Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 07-03-08

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

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Turkish Cypriot objections on the halloumi cheese issue; The EU Commission is said to have agreed for the use of both Turkish and Greek names

[02] Talat to meet with the Azerbaijani President Aliyev

[03] Ercakica says they will reply today to the Greek Cypriot views through the UN

[04] Ozturk expects the first German tourists to arrive on 12 March

[05] Initiatives for the organizations of Turkic Republics Athletic Games

[06] BKP says that the policies of the CTP strengthen the supporters of the division of Cyprus

[07] A new crisis in the aviation after Eurocontrols decision to hand over the Air Traffic Control in the Middle East and in the Southern Mediterranean to the Republic of Cyprus

[08] European MPs of Turkish origin head to the occupied areas

[09] Turkish Foreign Minister Gul thanked Qatar for letting the TRNC to open a trade office in Doha

[B] Commentaries, Editorials and Analysis

[10] ANAVATAN holds the key in presidential elections

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Turkish Cypriot objections on the halloumi cheese issue; The EU Commission is said to have agreed for the use of both Turkish and Greek names

The same files of the objections have been sent to Brussels as well, noted Sennaroglu yesterday during a press conference at his Ministry. Mr Sennaroglu said that they demanded the word hellim to be written together with the word halloumi.

He noted: It is extremely wrong to say that the hellim cheese, which is our common culture, is a product belonging only to the Greek Cypriot side. South Cyprus has its halloumi and the TRNC has its hellim.

Mr Sennaroglu said that the application by the Cheese Producers Union of South Cyprus in the name of the whole island has been submitted without consulting with the halloumi producers in the TRNC, breakaway regime in the occupied areas of the Republic of Cyprus. After that, he noted, the offices of the self-styled President, the Prime Minister and his so-called Ministry began intensive work regarding this issue.

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot daily HALKIN SESI newspaper (08.03.07) refers to the issue under the title The TRNC has officially become a side in the halloumi case. According to the paper, Mr Sennaroglu noted:

Our first objection has been made by the Chamber of Industry and the Koop Sut and it demanded the name hellim to be written together with the name halloumi. Together with this, our right for being submitted to the control of a competent authority which will be determined for controls in the TRNC was stressed. Within this framework, the creation of a temporary authority which will be working in conditions similar to the rules of the Green Line Regulation was proposed for temporarily carrying out the duty of a competent authority for the TRNC. And the fact that the authority to guarantee that all the necessary controls and tests should be given to the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Industry was stressed. The second objection was filed by the Chamber of Industry and the Koop Sut and the Union of the Dairy Products Manufacturers. This objection was focused on the content and the specifications of the halloumi. In our objection file, it was put forth that this traditional cheese had been produced with the name hellim as well before many years ago and it was supported with newspapers and documents that it was exported abroad.

Furthermore, Turkish Cypriot daily KIBRIS newspaper (08.03.07) reports that the EU has taken into consideration the Turkish Cypriot objections and looks positively at registering halloumi with both its Greek and Turkish name. The (European) Commission has accepted the opinion that the cheese should be registered in the two official languages of the Republic of Cyprus, that is, both in Turkish and in Greek, notes the paper.

(I/Ts.)

[02] Talat to meet with the Azerbaijani President Aliyev

According to the paper, the two statesmen will discuss the TRNC as well. On his way to Azerbaijan Mr Talat will stop in Istanbul where he is expected to participate in the ceremony of signing of a protocol between Istanbuls Maritime Chamber of Commerce and the illegal European University of Lefka.

(I/Ts.)

[03] Ercakica says they will reply today to the Greek Cypriot views through the UN

Mr Ercakica said that there is no letter and that there is a document which in diplomacy is called non-paper. Mr Ercakica noted that the views of the Turkish Cypriot side will be conveyed today to the Greek Cypriots during the meeting with Rasit Pertev, advisor of the Turkish Cypriot leader Talat is expected to have with Mr Michael Moller, UN Secretary-Generals Special Representative in Cyprus.

(I/Ts.)

[04] Ozturk expects the first German tourists to arrive on 12 March

Mr Ozturk, who is in Berlin in order to participate in the ITB Berlin 2007 Tourism Fair, said that they expected 25.000 - 30.000 German tourists to visit the occupied areas between March and June 2007 and that this number will increase to about 50.000 in 2008. According to VATAN, Mr Ozturk said that 5.400 tourists from Germany visited the occupied areas in 2006.

(I/Ts.)

[05] Initiatives for the organizations of Turkic Republics Athletic Games

Mehmet Atalay, General Director for Youth and Sports, met the day before yesterday during a dinner with the ambassadors of the Turkic countries in Turkey. The participants in the dinner agreed that organizing such games would be positive from the point of view of the development of friendship among their countries.

It is noted that Turkeys State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Mehmet Ali Sahin will meet with the Sports Ministers of the Turkic Republics in the future. It was announced that the TRNC, breakaway regime in the occupied areas of Cyprus, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tajikistan and FYROM will participate in the above-mentioned games.

(I/Ts.)

[06] BKP says that the policies of the CTP strengthen the supporters of the division of Cyprus

Mr Korkmazdan criticized the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) and noted the most important reason for the strengthening of the separatist views and the circles that support it are the policies of the CTP which are based on a nationalist and chauvinist basis. He noted that no serious steps for change were made during the CTP administration which follows policies similar to the previous administrations and caused disappointment in the community.

(I/Ts.)

