Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 06-03-13

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

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Talat was released from hospital.

[02] Soyer continues his contacts in London.

[03] Mr Serdar Denktas has been re-elected as the leader of DP.

[04] Dervis Kemal Deniz held a press conference in Germany.

[05] The Turkish Foreign Minister met Bakoyanni in Austria.

[06] Statements on the financial aid by the EU to the Turkish Cypriots.

[07] A Kurdish Conference was held in Istanbul.

[08] A debate in the Turkish Parliament over the Customs Union Protocol is not likely to take place in the near future.

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[09] Article is CYPRUS TODAY assesses the problems of the Turkish Cypriot Airlines.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Talat was released from hospital

On the same issue, Turkish Cypriot AFRIKA newspaper (13.03.06) reports that Mr Talat´s press conference was confined to his health. However, when asked to comment on political issues he replied that he has been away from politics for 15 days and not fully informed.

As regards the meeting between President Papadopoulos and the UN Secretary-General in Paris, Mr Talat said that the Secretary-General called on him and informed him by phone.

[02] Soyer continues his contacts in London

He held meetings yesterday with representatives of local Turkish Cypriot organizations based in London.

His program also included interviews with some media institutions one with the SKY TV network.

[03] Mr Serdar Denktas has been re-elected as the leader of DP

Mr Serdar Denktas has been re-elected as the Leader of the Democrat Party.

There were elections also for the 50 members of the Party Assembly at todays 6th Congress of the junior partner of the coalition government.

Addressing the delegates, Mr Denktas called on the Greek Cypriot Side to help solve the Cyprus problem on the basis of Turkeys active guarantees.

Serdar Denktas has said that the parameters of a possible solution to the Cyprus problem have now become clear and that these are a solution to the problem on the basis of Turkeys continued status as a guarantor power and Turkish Cypriots political equality with the other side.

Touching upon the protests against the EU Parliamentarians last week, Mr Denktas said that the Democrat Party attracted criticism for that, but added that the DP is ready to look forward for the next visit of the delegation due in June.

However, he pointed to the need for the European Union to respect the Turkish Cypriot `Peoples´ identity.

Making it clear that his party will react even more strongly if the delegation comes to the island with the same mentality, Mr Denktas said that the Turkish Cypriot Sides demand for its political equality to be recognized must be taken into consideration by the whole world.

[04] Dervis Kemal Deniz held a press conference in Germany

Mr Deniz´s words came at a press conference held on the sidelines of the ITB Berlin 2006 the biggest tourism fair in the world-where the occupied areas of Cyprus were also represented.

Speaking at a press conference for foreign media, the Minister of Economy and Tourism Dervis Kemal Deniz said that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has achieved important progress towards improving the tourism sector.

He said that the TRNC is attracting more tourists than ever with its natural beauties and historic places.

Mr Deniz explained that the Turkish Cypriot people had expressed its desire to become part of the European Union as one of the two equal entities of a Republic by its approval of the Annan Plan at the 2004 referendum in Cyprus.

He said, in spite of its support to a settlement, it is worrying that North Cyprus was not given any share from the aid being provided to the Greek Cypriot Administration.

But, he made it clear that the Turkish Cypriots did not give up their desire to become part of the Union and that they will continue to work to achieve progress towards this.

Explaining that contacts are being held in Germany to increase the number of German tourists visiting the TRNC, he said tourism is one of the locomotive sectors for the occupied areas.

He also underlined the fact that the lifting of the international isolation of the Turkish Cypriots is crucial for a boost in the sector, adding that such a move will mark the opening of air and sea ports to international traffic and thus will create better conditions to compete with other countries.

Mr Deniz also noted that opportunities are being created for foreign investors in the occupied areas and that work is still going on to harmonize the countrys laws to those of the European Union.

Around 10-thousand-and-four-hundred tourism organizations are attending the ITB Berlin-2006 which has been held since 1966.

The five-day fair started on Wednesday and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus manned a 124-meter square stand at the fair.

(Tr. Note: Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is an illegal regime set up by the Turkish Republic in the areas of Cyprus occupied by 40,000 Turkish troops).

[05] The Turkish Foreign Minister met Bakoyanni in Austria

In Vienna for EU Foreign Ministers meeting, the Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has had a meeting with his Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyanni.

