Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 07-09-25

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

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] More on the contacts of Turgay Avcy in Italy

[02] The bones discovered in occupied Dikomo revealed the remains of a third person as well

[03] The activities of the Brother Country Nights which are organised by the Turkish World Municipalities have started in occupied Cyprus

[04] CTP, UBP and DP reached to a provisional agreement on constitutional amendments

[05] NTV reports about FIFA fostering talks for unified team on Cyprus were denied

[06] Eros and Psyche statue of the Hellenistic period was discovered near Saint Varnavas Church

[07] The historic Bellapais Monastery was turned into a garbage dump after Asil Nadir sons wedding

[08] Five gigantic media groups interested in the Sabah-ATV auction

[09] Hurriyet:Banana Republic diplomacy for the UN

[10] Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan met with Kissinger and Holbrooke

[11] Mustafa Koc advises Turkey to use its NATO veto right against Frances expressed wish to return to NATO military wing

[B] Commentaries, Editorials and Analysis

[12] Ilter Turkmen assesses Turkeys veto trump card against France rejoining NATO military wing

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] More on the contacts of Turgay Avci in Italy

Deputy Prime Minister & Foreign Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Turgay Avci has received full support from the Radical Party officials in Rome on Monday.

In his meeting with the Italian International Trade and European Affairs Minister Emma Bonino and high level politicians at the Radical Party headquarters, Avci told that the Greek Cypriot attitude that does not favour a compromise must end and that all isolations imposed on the TRNC must be lifted. Avci-Bonino meeting lasted 45 minutes and was closed to the press.

Avci-Bonino meeting focused on the isolations being imposed on the TRNC. During the meeting, Avci requested assistance from Italy and the European Union to end the international isolations on the Turkish Cypriots.

Avci later met high level politicians of the Radical Party. During this meeting, a decision was made to hold the Radical Party's general congress in the TRNC. The congress will take place in early 2008. Avci was accompanied by Italian deputy Maurizio Turco and Radical Party politician Marco Perduca both of whom became TRNC citizens. On Tuesday, Avci will present Turco and Perduca passports from the TRNC and attend a meeting at the Italian parliament. Avci will attend a dinner on Monday that will be hosted in his honour by Radical Party deputies. Deputy Foreign Minister of Italy Ugo Intini is among guests to attend tonight's dinner.

On the same issue Turkish Cypriot daily KIBRIS newspaper (25.09.07) reports on the issue and writes that the self-styled minister met with Emma Bonino, Minister for International Trade and European Affairs and also held talks with high ranking officials of the Radical Party and stated that the Turkish Cypriots expect from Italy and the European Union to give an end to the intransigent behaviour of the Greek Cypriots towards the solution of the Cyprus problem and the lifting of the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. The meeting between Avci and Emma Bonino lasted for 45 minutes and it was not open to the press. During the meeting Mr Avci asked for the support of Italy and the EU for the lifting of the isolation. On her part, Emma Bonino expressed her support for the lifting of the isolation and for a lasting and comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem.

After his meeting with Mrs Bonino, Avci met with officials of the Radical Party at the partys headquarters. During the meeting it was decided that the transnational general assembly of the Radical Party take place in occupied Cyprus. The details of the general assemblys meeting, which will take place in the beginning of 2008, will be made known soon.

The paper writes that tonight a dinner will be given in his honour by deputies of the Radical Party which may be attended by the deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, Ugo Intini.

The paper publishes a statement of the self-styled ministry of foreign affairs regarding Avcis contacts in Italy. According to the statement Mr Avci informed Mrs Bonino about the lifting of the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots and asked for Italys and EU help towards this direction. Moreover he said that the European Union should not remain a spectator of the attitude of the Greek Cypriot side which does not hesitate to use its membership to EU against the TRNC and Turkey.

KIBRIS also reports that Mr Avci criticised the Greek Cypriot politicians for putting TRNC and Turkey as a target during the election campaign and for focusing their election campaign on Turkish enmity. Mr Avci also criticised Vasilis Palmas, the government spokesman and said that the Greek Cypriot side is trying to change the parameters of the Cyprus problem, the political equality of the two sides, the bi-zonality and the new partnership.

(CS)

[02] The bones discovered in occupied Dikomo revealed the remains of a third person as well

(CS)

[03] The activities of the Brother Country Nights which are organised by the Turkish World Municipalities have started in occupied Cyprus

The activities have started with an iftar meal (a meal served at the evening of the holly Ramadan month for breaking the fast) at the occupied Trikomo village.

Murat Aydin, the chairman of the organisation and mayor of the (Turkish) Zeytinburnu municipality and Halil Bakirci, deputy chairman of the organisation and mayor of the (Turkish) Rize municipality, participated in the iftar meal.

The activities of the organisation will continue today with an iftar meal at the occupied Morfou village and tomorrow at the occupied Kondea.

(CS)

[04] CTP, UBP and DP reached to a provisional agreement on constitutional amendments

The Republican Turkish Party (CTP), the National Unity Party (UBP) and the Democrat Party (DP) have reached a temporary settlement on introducing amendments on the constitution, election and referendum law and parliamentary regulations.

