Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 05-01-05

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

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Interesting opinion poll carried out by Gazi University on the views of the faculty of Turkey´s universities.

[02] Independent deputy asks the government to explain Cyprus note regarding the European constitution.

[03] Izcan says that after the referendum the RTP-DP pseudogovernment made nothing towards the solution of the Cyprus problem; Efforts for cooperation between CLP, UCP and CSP.

[04] The occupation regime will amend its "constitution".

[05] Mr Baykal commented on the EU-Cyprus issue.

[06] HALKIN SESI announced that it does not represent any political party.

[07] No provisions for possible earthquake are taken as regards the new houses built in occupied Cyprus.

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[08] Columnist in Turkish Cypriot paper accuses Turkey of continuing its war crimes in Cyprus.

[09] Column assesses the findings of the Gazi university poll among university faculty.

[10] Ilter Turkmen analyses the prospects for a new initiative for a solution to the Cyprus problem.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Interesting opinion poll carried out by Gazi University on the views of the faculty of Turkey´s universities

--There is a high level of "national anxiety" and a very low level of trust in the EU in our universities.

--The army is the most trusted institution. It is followed by the TGNA [Turkish Grand National Assembly] by a large margin.

--The majority of our university faculty are opposed to the HEB [Higher Education Board] system.

--Faculty members with high socioeconomic status and those serving in private universities are happier and more pro-West. The others are more dissatisfied and more "national."

The survey was conducted through interviews with 3,412 faculty in 69 universities--51 public and 18 private--between January and May of 2004. The survey says that 36.6 percent of the faculty are in the sciences, 36.9 in social sciences, and 26.6 are in health sciences. Also 36 percent of university faculty are women.

What is the biggest threat awaiting Turkey in the future? Below are the answers of university faculty:

--The decline of the national identity: 34 percent.

--The rise of fundamentalist movements: 22 percent.

--The rise of destructive movements: 12 percent.

--Limitations on independence: 11 percent.

--The decline of domestic investors: 6 percent.

--The decline of religious values: 3 percent.

--The decline of agriculture: 3 percent.

--Other: 9 percent.

In this "nationalist" and "secularist" picture a larger proportion of faculty with high socioeconomic status see the rise of fundamentalist movements as a threat. In contrast a higher proportion of faculty with low and middle socioeconomic status see the "weakening of national identity" as a threat.

On one side we have faculty with high socioeconomic status and working for private universities and state universities in big cities. On the other side we have the remaining faculty.

The proportion of women in the first group is higher. Generally the families of these faculty have also had higher education. The members of this group like Western classical and pop music as well as Turkish pop music. They are satisfied with their jobs. Those who have been overseas more frequently read more books. They have greater trust in the army. A relatively small proportion of this group is dissatisfied with HEB. They are very careful about being "open minded."

The value about which the faculty in the second group care most is "honesty." The members of this group complain about their low salaries. They give more importance to traditional values. They are more concerned about the future of their children. They are more likely to listen to Turkish classical, popular, and folk music. They have less confidence in HEB.

Faculty in the first group believe that "working hard and being entrepreneurial" is important for "rising in social life." In contrast those in the second group believe that "having powerful relatives" is more important.

Among all the faculty respondents 45 percent ranked the army as the most trusted institution. The TGNA got 17 percent, the legal system 15 percent, the EU 6 percent, and the government 4 percent. Lower proportions of the respondents expressed confidence in other institutions.

Faculty in private universities or with high socioeconomic status as well as women faculty trust the army in higher proportions.

Among all the faculty respondents 30 percent believe "the EU is a Christian club," 52 percent believe it is not, and 18 percent are undecided.

There is strong opposition to HEB. When asked about "the best university system for Turkey," only 5 percent of the respondents said "the current system"; 49 percent want "full autonomy," and 34 percent want "semi-autonomy."

When asked whether "HEB's promotion and appointment system is fair," 40 percent said "no" and 25 percent said "yes." The rest were undecided.

In addition, 37 percent of faculty members never participate in "decisions made in the university." Only 15 percent "participate," and 48 percent "participate sometimes."

2.Independent deputy asks the government to explain Cyprus note regarding the European constitution Turkish Daily News (04.01.05) reported that independent Istanbul deputy Emin ªirin asked the government to explain what commitment Turkey made vis-a-vis the Cyprus issue when it signed the European Constitution's final draft.

