Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 05-03-01

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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 objections of RTP and DP regarding the "election" results in occupied Kyrenia and Morfou areas have been rejected; Preparations for the so-called presidential elections have began.

[02] Turkish PM prefers Yasar Yakis as EU chief negotiator.

[03] Gul asked from Minister Schmit of Luxembourg for the legalization of the faits accomplis created by Turkey in occupied Cyprus after the barbaric Turkish invasion of 1974.

[04] Turkish ambassador argues that only historians have the right to decide on the massacre of one and a half million Armenians by Turkey.

[05] The Psychological Operations Units of the Turkish Army are changing name.

[06] Two Turkish diplomats to Brussels to negotiate the Customs Union Protocol.

[07] Another deputy of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Turkey resigned - Party officials denied rumors for early elections.

[08] The pseudo police raided a place where Turkish Cypriots were attending Greek lessons and interrogated the persons participating in the class.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] The objections of RTP and DP regarding the "election" results in occupied Kyrenia and Morfou areas have been rejected; Preparations for the so-called presidential elections have began

Commenting on the decision of the SEB, Hasan Tacoy, chairman of the National Unity Party (NUP) in Nicosia, said that this was an expected decision and added that they respected it.

Mr Salih Usar, candidate in Kyrenia with the RTP, noted that they should see the justification of the decision before saying anything. No official of the DP made any statement to the press after the decision was announced.

Meanwhile, according to Turkish Cypriot daily HALKIN SESI newspaper (01.03.05), the political parties represented in the so-called "assembly" have began evaluating the so-called presidential elections and they are searching for an above-party "candidate".

The paper reports that while the chairman of NUP, Mr Dervis Eroglu does not think of being a candidate, his party decided to suggest to the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktas to become a candidate or to search for a common candidate with other parties.

Furthermore, Serdar Denktas, chairman of the DP, noted that they were searching for a concession on the issue of finding a common candidate with other parties. Mr Denktas is expected to begin visits to other political parties today.

Meanwhile, the party committee of the RTP decided yesterday to designate a candidate for the "presidential elections" and announced that it would be accepting applications for candidature until 7 March.

Turkish Cypriot daily AFRIKA newspaper (01.03.05) writes that the RTP decided to designate Mr Mehmet Ali Talat as its candidate for the "presidential elections".

Furthermore, Turkish Cypriot daily ORTAM newspaper (01.03.05) reports that Rauf Denktas may be saying that he will not be a candidate, but he is trying to exert pressure on the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and impose his candidature.

The paper argues that with the statements that Mr Denktas makes recently, he corners the JDP government and puts it into a difficult position before the Turkish public. Mr Denktas is doing this by putting forward the reasons for which he could not be a candidate, notes ORTAM.

As regards the establishment of a pseudogovernment, Turkish Cypriot daily CUMHURIYET newspaper (01.03.05), mouthpiece of the DP, reports that Mr Serdar Denktas said yesterday that "the will of the people is for the continuation of the current coalition".

Finally, Turkish Cypriot daily GUNES newspaper (01.03.05), mouthpiece of the NUP, writes that Mr Dervis Eroglu stated that his party, which has 19 "MPs", is ready to evaluate any offer made by any party and argued that the "country" needed the most widely accepted "government" during this critical period.

[02] Turkish PM prefers Yasar Yakis as EU chief negotiator

HURRIYET further reports that Turkey wants to appoint the chief negotiator prior to the 7 March 2005 Turkey-EU troika meeting.

Quoting Turkish Foreign Ministry circles HURRIYET reports that Prime Minister Erdogan has pointed out Yasar Yakis, to his close circles. He said to his close circle: "Mr Yakis knows well both politics and the diplomacy. It is an important advantage that he comes from the Turkish Foreign Ministry circle. Mr Yasar is a good name for this job".

Turkish Foreign Ministry circles further say that Erdogan has appointed Yakis in order not to hurt Foreign Minister Gul and keep the balance, because Gul wanted Ali Babacan, State Minister Responsible for the Treasury to be the Chief negotiator, but Erodgan preferred Babacan to stay on his present past because he is successful there as well.