[07] A new crisis in the aviation after Eurocontrols decision to hand over the Air Traffic Control in the Middle East and in the Southern Mediterranean to the Republic of Cyprus

Referring to last weeks ground laying ceremony at the Kokkinotrimithia village the paper claims that the Eurocontrol with Turkeys budget (Tr note: Turkey is full member of the Eurocontrol since 1989) contribution is going to hand over the Air traffic control of the Middle East and Southern Mediterranean to the Greek Cypriots.

HURRIYET further reports that with this new centre which will be fully equipped with up-to-date equipment the Greek Cypriots will be able to control an area forty times larger than the area of Cyprus island. It also claims that building the Centre in Cyprus it will provide benefits to the Greek Cypriot economy. The foreign experts who will work in the centre will come and live in the government controlled areas and there will be big employment opportunities for the local people.

(MHY)

[08] European MPs of Turkish origin head to the occupied areas

Replying to Today's Zaman's questions, Denmark's Social Democratic Party's MP Hüseyin Araç said: We would go to north Cyprus with a group of European parliamentarians of Turkish origin on March 30-31. Stating that the Turkish Cypriots were being punished though they said "yes" to the 2004 Annan plan referendum whereas the Greek Cypriots who do not want a solution were being rewarded, Araç said they would meet with the Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, Prime Minister Ferdi Sabit Soyer and other officials during the visit. Araç said other European Social Democratic MEPs would join the visit to TRNC, but the list of the participants had not been finalized yet.

[09] Turkish Foreign Minister Gul thanked Qatar for letting the TRNC to open a trade office in Doha

Gul and First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jasim bin Jabir al-Thani of Qatar held a joint news conference following their tête-à-tête meeting.

"Qatar is one of the most important countries in the Gulf. Recently, Qatar has given priority to its development. Turkish firms have also taken part in this process," Gul told reporters. "Besides economic relations, we also discussed political issues. We thank Qatar for letting the TRNC to open a trade office in Doha," he said.

Gul said that the agreement signed by the two countries would further strengthen the bilateral relations, and enumerated the agreements signed as a protocol on prevention of double taxation and investment incentive protocol.

According to Gul, Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways are thinking of increasing the number of flights between the two countries. Meanwhile, al-Thani said that Turkey played a key role in the region.

[B] Commentaries, Editorials and Analysis

[10] ANAVATAN holds the key in presidential elections

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) is determined to turn the upcoming presidential elections into a case for the Constitutional Court, but the smaller opposition Motherland Party (ANAVATAN), which has 21 deputies, holds the key to preventing a crisis.

The CHP insists on a controversial argument that two-thirds of the 550-member Parliament should be present at a session on May 1 for the first round of the vote on the president-to-be. The party's leaders, including Chairman Deniz Baykal, has repeatedly asserted that the CHP would ask the Constitutional Court to invalidate the election if the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) ignores its warning and allows the voting to go ahead on May 1. The party, which holds 153 seats in Parliament, has decided not to show up at the voting session on May 1 to make sure that a two-third majority of 367 deputies won't be present, opening the way for a challenge at the Constitutional Court.

The CHP's stance brings the ANAVATAN, the third-largest party in Parliament, to a key position. ANAVATAN deputies are expected to show up at Parliament on May 1 but will decide whether or not to vote after seeing the presidential candidates. Speaking to Today's Zaman, ANAVATAN leader Erkan Mumcu declined to say how his party will act and said it will decide on its own how to treat the matter. "I don't think it's appropriate to engage in such a debate at the moment," he said. "It's not even clear what will happen or who will run for president."

But he also criticized the CHP for its stance, saying he could not understand why it was trying to turn the issue of presidential elections into a crisis. "I cannot understand why the CHP, which opened the way for Recep Tayyip Erdogan to become prime minister, is now trying to turn the issue of presidential elections into a crisis. The CHP's stance does not matter to us; we will make our own assessment."

The upcoming elections have been at the centre of a heated political debate. Many in the secularist establishment fear the elections will result in a president Recep Erdogan, the prime minister whose Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has roots in political Islam. Erdogan, for his part, has refused to disclose whether he would run for presidency. He is most likely to win if he becomes a candidate, given the overwhelming majority the AK Party holds in Parliament.

The CHP insists that presence of a two-thirds majority is a constitutional requirement, but the argument has little support outside the party. The constitution and parliamentary regulations stipulate that presence of 184 deputies is sufficient for the Parliament to properly convene for a session. According to the CHP, presidential elections are a sensitive matter and thus at least 367 deputies should be present. Mehmet Aar, the leader of the True Path Party (DYP), which holds four seats in Parliament, has said he disapproved of the CHP stance, describing its argument as a narrow interpretation of the constitution.

For the AK Party, this strategy of the CHP is unconstitutional. "The CHP's arguments represent a restricted interpretation of the constitution," says Burhan Kuzu, the Parliamentary Constitution Commission chairman and AK Party Istanbul deputy. "To date, a quorum of two-thirds of all deputies has never been sought in the past presidential elections. The CHP is doing its best to create a crisis out of the presidential elections. They are not consistent in this respect."

ANAVATAN Parliamentary Group Deputy Chairman Süleyman Sar1ba maintains that Baykal must keep his earlier promise to resign collectively to force early parliamentary elections as a way to prevent a possible victory for the AK Party, particularly for Erdogan, in the presidential polls. "Those who have promised to resign collectively and who have then failed to keep this promise should not seek ANAVATAN's support for their policies by creating confusion in the minds of people. They must do what they must do. They run away from the Parliament and they do their best to make Erdogan the president. Then they make ANAVATAN the target of their criticisms. ANAVATAN will do whatever is provided for under the Constitution. ANAVATAN will not trail after the CHP," said Sar1ba.

ES/

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