The settlement was reached today at a meeting held among the three parties delegations headed by party leaders.

The deal will be discussed by the authorized bodies of the three parties.

Leaders of the three parties will meet on Thursday to make a final decision on the issue.

No details were provided about the content of the temporary settlement, but leaders of the three parties told reporters at the end of the meeting that the deal constituted a way out of the current deadlock on the proposed amendments on the Constitution and the envisaged Presidential System.

Prime Minister Ferdi Sabit Soyer told reporters that constitutional amendment is needed to provide better service for the people.

He said that it is the responsibility of all political parties to find a way out of the current situation and added that elections and a referendum should be held on the same day to overcome the difficulties confronted.

For their part, the UBP Leader Tahsin Ertugruloglu and the DP Leader Serdar Denktas said that it is time to take a final decision on the issue.

[05] NTV reports about FIFA fostering talks for unified team on Cyprus were denied

The paper also reports that the Turkish Cypriot Football federation denied information broadcast yesterday by the Turkish NTV television station that during the Zurich meeting the issue of Turkish Cypriots to participate in the Cyprus National football team was discussed. The paper writes that the news fell like a bomb on the TRNC sports agenda. The chairman of the Turkish Cypriot Football Federation Niyazi Okutan discussed the issue first with FIFA Foreign Relations director Champagne Jerome and then with NTV officials. Mr Jerome stated, according to Niyazi Okutan, that no statement was made on the issue on behalf of FIFA to the press. As regards NTV, the issue was broadcast as a comment.

On the same issue, Turkish daily Todays Zaman newspaper (25.09.07) under the title FIFA fostering talks for unified team on Cyprus reports the following:

Talks sponsored by world soccer's governing body have begun to try to create a unified national team for the divided island of Cyprus.

The presidents of the official Greek Cyprus Football Association, representing the Greek Cypriot side, and the unofficial Turkish Cypriot Football Association met at FIFA headquarters in Zurich last week, the body said on Monday. More talks between the two associations will follow in the coming weeks before they meet European and world authorities October 27, FIFA said.

Talks were conducted in an open and productive atmosphere, the organization said.

The Greek Cyprus national team recruits players only from the Greek Cypriot side of the island, which has been divided since Turkey intervened in the north in 1974.

FIFA only recognizes the Greek Cypriot association because the world body's statutes forbid competing associations. That means teams and players from the Turkish-Cypriot side are prohibited from taking part in official international matches. We want everyone to have the chance to play football but the FIFA statutes must be respected, and there can be no political interference in questions relating solely to football, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said. It is very encouraging to see both parties' willingness to observe these principles.

Besides Blatter, other FIFA officials and a representative of UEFA, a Greek Cyprus Football Association delegation led by its president Costakis Koutsokoumnis and a Turkish-Cypriot delegation headed by association president Niyazi Okutan attended the Sept. 20 meeting. All parties have come here with a positive approach, said Jerome Champagne, a FIFA official. We've made it clear there cannot be a second association. The only way forward is to uphold the FIFA statutes.

[06] Eros and Psyche statue of the Hellenistic period was discovered near Saint Varnavas Church

[07] The historic Bellapais Monastery was turned into a garbage dump after Asil Nadir sons wedding

The paper writes that the tourists who visited the Monastery next day in the morning, despite buying a ticket for the historic monument, they could not have a complete tour, a fact that annoyed them. Moreover, the paper reports that the night of the wedding no one could approach the area and state police was guarding the entrance to the village creating problems to the villagers and their guests from passing.

The music at the wedding lasted until 2:00 am, but the most ridiculous thing was until next morning when tourists visited the Monastery and faced a wreck, a rubbish dump, the paper notes.

(E/A)

[08] Five gigantic media groups interested in the Sabah-ATV auction

(Tr. Note: The TMSF which takes over troubled companies and banks, will auction Sabah-ATV Group due to financial problems.)

(ML)

[09] Hurriyet: Banana Republic diplomacy for the UN

While the Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and the Foreign Minister Ali Babacan are intensively working behind the scenes during the works of the UN General Assembly in New York in order for Turkey to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2009-2010 term, it was made known that Ankara has established diplomatic relations with the island-states of the Caribbean, which are even hard to be found on the map, in order to secure votes.

Turkey, in a ceremony held by its Permanent Representation in the UN, has signed an agreement regarding the establishment of diplomatic relations with Santa Lucia; an area of 616 square kilometers which has declared its independence in the Caribbean in 1979. It was also made known that Turkey during the forthcoming days will sign a similar agreement with Palau and the Dominican Republic.

Turkey which has not been a member of the UN Security Council for 40 years now, has earmarked a budget of approximately 85 million dollars for becoming a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for a two years term. From this amount, fifty million dollars are provided for membership advertisement and propaganda. It was made known that Turkey gave importance to countries, the right of vote of which has been postponed because they could not pay their subscription to the UN General Assembly or they could not pay their share of contribution to the UN. It is estimated that within this framework, 20 million dollars were spent for the debts of these countries, which have small population and most of them are poor.

