Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 05-11-25

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

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Britains Supreme Court officially registers the decision of the Court of the Republic of Cyprus on Orams case

[02] The new leadership of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce visits Mrs Fatma Ekenoglu and Mr Aydan Karahan

[03] The law for returning properties is risky

[04] The OIC General Secretary said it was a correct decision to upgrade the status of the Turkish Cypriot community to a Turkish Cypriot State within the OIC

[05] Norwegian Ambassador said a Cyprus settlement is linked to Turkeys accession to the EU

[06] References to Cyprus by the Turkish President Sezer on his speech at the COMCEC meeting The self-styled minister of economy Deniz attended the opening of the meeting and held contacts with OIC officials

[07] The funeral of Ozker Ozgur and Salih Miroglu took place in occupied Cyprus

[08] The UBP may change the date of its congress

[09] General Ozkok denies allegations of having political aspirations

[10] Turkey's Ground Forces changing Emblem Again

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[11] Columnist Birand views Gen Buyukanit's interview with Hurriyet

[12] AFRICA columnist: Ankara is in trouble

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Britains Supreme Court officially registers the decision of the Court of the Republic of Cyprus on Orams case

In statements to illegal TAK news agency, the self-styled attorney general of the TRNC, Mr Akin Sait said that this was a result of the cooperation in the field of law between the Republic of Cyprus and Britain, that there is a period of thirty days to object to this decision and that lawyer Mentes Aziz, who represents the British couple, will file an objection.

Mr Sait noted that the procedure of the registration is a technical one and that there is no case opened before the judge. According to the result of the objection after the registration procedure, an appeal will be made. (The decision) could not be executed before the result of the appeal, he said.

Meanwhile, under the front-page title Great blow, Turkish Cypriot daily VOLKAN newspaper (25.11.05) writes that the registration of the Orams case at the British Supreme Court is a great blow to the building sector in the occupied territories of the Republic of Cyprus and the foreigners who buy property there. The paper argues that while the Greek Cypriots work like bees, the CTP DP self-styled government is preparing laws that will help them, instead of taking counter-measures.

Referring to the issue, Turkish Cypriot daily ORTAM newspaper (25.11.05) notes that the British court may order the demolishment of the house which the Orams couple has illegally built in the property of Mr Apostolides.

I/Ts.

[02] The new leadership of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce visits Mrs Fatma Ekenoglu and Mr Aydan Karahan

In her statements Mrs Ekenoglu said that during this new process in which the self-styled TRNC has entered, they have to work together with the civilian organizations and solve the problems. She expressed the opinion that the economic problems of the Turkish Cypriots will essentially end with the approval of the Direct Trade Regulation of the EU.

She argued that the KTTOs office in Brussels should have been opened earlier and noted that they must struggle together for the lifting of their so-called isolations by developing their relations with the EU countries.

Mrs Ekenoglu said that they could not think of another solution except the lifting of the so-called isolations so that the Turkish Cypriot economy stands on its own two feet. She noted that the civilian organizations must do a lot of work on this issue and added that during their meetings abroad they hear advices regarding things that the civilian organizations could do.

Meanwhile, Mr Nami said that everybody struggles seriously and that the struggle consists of two parts, the economic and the political. He noted that the new administration of the KTTO believes that the Chamber functioning as a Chamber of Commerce would be more useful. If everybody does fully his duty, things at home will be improved, he added.

Furthermore, Mr Karahan said that they are ready to assist the new administration of the KTTO as they had done with the previous one and cooperate with it. He noted that their aims are the same, that they supported an agreement which will protect eternally the political equality of the Turkish Cypriots and the accession of the Turkish Cypriots in the EU after this agreement. Mr Karahan said also that their aim is to bring the Turkish Cypriots to the same economic level with the Greek Cypriots.

I/Ts.

[03] The law for returning properties is risky

The first President Rauf Denktas made very shocking statements the day before on the issue of the properties.

Denktas, who said that the majority of the people who had taken properties in the north as an equivalent for their property in the south may have sold their property in the south, stressed that in this situation in case the properties in the north are returned to the Greek Cypriots the state will remain without land and the people without property.