The Turkish Foreign Minister told reporters after the meeting that his meeting with Mrs Bakoyanni had been useful.

Speaking afterwards, the Turkish foreign minister said his meeting with his Greek counterpart has constituted a new beginning, during which there was an exchange of views on mutual relations.

Asked whether or not a message was brought by the Greek Foreign Minister on the Cyprus issue, the Turkish Foreign Minister said this wasnt a meeting for proposals or suggestions to be made.

Our intention was only to exchange views and take up bilateral relations between Turkey and Greece; and I accepted an invitation from my counterpart to visit Greece soon, he said.

For her part, the Greek Foreign Minister reiterated her countrys support for Turkeys future EU membership and expressed the belief that the Peoples of Turkey and Greece were expecting politicians to improve the relations between the two countries further.

[06] Statements on the financial aid by the EU to the Turkish Cypriots

The paper writes that in statements to the illegal TAK news agency, the advisor at the presidency, Mr Rasit Pertev, argued that the EU has the responsibility to solve the problems which will come up during the stage of the usage of the financial aid.

Mr Pertev said that the TRNC (breakaway regime in the occupied areas of the Republic of Cyprus) has neither approved nor rejected the Financial Aid Regulation.

We are not satisfied with its content, but we do not have the policy to prevent its application, said Mr Pertev adding: We will not prevent its application and we will do whatever we can.

Mr Pertev noted that the financial aid will be used in projects after consultation between the EU and the TRNC. He also expressed their concern that important problems will come up in case the Greek Cypriot side interferes during the stage of the usage of the financial aid.

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot daily KIBRIS newspaper (12.03.06) reports that in statements on the occasion of the 133 days since its council came to power, the chairman of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce (KTTO), Mr Erdil Nami expressed the opinion that the Turkish Cypriots should accept the financial aid from the EU and that they should have a serious cooperation with the Union. Reminding the initiatives they had undertaken in Brussels, Mr Nami said that the declaration issued before with the financial aid no longer exists and that they had conveyed some concerns and worries they have in writing to the EU.

Mr Nami noted that they had sent a letter to the EU Commissioner for the Enlargement, Mr Olli Rehn and all the European ambassadors in Cyprus explaining why the Greek Cypriots do not have the authority to speak on behalf of the Turkish Cypriots. He added that on the issue of the EU regulations for the Turkish Cypriots they had sent fifteen letters to the heads of the foreign missions, the EU officials and the representatives of the EU member states.

Mr Nami demanded the launching of an initiative so that Turkey gives guarantees to the foreigners who invest or will invest in the occupied areas of the Republic of Cyprus.

Furthermore, speaking on the same occasion the vice president of the KTTO, Mr Gunay Cerkez said that the tenders for the projects which will be made with the EUs financial aid will be open for the participation of all the European firms. Our demand is for these firms to apply our `laws´ and to pay the same `taxes´ as we do, he added.

Meanwhile, under the title The instruction take the money came from AKP, Turkish Cypriot daily VOLKAN newspaper (12.03.06) reports that the reason why the Turkish Cypriot leaders, Mehmet Ali Talat, Ferdi Sabit Soyer and Serdar Denktas have changed their mind and accepted the conditions of the Greek Cypriot administration was revealed.

The paper notes that a delegation of the KTTO visited Ankara between 5 and 7 March 2006 and had contacts with the Justice and Development Partys (AKP) government on the issue of the financial aid. At the meeting which the delegation had with the Turkish State Minister, Abdullatif Sener, they decided to accept the 139 million euro from the EU and support Turkeys so-called Action Plan for Cyprus, writes VOLKAN.

(I/Ts.)

[07] A Kurdish Conference was held in Istanbul

Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir, speaking on the second day of the two-day conference on Turkeys Kurdish Issue-Searching for civilian and democratic solution said that Turks and the Kurds are drifting away from each other. I am afraid of this he said. He went on and said that in his town Armenians, Jews and Assyrians were also living but when they left it was the Turks and the Kurds who lost.

Politicians, academics, journalists, former ministers and diplomats took part in the conference. For the first time such a conference was organized in Turkey.

