States committed genocide in Iraq has been viewed as a criticism that goes too far, does not reflect the realities and does not reflect well upon an ally. The United States expects a debate on how Iraq may be led to stability rather than expressing the view that whatever it does in Iraq is wrong.

Would the priority be Iraq or the PKK [Workers Party of Kurdistan]? Judging from the present-day realities, it does not seem possible that the United States will get what it expects from the Turkish public opinion since it has not engaged in any military operation against the PKK. On the contrary, it is believed that the United States follows policies that threaten the territorial integrity of Iraq by ultimately creating an independent Kurdistan. By refusing to take a position on the side of the United States, Ankara believes that it has taken the measures to overcome its fear. History has proved that the cost of wrong alliances has been high. The story as to how Iraq was established after it was broken away from the Ottoman territories may be cited as an example. History proves that the British had no intention to tear up the Ottoman territories until the Ottomans joined an alliance with Germany in World War I. Commenting on Turkey's stand against the United States, a senior US official said: "Such a fear on the part of Turkey would be unfounded. We are after stability. An independent Kurdistan will create uneasiness in the whole area rather than only in Turkey. This conflicts with our interests."

In the meantime, Parris pointed out that the best period of Turkish-American relations was between 1997 and 1999, when the relations with Europe were severed. It is known that at the end of this period, the United States had caught PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and had handed him over to Turkey. If you view it from a natural theory of logic, the reason for the lack of action against the PKK is as old as the Stone Age.

Continue with both

As a matter of fact, Grossman's and Parris' messages to Ankara are clear: Turkey should not choose between the EU and the United States. It should vigorously keep up its dialogue with both. Otherwise, the loser will be Turkey. Turkey needs both the EU and the United States in order to be an effective country in its region. One wonders whether Washington is trying to prepare Turkey to serve as a bridge between the EU and the United States before it becomes a bridge between the East and the West".

/SK

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