In his written statement Sirin said Article 38 of the European Constitution's final draft referred to a paper concerning Cyprus. "Our Foreign Ministry says this paper is a diplomatic note written by our permanent representative for the EU that explains the way we recognize Greek Cyprus," said Sirin, asking, "In what way do we recognize Greek Cyprus? "We are waiting for the Foreign Ministry to announce the content of the letter," said Sirin.

[03] Izcan says that after the referendum the RTP-DP pseudogovernment made nothing towards the solution of the Cyprus problem; Efforts for cooperation between CLP, UCP and CSP

In a written statement issued yesterday Mr Izcan said that the statements of the Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktas after the referendum show that his ideas on the Annan plan have not changed.

Mr Izcan noted also that the National Unity Party (NUP) insists on the recognition of the pseudostate and expressed the opinion that everybody knows that this is not possible according to the international law. He pointed out that NUP's aim is to prevent the solution and called on the pro-solution forces within the Turkish Cypriot community to unite their power and prevent the opponents of the solution from getting the majority in the new "parliament" which will come up after the 20 February early "elections" in the occupied part of Cyprus.

Mr Izcan added that the cooperation of the pro-solution forces during the "presidential elections" and the election of a "president" who supports the solution is also important.

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot daily ORTAM newspaper (05.01.05) reports that the Communal Liberation Party (CLP) has decided to participate in the 20 February so-called elections together with forces which support peace and solution in Cyprus. The CLP has started meetings with the UCP and the Cyprus Socialist Party to this end.

[04] The occupation regime will amend its "constitution"

In the explanatory note t is said that the "draft-law" was prepared because the "constitution" of the pseudostate which got into force in 1985 could not respond to some needs created from some changes "in the country and the world". It is also noted that the aim is the creation of a "soft constitution" that could easily be amended when needed.

[05] Mr Baykal commented on the EU-Cyprus issue

Mr Baykal, inter alia, commented on the Cyprus and the EU issues and said that it is believed that the recognition of the "Greek Cypriot Administration" would be only done with a "declaration". Mr Baykal continued: "The representatives of the 'Greek Cypriot Administration' will sit on the same negotiation table with Turkey and there, every country will submit their demands. The 'South Cyprus' could want the opening of representative office in Ankara, its airplanes to arrive and depart from Esenboga and Ataturk airports, its ships to use the Turkish ports, and the issues regarding Cyprus to be discussed directly with them."

[06] HALKIN SESI announced that it does not represent any political party

As it is explained in the announcement, for the last three days HALKIN SESI was distributed with a supplement called "Peace", which is a four page bulletin type of the Peace and Democracy Movement (PDM). In the announcement, it is stressed that this supplement is a paid advertisement and HALKIN SESI has nothing to do with its content.

The reason of this announcement is that HALKIN SESI was accused of supporting the PDM.

[07] No provisions for possible earthquake are taken as regards the new houses built in occupied Cyprus

Speaking to the paper, Mr Mehmet Arsin, in charge of the Seismologic Section of the so-called ministry of public works and transportation of the occupation regime, stated that the pseudostate is not ready at all to face a disaster similar to the one that hit recently the South East Asia. He also said that the institutions, the organisations and the persons who live in occupied Cyprus are not informed as regards the issue of earthquakes.

Noting that the construction sector has shown an increase recently, Mr Arsin stated that because no ground studies are made as regards these constructions, a possible earthquake can cause many dangers in occupied Cyprus. Mr Arsin said that a possible earthquake in Cyprus will be between 6.5-7 degrees on the Richter scale and added that a stronger earthquake cannot take place in this area.

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[08] Columnist in Turkish Cypriot paper accuses Turkey of continuing its war crimes in Cyprus

"Ankara, which is not putting an end to the arrival of settlers from Turkey to Cyprus, and by not abandoning its policy of changing the demographic structure of the territories under its occupation in the North Cyprus is committing war crime".

Aziz then quotes article 49 of the Geneva Convention signed on 12.08.1949, which provides that":

"Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive".

Also paragraph 6 of the same article says:

"The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies" and stresses that this is a war crime.

What does Ankara do in Cyprus? Since the day it occupied north Cyprus and for the last thirty years it has been transferring in mass its own civilian population to the occupied territories of the Republic of Cyprus. Ankara, which has claimed that it was coming to Cyprus, following the colonels coup, for reinstalling the constitutional order and protecting and saving the Turkish Cypriots, has refuted and negated this claim with its actions.

It did not reinstall the constitutional order and it is not re-establishing it.

It is openly and without any restrain, violating its own signature and obligations and trying to impose its own order that it has established in the occupied territories.