Denktas said: In case we close our eyes and return the territory we posses to the Greek Cypriots, in the light of the fact that the majority of the properties in the south may have been sold secretly; we will be turned into a mass ready to migrate altogether and into a people without land and property.

These words of Denktas which have the meaning of a political confession illuminate the way for what the government should do on the property issue before making legal adjustments. The government should first conduct an investigation and reach safe conclusions regarding the issue of the unjust practice of the equivalents and the secret selling of land. Those who have taken property in an unjust manner in the north must be found. Those who have secretly sold their property in the south after they took property as an equivalent must be revealed and be brought to justice. The bitter reality that Denktas pointed out shows how risky is making legal adjustments before finding out all these. .

I/Ts.

[04] The OIC General Secretary said it was a correct decision to upgrade the status of the Turkish Cypriot community to a Turkish Cypriot State within the OIC

Mr Ihsanoglu said at the meeting that it was a correct decision to upgrade the participation of the TRNC at the OIC meeting from a Turkish Cypriot community to a Turkish Cypriot State, and he expressed his belief that this state would soon take its place in the international community.

(DPs)

[05] Norwegian Ambassador said a Cyprus settlement is linked to Turkeys accession to the EU

Mr Akay, in statements after the meeting, said that the Norwegian ambassador said to him: Forget the UN. The UN started to leave behind the plan. Turkeys accession to the EU started to be at the forefront now. It seems that the solution has been linked to the membership of Turkey to the EU which will happen within 14-15 years. Noting that the issue is dangerous due to the fact that the Republic of Cyprus is an EU member, Mr Akay said that the tactic of the Greek Cypriots to use the EU as a catalyst is not working, because of their no vote at the referendum.

Alleging that the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is still expecting the Greek Cypriots to put their demands on the table, Mr Akay said that in case this does not happen, the illegal TRNC will try to curb the Greek Cypriot sides negativity within the EU and strengthen its relations with countries outside the EU like Norway and the USA.

Mr Akay concluded: Someone must tell the Greek Cypriots that they should be in a joint state with us or to accept the reality that there are two separate states in Cyprus.

(DPs)

[06] References to Cyprus by the Turkish President Sezer in his speech at the COMCEC meeting The self-styled minister of economy Deniz attended the opening of the meeting and held contacts with OIC officials

The Turkish President was speaking at the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (COMCEC) which started yesterday in Istanbul.

"The ongoing isolation of the Turkish Cypriots who voted for peace and reconciliation in the referendum held on April 24th, 2004, has to end. The integration of the Turkish Cypriots to the international community should be assisted financially and politically. Relations with the Turkish Cypriots should be improved in all areas particularly in transportation, trade, investment, tourism, culture and sports," Sezer said.

In addition, as illegal BAYRAK television (24.11.05) broadcast the self-styled minister of economy and tourism Dervis Kemal Deniz also attended the opening ceremony of the COMCEC in Istanbul. Mr Deniz later held contacts with the OIC officials. He met the President of the Islamic Development Bank Ahmet Muhammed Ali and the President of Islamic Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Sheik Saleh Bin Abdullah Kemal.

[07] The funeral of Ozker Ozgur and Salih Miroglu took place in occupied Cyprus

In the morning, a special ceremony was held for Ozgur at the Ataturk Cultural Centre in occupied Lefkosia and another for Miroglu at the National Unity Party headquarters.

Both men died on Tuesday; the former leader of the Republican Turkish Party, and the United Cyprus Party Secretary for Foreign Affairs Ozker Ozgur died from cancer and the acting-leader of the main opposition National Unit Party Salih Miroglu died of a heart attack.

The first ceremony for Ozker Ozgur was held at the Ataturk Cultural Centre in occupied Lefkosia. The ceremony was attended by the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus and AKEL General Secretary Mr Dimitris Christofias, the leader of the DISI Nikos Anastasiadis, the acting leader of DIKO Nikos Kleanthus, the leader of United Democrats Mihalis Papapetrou, the leader of EDEK Yannakis Omirou, the former President of the Republic Yiorgos Vasiliou, the deputies of the Assembly Mrs Sotyroulla Haralambous and Mrs Kety Cleridis; and representatives of some non-governmental organizations. The ceremony was also attended by the self-styled Prime Minister in the OTRC Ferdi Sabit Soyer, some self-styled ministers, leaders of political parties and representatives of non-governmental organizations.