It was also made known that Ankara which is doing promotion work by sending ambassadors to the small countries of the UN, spent last year an amount of fifteen million dollars aiming to help the development of these countries.

(ML)

[10] Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan met with Kissinger and Holbrooke

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is currently in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly meetings, held a series of bilateral talks.

Erdogan separately met Prime Minister Jose Socrates of Portugal, which holds rotating EU presidency, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodrigez Zapatero of Spain, Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt of Sweden, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer of Austria and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France.

He also held talks with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrook.

Turkey and the EU relations were high on agenda of the meeting between Erdogan and Sarkozy. The two leaders agreed that consultations should be maintained.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Erdogan asked leaders' support to Turkey's candidacy for non-permanent membership to the United Nations Security Council for the period of 2009-2010 during his bilateral talks.

[11] Mustafa Koc advises Turkey to use its NATO veto right against Frances expressed wish to return to NATO military wing

On her part, TUSIAD Chairwoman, Arzuhan Dogan Yalcindag, also pointed out the organization's responsibility to keep checks on the government. She said that TUSIAD's previous remarks have been the focus of criticism.

We are used to being criticized, however, we were surprised that the ruling party also adopted this traditional stance, said Yalcindag.

She also added that one cannot tamper with the founding philosophy of the Constitution, especially the principle of secularism, if one is planning to amend the Constitution. Yalcindag said that TUSIAD is concerned with both the methodology and the content of the draft constitution.

Our concerns stem from the past words and deeds of some deputies and AKP members, she said.

Referring to the foreign policy on the agenda Mr Koc also touched upon Turkey's international relations. He said that Turkey's foreign policy is likely to be shaped by two major events.

First, France wants to rejoin the military wing of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Turkey has a veto power. This card may be laid on the table against France during the European Union negotiations. It is a significant asset that increases Turkey's bargaining power, Koc said.

Secondly, Koc recalled that the United States Undersecretary for Political Affairs, Nicholas Burns, did not guarantee anything about the future of Turkey in the region especially against the northern Iraq based terrorist attacks on Turkey.

[B] Commentaries, Editorials and Analysis

[12] Ilter Turkmen assesses Turkeys veto trump card against France rejoining NATO military wing

Ever since France declared its intention to renew military ties with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that it had severed in 1967, it has been frequently alleged that this constitutes an important trump we can use in favour of our full European Union (EU) membership. Many people say, Let's not miss this opportunity. So how are we supposed to use this trump? We are obviously expected to ask France to guarantee that it will not put any obstacles in the way of our membership. If France refuses to do this, we shall use our veto power in NATO's Council to prevent France from rejoining NATO's military wing until it changes this attitude. All right so far, but it might not be this easy to put this theory into practice.

Those who see in this situation an opportunity to conclude a successful bargain with France probably think that in 1980, we let Greece rejoin NATO's military wing without obtaining any concession in return and believe that we must avoid making the same mistake again. In fact, we have been beating ourselves up over this alleged loss since. However, we had no power to permanently block Greece at that time either. All NATO countries, especially the United States (US) were insisting that Greece be integrated into the military wing. A member country that had left the military wing of NATO of its own accord could not be stopped from rejoining if it decided to do so. Greece had continued to attend the Military Committee meetings anyway. By withdrawing its objection, Turkey at least succeeded in changing the Aegean command system that was against our interests.

Subtitle: Missed opportunity:

We somehow like to lament over mythical opportunities, although we immediately forget all about the chances that we have really missed. We missed the biggest opportunity of our recent history in Cyprus. If we had accepted the Annan Plan at the EU Council in December 2002 and later at The Hague meeting in March 2003 before Southern Cyprus had signed the Accession Treaty with the EU, we would have acquired a huge advantage. Today, the Turkish Cypriots would have joined the EU while preserving their own state within the framework of a federation. At that date, there was no way that southern Cyprus could have opposed that plan without risking its EU membership. The future perspective of two separate states within the EU would still have been preserved, as southern Cyprus became a part of the EU. Consequently, one of the largest handicaps against Turkey's EU membership would have been eliminated. This was a genuinely missed opportunity over which we should still be beating up ourselves.

As for France, it is the third military power to own nuclear arms in NATO after the U.S. and Britain. The fact that, today, a great majority of NATO members are also members of the EU should not be forgotten. Even the EU-members that support us most will certainly side with France, and would react negatively if we make our veto a bargaining chip in our accession process. Furthermore, France takes part in NATO operations like the one in Afghanistan even though it is no longer in the military wing. France's participation in NATO's Defence Planning Committee, Nuclear Planning Group and Military Committee will be evaluated as contributions that make NATO more effective. It is not implausible that French representatives suddenly start attending these committee meetings without waiting for the official decision of the NATO Council. What do we do then? Shall we withdraw from these committees or from NATO?

I am sure that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General Staff are assessing this issue from a rational point of view.

ES/

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