Albeit the claim that it will save the Turkish Cypriots, through the policy of transferring its own civilian population to the occupied areas, it dissolves and annihilates the Turkish Cypriots. With the puppet government people´ of the regime which that it is trying to promote a state, signing bilateral agreements and protocols.

In order to give legitimacy to its policy of transferring its own civilian population to the occupied territories, it is, without paying any attention, making fun of the patriotism of all the Cypriots, be they Turkish Cypriots, Greek Cypriots or other ethnic communities.

With a cynical stance, it turns a blind eye and tramples upon the Geneva Convention, and all the other international conventions, international law, rules and principles and to every moral values. It considers the world public opinion a stupid. It thinks that neither the Turkish Cypriots nor the other Cypriots are able to see or realize that with the separate state for the Turkish Cypriots´ claim, it is after its own and its allies interests, and not of the Turkish Cypriots whom it tries to reduce to a minority and then to annihilate them with the transfer of civilian population from Turkey.

It is trying to impose a regime in Cyprus which is suitable to it own aims and it claims that this is a search for peace.

Ankara, cannot and will not be able to impose on the people of Cyprus all its illegal actions that it claims to be legitimate.

Ankara is committing war crimes in Cyprus, and it is committing these crimes with the puppet rulers of the regime that is under its occupation.

The leaders and the parties that signed the last protocol in Ankara, whatever their aim is, motives and reason, they should know that they are an accomplice of the crime that Ankara is committing as well as they are betraying the Turkish Cypriots, and all other ethic communities, all Cypriots.

No people, no country and history shall forgive treason and hypocrisy".

[09] Column assesses the findings of the Gazi university poll among university faculty

"What do 45 percent of the teaching staff members, who consider the military as the "most trustworthy institution," think on the subject of democracy?

Sixty-seven percent of the teaching staff members are not pleased with the "functioning of democracy" in Turkey. Twenty-one percent are undecided and 12 percent are pleased.

How should this be perceived? This is one of the aspects of the opinion poll that could be criticized. Some answers are not clear, as some of the questions are difficult to understand.

What did the teaching staff members mean when they said, "I am not pleased with the functioning of democracy?" Did they mean, "The people are unable to make correct choices?" Or did they say, "The people are making correct choices, but the institutions are not operating well?" Did they mean the legislation and regulations related to rights and freedoms?

There are no answers to these questions in the opinion poll.

Social classes in the Universities

Seventy-three percent of the teaching staff members consider themselves as "middle class." Those who consider themselves as "lower class" is 3 percent and the percentage of those who consider themselves in the "upper" economic and social class is 24 percent.

These 24 percent "upper class" teaching staff members trust the military a lot more. They prefer Western music a lot more. They consider the "radical religious movements" as the greatest threat and they feel themselves more isolated (29 percent of the total).

If we were to add to this the teaching staff members who consider their job to be "difficult", then the following result is observed at the 118th square of the opinion poll:

"Those who have a high socioeconomic level, those who consider the job of being teaching staff members as difficult, and those working at the state universities, are experiencing more estrangement."

Not reading newspapers and not watching TV, that is, a lack of interest in what is happening, are indicators of this feeling of estrangement. Thank goodness, their ratio is low: only 12 percent.

The way to advance

The views on the subject of the "factors that would increase the economic and social level" are among the very important indicators of the opinion poll. Eleven percent of the teaching staff members say to have a "good education" is important and 27 percent say to be "diligent and enterprising" is important. These answers are suitable for the functions of a modern society. As for the means of advancement in the pre-modern societies: Under the conditions in Turkey, 28 percent of the teaching staff members consider it important to have "persons close to them" who are powerful and 22 percent consider it important to have "relations with the interest groups."

To which factors and to which degree is advancement in the academic community connected? Definitely to be more modern, but there is no data in the opinion poll.

The expected spiritual values

The "values" the teaching staff members expect from their own children, from their students and from their colleagues are different.

The values they expect from their children: Honesty, 46 percent; to be open-minded, 24 percent; to be intelligent, 15 percent; diligence, 13 percent.

The values they expect from their students: Diligence, 42 percent; to be open-minded, 26 percent; honesty, 21 percent; to be organized, 10 percent.

The values they expect from their colleagues: To be open-minded, 40 percent; diligence, 25 percent; honesty, 22 percent; to be organized, 13 percent.

We expect our children to be more honest, our students to be more diligent and our colleagues to be more open-minded.

Socialism and materialism

In the opinion poll, the term "materialism" is used in the meaning of giving priority to material-economic values, not to philosophical materialism. To the proposal, "A person should think of himself first and not the society," only 19 percent of the teaching staff members say "yes" and 81 percent oppose it.