[08] The UBP may change the date of its congress

[09] General Ozkok denies allegations of having political aspirations

Some allegations made about the Chief of the General Staff, which apparently resulted from some mysterious intentions, were recently highlighted by the national media. In response to those allegations, it was considered necessary to make the following statements with a view to informing the public:

In a briefing for the press he held on 13 April 2004, the Chief of the General Staff clearly responded to allegations that he had been promised to be named president and his comments fully clarified the matter beyond any doubt. The comments he made in that meeting are still valid today.

The tenure of a chief of the general staff is four years on condition that it does not extend beyond the age of compulsory retirement and the incumbent Chief of the General Staff's term of office will expire on 30 August 2006. The Chief of the General Staff does neither have any expectation that his term of office will be extended beyond that date nor considers such a possibility.

The Chief of the General Staff is bound by the oath he had taken while joining the military. He strictly adheres to the principle of "absolute obedience to the laws, regulations, and superiors" and fulfills his military duties in accordance with the laws, which stipulate that "the Turkish Armed Forces shall be above all kinds of political movements." Although he has respect for the political establishment, he does not consider joining any political organization or assuming a political role after his retirement.

The Chief of the General Staff would like to remind those, who have made those unfounded allegations and leveled unjustifiable criticism at him, that they are actually discrediting the Turkish Armed Forces and advise them to exercise common sense.

He sincerely believes that our great nation will judge the matter using its common sense and thus make a correct assessment of the facts.

[10] Turkey's Ground Forces changing Emblem Again

A written statement issued by the General Secretariat of the Office of the Chief of the General Staff noted that, as a result of efforts made within the scope of the standardization of the force insignia of the Turkish Armed Forces, the emblem of the Ground Forces Command was changed, and the new symbol began to be utilized on 29 October 2005.

The statement indicated that, when the new Ground Forces Command emblem became known to the public, a large number of opinions, suggestions, and criticisms came to the Office of the General Staff from citizens living both within the country and abroad.

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[11] Columnist Birand views Gen Buyukanit's interview with Hurriyet

The prime minister is putting democratization in the forefront of the so-called Kurdish problem. The military is both protecting itself and delivering threats at the same time. The opposition, meanwhile, does not accept the "primary identity" concept. The opposition says, "Let everyone acknowledge their own Turkishness." And the PKK appears satisfied with all this confusion.

There is a fine-tuned search going on in Ankara... I would describe the interview between Hurriyet Ankara representative Nur Batur and commander of the Turkish Land Forced Gen. Yasar Büyükanit as a sort of military "defense" or "answer to criticism."

No matter how much meaning the newspaper wants to read into its "If we need to, we'll send in the F-16s" headlines, Büyükanit is not really rattling his saber; he is not saying, "We're going to bomb them." Unfortunately, however, readers could misconstrue his words.

Some might misinterpret his statements and take them to mean bombing Kurds. In fact, Buyukanit is simply issuing a warning. He is saying that if the country comes to the point of division, anything, including F-16s, could be used.

The timing of these words is perhaps not ideal. They are words that could be misunderstood at first glance, words that could mislead if you only read the headlines. Reading the entire interview, though, you see that the bulk of it is in response to personal attacks on him.

Gen. Büyükanit provides detailed information about who carried out the attacks in Semdinli and then underlines that his biggest worry is that the incident will wind up harming the Turkish Armed Forces. The commander of the Turkish Land Forces is backing up assessments that I have been writing about for the past two days. He says the region is beginning to "lose" its people. He reminds us that this is an issue that will not be resolved through military action alone. He calls attention to the fact that the economic and social aspects of the situation have been ignored. If we read it another way, we can see that Gen. Buyukanit is pointing out that previous political administrations (1999-2005) neglected to take the necessary steps on this front.

There will be varied reactions to the statements of Gen. Buyukanit; however, without engaging in conspiracy theories, at least it is now clear how a commander who will become chief of general staff next Aug. 30 views the developments in the Southeast. It would be extremely helpful for us as a society to analyze Buyukanit's comments correctly. If an administration-military clash occurs, or if we have to put up with internal General Staff haggling, our work will become even more difficult. There is a fine-tuned search going on in Ankara. It would be great if basic policies rather than fighting provided the framework for our meetings.