(MHY)

[08] A debate in Turkish Parliament over the Customs Union protocol is not likely to take place in the near future

Parliaments Foreign Affairs Commission Chairman Mehmet Dülger says that a debate in Turkish Parliament over a contentious customs union protocol is not likely to take place in the near future, as EU toughens demand on protocol implementation

The past week witnessed a toughening in the European Union's rhetoric on the highly controversial issue of the opening of Turkish ports and airports to traffic from Greek Cyprus, a sign of potential troubles likely to plague Ankara-Brussels relations later this year.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn warned, first in Vienna after talks with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül and later in Athens, that failure to implement a customs union protocol by not opening the ports and airports would have consequences for Turkey's accession bid.

Gül's response to Rehn that the Cyprus issue should not be intermingled with Turkey's EU bid is a reflection of the insurmountable differences between the Turkish and EU positions on Cyprus, which has apparently been producing a dialogue of the deaf on who should be the one to take the step forward.

Despite the toughening EU position, and despite the fact that Turkey's compliance would be reviewed by the bloc later this year, the Turkish government has little will to act and does not have much room for maneuver either, even if it wants to act. There is no timetable foreseen for the government sending the protocol to Parliament and opponents of the protocol are apparently the majority at the moment.

Mehmet Dülger, head of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Commission, said in an exclusive interview with Turkish Daily News that it was unlikely for Parliament to debate the protocol in the near future. The protocol is not to come before Parliament yet, he said, without elaborating.

But, though desperate in terms of its possible implications on Turkey's EU bid, the stalemate with the EU comes amid a gradual shift in thinking over the main parameters of the Cyprus issue outside the 25-nation bloc, something that has the potential of forcing a rethink within the EU as well.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was the first one to say Greek Cypriot policies were likely to result in de facto recognition of the Turkish Cypriot state. A credible study by the Brussels-headquartered International Crisis Group took Straw's argument even further, putting the blame of the deadlock on Greek Cyprus.

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[09] Article is CYPRUS TODAY assesses the problems of the Turkish Cypriot Airlines

Beneath the smiles at the Berlin Tourism Fair; behind the cuddly toys, the flags and the colourful folk dancers, something nasty was lurking the woodpile.

Festering antagonism between the `Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus´s Economy and Tourism Minister´ and the head of the country´s flag-carrying airline erupted on to the surface behind the scenes at the travel industry showcase this week.

Minister Dervis Kemal Deniz and `Cyprus Turkish Airlines´ (CTA) director Ahmet Derya traded verbal blows like a pair of prizefighting heavyweights.

Mr Deniz accused Turkish old stagers at CTA of hanging on to line their own pockets while continuing to cause problems for the airline. The way things are going, CTA will be lost completely, he commented.

Enough is enough, declared Mr Derya, who hit back, accusing the `minister´ of simply trying to settle personal scores. He said he could no longer remain silent in the face of the real harm being done to CTA by Mr Deniz´s attacks and his attempts to promote competition against the airline.

Bitter words indeed. And stuck in the middle of it all was the poor Old North Cyprus tourism industry, which must have hoped for headline-grabbing news of a different sort in Berlin.

As if to drive home the point about competition, however, along came UK-based low-cost carrier easy Jet this week with the announcement that it is to expand its budget service to Istanbul by happy synchronicity, flying in and out of the same airport on the Asian side of the Bosphorus as used by Pegasus Airlines´ recently launched Cyprus Express service.

The spin-off benefits for North Cyprus are obvious: If the Pegasus flights can be dovetailed, as the key Cyprus Express shareholders say they intend, into the timings of the easy Jet operation, then holidaymakers can be brought out from the UK at a considerable saving in comparison with the routes currently in operation including, in high season at least, Larnaca.

Where easy Jet leads in this instance, can the likes of no-frills carriers such as Ryanair be far behind? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, it´s early days to judge what impact a potential easy Jet-Pegasus tie-up will have. But CTA, which has

already been blamed for helping to drive up package prices, laying the foundations for a poor summer season, would be well advised to be on its mettle if it wishes to maintain a healthy market share.

Competition, eh? It can be a cut-throat old game, and sometimes you have to leave behind old rivalries and learn to play by new rules. And in this particular game, if the tourism industry is the winner, then it will be a victory for North Cyprus and all of its people.

/SK

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