[03] Gul asked from Minister Schmit of Luxembourg for the legalization of the faits accomplis created by Turkey in occupied Cyprus after the barbaric Turkish invasion of 1974

Gul said that Turkey's priority was matters concerning its European Union (EU) membership bid and it would continue to exert efforts with determination on its way to the Union.

Mr Gul said that Schmit and himself reviewed initiatives to be carried out in the following six months, and recalled that a frame document on negotiations and a new Accession Partnership Accord would be prepared during this process.

Noting that they also discussed the Cyprus problem, Gul said the EU should adopt two regulations regarding the areas of the Republic of Cyprus under the occupation of 40,000 Turkish troops since 1974. Gul said that Turkey-EU Troika would meet at the beginning of next week.

Answering a question who would be chief negotiator in talks with the EU, Gul said that ''Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and he thought that things would be easier if the chief negotiator was a politician'', and added that Erdogan would announce the negotiator when the time came.

On the other hand, Schmit said that Turkey had fulfilled its responsibilities by making reforms but implementation regarding these reforms was also important.

Schmit stated that as the EU, they also had to do their homework, and therefore they would do their best regarding membership negotiations.

Asked what kind of initiatives the EU would launch as regards the regulations on the territories of the Republic of Cyprus under illegal Turkish military occupation, Schmit said: ''Luxembourg, as the current EU president, has committed itself to make progress. We aim to adopt these two regulations. We know that there are some problems, but we won´t give up. We are trying to convince all the parites, Initiatives continue regarding this matter in Brususels".

[04] Turkish ambassador argues that only historians have the right to decide on the massacre of one and a half million Armenians by Turkey

In his statement, Irtemcelik said: ''Only historians have the right to make decisions about historical events. The draft includes many prejudices, mistakes and unilateral expectations about Turkey-Armenia relations.''

''Armenians resorted to organized terrorism not only in Eastern Anatolia during the World War I, but also in many places in the world from Los Angeles to Vienna, from Beirut to Paris in the near past to reach their political targets. Armenia did not recognize Turkey's territorial integrity and the existing borders with Turkey. Also, despite all warnings of the international community, Armenia has still been occupying territories of Azerbaijan. Under the light of all these, we find it strange that German political parties have undertaken spokesmanship of fanatic Armenian nationalism. We think that CDU/CSU did not understand the importance and sensitivity of the issue,'' he said.

''No one can reach anywhere by defaming Turkish people and their history. No one has the right to hamper our integration process, and our historic and friendly relations with Germany. Before putting forward such baseless allegations, everyone should study the history carefully. Besides many Armenians, countless innocent Muslim people died in those years. If they aim to assist Turkey and Armenia to improve their relations, they should realize that such issues are extremely serious and cannot be used as a tool for domestic policies of the third countries. Instead of preparing such drafts, I invite them to persuade Armenian President Robert Kocharian and the Armenian government to give up their policy preventing formation of a peaceful atmosphere in Southern Caucasus,'' he added.

Moreover, Ankara Anatolia (28.02.05) reported from Vienna that Armenian historians will not attend the meeting to be held in Austrian capital of Vienna in May in which they will exchange documents with Turkish historians regarding the so-called Armenian genocide, the Vienna Armenian-Turkish Platform (VAT) said on Monday.

VAT, acting as a mediator between Turkish and Armenian historians who are willing to exchange documents, stated that Prof. Dr. Lavrenti Barseghian, the director of Yerevan genocide museum, and Prof. Dr. Ashot Melkonian, the director of the History Department of the Armenian Sciences Academy, notified them in writing that they would not attend the second meeting planned to be held in May.

Pointing out that the main target of the Armenian diaspora in 2005 is to make several countries ''accept the 1915 incidents as genocide'', VAT-member historians stress that Turkey has proved that it is ready for dialogue and will take action for a possible solution.

VAT historians added: ''As VAT, we expect the international community, particularly Armenia and Turkey, to deal with this matter more seriously and systematically. And, we believe that both parties will establish dialogue with each other under equal circumstances, and take VAT concept as a model.''

The VAT, comprised of historians working at the Vienna University namely Prof. Dr. Wolfdieter Bihl, Dr. Kerstin Tomenendal, Dr. Inanc Atilgan and Dr. Artem Ohandjanian, had been a platform for exchange of documents between Turkish and Armenian historians in July of 2004.