Did Erdogan take a risk in the Southeast? Prime Minister Erdogan's trip this week to the Southeast at the height of tensions was, say some security experts, a tremendous risk.

The last-minute nature of the trip did not allow enough time for adequate security measures to be taken and, contrary to what was written in some newspapers, he did not wear a bulletproof vest.

So what were the prime minister's impressions? Why did he take such a risk? I spoke with some of the people who accompanied him from the start of his trip. They told me he was not afraid, that he did not make the trip merely as a show of courage.

Clearly, it had been decided that giving out too much information prior to the trip would only increase the risk the prime minister was taking. The feeling from what they saw in the region was that the prime minister had not, in fact, "lost the people."

Here's some of what I was told by one of Prime Minister Erdogan's closest advisors, "These were very tense days. We could have encountered dissident voices. We could have come up against sharp reactions. But that didn't happen. We got no hostile looks in the streets. There were people holding up posters and protesting, but not with hostile looks. People poured their feelings out onto those passing through. When they were told to 'please put your posters down, it's shameful,' they did so."

This official from Erdogan's circle also noted that the prime minister had returned to Ankara pleased with his visit. The prime minister, in speeches given in the Southeast and in group meetings upon his return to Ankara, signaled -- without going into details -- the AKP's general approach to the situation. Erdogan is not placing strong-arm tactics at the forefront of his plan for dealing with the Southeast. He prefers instead to make democratization and investment the centers of his strategy, leaving the security aspects of the situation to a distinctly secondary level.

Will he be successful with this strategy?

If the government, in all of its capacities, moves forward with this approach, the work of the PKK will become more difficult. What the terror group wants is for the Turkish Republic to respond with force and guns. As a result the PKK would win the people of the region to their side, and they would have ample ammunition for more provocation.

The important thing is to not fall into this PKK trap.

[12] Africa columnist: Ankara is in trouble

Will Loizidous house in Kyrenia be returned to her at the end of 2005?

Yet, they will

Will the other property cases, headed by Arestis case filed against Turkey at the European Courts of Human Rights (ECHR) continue?

Yes, it will

Can Turkey, which paid one million dollar to Loizidou as compensation, refuse to pay to the others if the ECHR ruling is against Turkey?

It cannot

That is, Turkey, which started accession negotiations with the EU, is in trouble with these cases

Ankara sat down and thought how it could fend off this trouble for a while. And it decided that the way out was to change, the laws of the Property Compensation Committee (PCC) established in the TRNC, as demanded by the ECHR.

The ECHR, demanded amendments, in order to accept the PCC as national law.

Here was the crux of the matter .

According to the Article 159 of the TRNC Constitution, the immovable property left by the Greek Cypriots were under the TRNC possession and they could not be returned to the Greek Cypriots.

If it was necessary to amend the Article 159 in order to solve Turkeys trouble, then it was going to be amended.

And Ferdi Sabit Soyer (the self-styled Prime Minister in the occupied territories of the Republic of Cyprus) has announced in London that Article 159 of the TRNC Constitution shall be amended.

He declared this because the order came from Ankara: Amend the Constitution. Rearrange the structure of Property Compensation Committee and give more authority and power to it.

What should hopeless Ferdi do? The order is from Ankara? He has to obey.

Afsaroglu, goes on and criticizes Mr. Soyer for his inconsistent statements and says that, what he (Soyer) said in London was right and what he said here is not the truth.

Afsaroglu, concludes by saying: In doing all these, have one objectiveThat is, to gain time for Turkey Whatever the cost is or who ever pay the price.

This is the logic.

When this is the logic, it is the Turkish Cypriots that foot the bill.

Thus, the Turkish Cypriots neither could possess their property left in the south Cyprus nor could they own the property they acquired in the north under the Equivalent Property arrangement.

In the International law the provisions are very clear. The one who possess the title deed, the property belongs to him.

What should be done, is this bearing in mind the above provision, we have to do the same thing as regards the property; that the Greek Cypriot side does.

That is, if they file a suit, you have to do the same. If they are expropriating you should do the same.

You have to play the game according to its rules.

MHY

/X.CHR.

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