Similarly, those who say, "Salaries are more important than liking the job," are also very low, at 12 percent.

The ratio of those who say, "Preventing the high cost of living is more important than political freedoms," was only 20 percent.

The ratio of those who find the "materialistic" proposal in the form of "How much you earn is important, not how you earn the money," to be correct is 4 percent and a crushing majority of 96 percent reject this.

This is a picture in which the socialist and moralist values are predominant.

But at the same time, to the question, "What is the greatest problem of the teaching staff members?" 48 percent answered it by saying, "low salaries."

It is stated that the research assistants are "more materialistic." It was not studied in the opinion poll to what extent the reason is very low salaries and to what extent the reason is a difference between generations.

Traditional values

Fifty-six percent of the teaching staff members say, "We should not engage in behaviors, which are against our traditions." The traditional value in the form of, "Not to forget a favor made," is approved at the rate of 95 percent.

But the ratio of traditionality falls and individualization comes into the forefront on subjects, such as divorce and not agreeing with the opinion of the majority when it is considered to be wrong.

A high ratio of "anxiety" also draws attention. Fifty-six percent of the teaching staff members are worried about earthquakes, 73 percent are worried about a relative or themselves catching a serious disease and 66 percent are worried about a "war breaking out in the world."

Could these figures be related to the feeling of "estrangement?" We can reach detailed information on this subject and on other subjects only when the "cross relations" among the answers are studied.

It appears that the "university" is a complex and heterogeneous structure, not simple and monotonous."

[10] Ilter Turkmen analyses the prospects for a new initiative for a solution to the Cyprus problem

"In my article last Tuesday I wrote that, if negotiations on Cyprus resume, south Cyprus will want to take full advantage of its status as an EU member.

Then I posed the question of how we can better balance a situation that is to our disadvantage at the moment. Since the only means we have to bring about this balance is diplomacy, there are three factors that we must try to activate. As always the first factor that comes to mind is the United States. Till now the United States has always confined its efforts on Cyprus to the framework of the "good offices mission" assigned to the UN Secretary-General by the Security Council. Consequently it is unlikely that Washington will want to intervene in the matter directly especially now that south Cyprus is a member of the EU.

Several initiatives were taken in the UN Security Council before and after the 24 April referendum, but all of them failed. A resolution submitted to the Council before the referendum to ensure the implementation of the Annan Plan crashed into Russia's veto. Russia actually exercised its veto to help the Greek Cypriots but Turkey also had some serious objections to that resolution. We were concerned that references in some articles of the resolution to Section 7 of the UN Charter, which imposes implementation obligations, could affect the entire resolution. After the referendum we wanted the Council to note and to endorse the report of the Secretary General because in this report the Secretary-General reviewed the results of the referendum with criticisms against the Greek Cypriots and called for an end for the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. Unfortunately this resolution based on a report that the Greek Cypriots did not like also encountered opposition. At present there is little likelihood that a similar initiative will be tried again in a Security Council which will have Greece as a member in 2005 and 2006. Nonetheless, could the Secretary- General try to bring the sides together around the negotiation table again? The `TRNC´ [`Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus´] would not want to take any steps before its National Assembly and presidential elections. Moreover the Secretary General is not inclined to take any initiatives unless he sees an explicit determination for a solution from both sides.

Could the EU take an initiative? A collective EU initiative would not be in our interests since south Cyprus is a member of that union. However certain EU countries, especially Britain, may try to revive the mission of the UN Secretary- General. This means that all possible initiatives would end up in the UN framework. In any event any other framework would not be in the interests of Turkey or the `TRNC´ because they would lose most from any erosion of the parameters of the Annan Plan.

Timing is very important in the solution initiatives Turkey may take. What is expected from us until 3 October is not to find a solution but to extend the Ankara Treaty of 1963 to the new EU members. We must be neither too hasty nor too tardy on the issue of a solution. The idea of delaying a solution in order to hold a trump card until the time Turkey is about to become a member of the EU is extremely wrong. Such a delay would force us to make a last-minute choice between the EU and Cyprus. We must also not forget that the continuation of the deadlock for a very long period, in the new conditions created by the accession of south Cyprus to the EU, would weaken the functions of the state with respect to its citizens in the `TRNC´ and force a large portion of the [Turkish Cypriot] community to adapt to the de facto situation.

It is very hard to determine what steps we could take at this stage. However the first requirement of success is to build a full consensus among the political forces of the `TRNC´ and between Turkey and the `TRNC´. On this issue there is no longer any room for any delays".

/SK

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