Prof. Dr. Yusuf Halacoglu, the head of the Turkish History Authority (TTK), and Prof. Dr. Hikmet Ozdemir, the head of the Armenian Desk of TTK, joined the first meeting held in Vienna in July 2004 and delivered 100 documents regarding the 1915 incidents to VAT officials.

On the other hand, Armenian historians did not participate in July's meeting and sent 100 documents to the meeting via VAT member historian Dr. Artem Ohandjanian of Armenian origin.

[05] The Psychological Operations Units of the Turkish Army are changing name

"The General Staff has abolished the psychological operations units, which had captured attention due to the debates triggered by a "memorandum," as part of its restructuring process.

The decision was personally made by General Hilmi Ozkok, Chief of the General Staff. The reason behind the decision was that the psychological operations units had created "a negative image and anxieties." The psychological operations departments were replaced with information support units.

The restructuring process in the Turkish Army is under way. In what was viewed as a crucial decision, the General Staff abolished the psychological operations divisions on the grounds that the term "psychological operations" had created "a negative image and anxieties." During the assessments made before making the decision, there was a common understanding that the term "psychological operations" had been used to make a series of negative allegations in the media and thus led to misunderstandings. While making his decision intended to eliminate negative perceptions of the psychological operations units, Ozkok also called for launching a restructuring process in the Armed Forces for that purpose.

Information support units established

The psychological operations units, which were among the intelligence divisions within military units, have been reorganized under the name of information support units. The Psychological Operations Division under the General Staff Intelligence Department was renamed Information Support Division. During the restructuring process, the names and working methods of the units established within the armies in the European countries for similar purposes were also reviewed.

The psychological operations units, which were similar to those set up within all the armies in the world, came under criticism in Turkey after the 28 February process. The mission of the psychological operations units, which also came under the spotlight due to some activities such as the "memorandum," is defined in military terminology as creating unrest in a hostile country during a war by spreading rumors and maintaining propaganda campaigns while counteracting similar operations being conducted by the enemy.

The "memorandum" incident

The "memorandum" documents included an instruction to use the statement made by Semdin Sakik, one of the leading figures within the Workers Party of Kurdistan, with the objective of discrediting some politicians and journalists and persuading the public that they had lent support to that terrorist organization. Nazli Ilicak, who was then an MP, tabled a question in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, asking the government to clarify whether those allegations were true".

[06] Two Turkish diplomats to Brussels to negotiate the Customs Union Protocol

They are Ambassador Deniz Bolukbasi, Turkey´s Permanent Representative to World Trade Organization (WTO) and Turkish foreign Ministry deputy undersecretary, responsible for USA, Greece and Cyprus, Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan.

HURRIYET reports that both Turkish diplomats are tough negotiators.

[07] Another deputy of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Turkey resigned - Party officials denied rumors for early elections

This is the fourth JDP deputy who resigned during the last two weeks.

Speaking during a press conference about the reasons that led him to resign, Mr Kucukali stated that "he is sorry to see that the JDP has become, against its foundation principles, a party that does not respect the law regulations, rejects the justice, the development and the democracy and makes a matter of primary importance the personal caprices, the resentment and the ambitions".

With the recent spate of resignations, the distribution of seats in the Turkish National Assembly is as follows:

*	Justice and Development Party:    363
*	Republican People's Party:        170
*	Independent:                       10
*	True Path Party:                    5
*	People's Ascendance Party:          1
*	Vacant:                             1
*	Total:                            550

Besides, as NTV television (28.02.05) broadcast a senior official of JDP denied on Sunday reports that the Turkish government was planning to call a snap election.

Faruk Celik, the vice chairman of the party's parliamentary group, said that the government had no wish to go to the polls early, as had been claimed in the media. "There is no such demand for early elections from the public or for reasons of political stability. The government had two to two and half years more in office, and during this period, presidential elections were to be held", he said adding that in May 2007, the JDP will place who it wish to see as president in the presidential seat.

[08] The pseudo police raided a place where Turkish Cypriots were attending Greek lessons and interrogated the persons participating in the class

No information was given regarding the reason why the pseudo police interrogated these persons and no statements was issued on this matter.

/SK

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