Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 08-08-21

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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 property in Pyla village was attacked

[02] A new public opinion poll was conducted in the occupied areas of Cyprus

[03] The UBP accused President Christofias

[04] More illegal migrants were arrested in the occupied areas of Cyprus

[05] Sanlidag will hold contacts in Turkey

[06] The Turkic Opera Days will be organized in the occupied areas of Cyprus with the participation of opera artists from 13 Turkic states

[07] The self-styled football national team of the breakaway regime will participate in a tournament in Denmark between 1 and 5 October 2008

[08] Adal said they are preparing counter proposals to FIFAs proposals

[09] Talat addressed the 1st General Assembly of the Cyprus Youth Platform

[10] Turkish daily connects the Turkey Israel USA Reliant Mermaid naval exercise to the Martyr Lieutenant Caner Koneli Search and Rescue exercise launched in occupied Cyprus

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[11] The Africa opening

[12] From the Turkish Press of 20 August 2008

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Turkish Cypriot property in Pyla village was attacked

According to the paper, the police of the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot police conducted examinations on the spot. The police of the Republic asked to take finger prints from the bust of Ataturk and noted that they have some suspects. The Peace Keeping Force visited the school and conducted the necessary investigations. The findings will be given both to the police of the Republic and the self-styled police of the breakaway regime, writes the paper.

In statements after the incident, Ahmet Muratoglu, director of the press and public relations office of the prime ministry and head of the Pyla coordination committee, said that Pyla is a mixed village and that such isolated incidents should not spoil this unity. Mr Muratolgu noted that the allegations that the process which will start on 3 September regarding the Cyprus problem caused such incidents are groundless and added that no political meaning should be attached to the attack.

Referring to the same issue, the self-styled prime minister, Ferdi Sabit Soyer said that it is an effort by some centres in south Cyprus to shadow the positive atmosphere in the village. In statements yesterday after the meeting of the council of ministers, Mr Soyer described the incident as sad and unacceptable and called on the inhabitants of the village and the people to stay calm and not to reply to the provocations.

Meanwhile, Turgay Avci, self-styled minister of foreign affairs, said that his ministry is closely following the issue and called on the Greek Cypriots to find quickly the perpetrators of this incident and take them to justice. He alleged that the fact that those who attack Turkish Cypriots have not been punished until today in the free areas of Cyprus is encouraging the fanatic organizations here.

Referring to the attacks in Pyla, Basaran Duzgun, editor-in-chief of Kibris reports that it is definite that they are organized as they were conducted at the same time in many places. It is obvious that it is the work of an underground organization, he notes and refers to other incidents in the past and the Hrysi Avgi organization.

Turkish Cypriot daily Star Kibris newspaper (21.08.08) refers to the issue under the title Treacherous attack to peace in Pyla.

Moreover, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibrisli newspaper (21.08.08) refers to the issue under the title Drama in Pyla and wonders whether the drama of the inhabitants of Pyla village will be spread to the entire island in case of a solution.

Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Volkan newspaper (21.08.08) refers to the issue under the title Behold United Cyprus and argues that the Greek Cypriots turned Pyla into a battlefield.

(I/Ts.)

[02] A new public opinion poll was conducted in the occupied areas of Cyprus

According to the results, if elections were to be held next week, the political parties would have taken the following percentages: National Unity Party (UBP) 30.4 %, Republican Turkish Party (CTP) 28.2 %, Social Democracy Party (TDP) 13.9 %, Democratic Party (DP) 13.5 % and Freedom and Reform Party (ORP) 7.2 %. These are the results after the distribution of the percentage of those who said that they have not decided which party to vote. This percentage is 22.2 %. Those who support the boycott of the elections are 3 %.

The research was conducted during the last May-June period by 27 psychologists in the entire occupied area of the island with the participation of 853 persons. The participants in the poll said that their three most important problems are the Cyprus problem, unemployment and partisanship. Asked what kind of solution they predict in the Cyprus problem, 56.5 % of the participants in the poll replied two separate states, 13 % said a unitary state, 6.7 % federation, 5.7 % confederation and 18 % responded that they do not know. The paper writes that 72.4 % of the participants in the poll said that they are not satisfied with the self-styled government, 15.6 % said that they are satisfied and 12 % replied I do not know.

The chairman of the TDP, Mehmet Cakici was also present at the press conference and evaluated the results of the poll. He said that they were forced to make this statement because they believe that there are great inconsistencies in the polls announced recently by KADEM. He said that the results of the poll show that the undecided people are the majority and that they will determine the future.

Noting that when all the results are gathered, they show the current reality, Mr Cakici said: And one of the most important realities of today is that the concept of two states is now confused by the people. Federation, confederation, two constituent states, the two states in the Annan Plan, all these started to be confused now. Therefore, it is not correct to say that the people want two states now and for this reason they do not support the solution. Detailed questions should be asked in order to prove it. The two founding states should be defined and questions should be asked according to this.

Turkish Cypriot daily Halkin Sesi newspaper (21.08.08) refers to the results of the poll under the banner front-page title The majority wants two states. The paper writes that the wish for two separate states is increasing.

Turkish Cypriot daily Ortam newspaper (21.08.08) refers to the poll under the title The TDP is ascending.

(I/Ts.)

[03] The UBP accused President Christofias

The main opposition National Unity Party has expressed concern over the Greek Cypriot Leader Demetris Christofias recent statements concerning the return of Guzelyurt [occupied Morfou], Karpaz [occupied Karpasia] and Maras [occupied Varoshia] to the Greek Cypriot Administration.

In a written statement today, the UBP pointed out that the Greek Cypriot Leader is preparing to sit at the negotiations table with preconditions that should not be accepted.

Stating that Mr Christofias words did not come as a surprise, the party statement said that Greek Cypriot sides approach was proof that the Greek Cypriot Administration had achieved success and got what it wanted on the issues of single sovereignty, international identity and citizenship.

Also referring to President Mehmet Ali Talats words that the property issue is among the last issues to be negotiated, the statement reminded that the Greek Cypriot side claimed that issues such as administration, land and property will be brought to the agenda following the ceremonial start of negotiations on the 3rd of September.

The UBP also warned in its statement that any speculation made on the property issue would create an economic, humanitarian and political deadlock in the country and called on Mr Talat to stand behind his statement he made on the property issue.

On the same issue, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (21.08.08) reports that Kemal Durust, deputy general secretary of the National Unity Party (UBP) and MP in occupied Morfou area, issued a statement yesterday noting that occupied Morfou will not be returned to the Greek Cypriots. Referring to a statement made by President Christofias on this issue, Mr Durust alleged that Morfou is within the borders of the TRNC and claimed that President Christofias statements before sitting at the negotiating table show that he is not sincere.

[04] More illegal migrants were arrested in the occupied areas of Cyprus

(I/Ts.)

[05] Sanlidag will hold contacts in Turkey

(I/Ts.)

[06] The Turkic Opera Days will be organized in the occupied areas of Cyprus with the participation of opera artists from 13 Turkic states

Twenty-one opera singers from the Turkic world will convene in Mersin next month when the 11th edition of the Turksoy Opera Days gets under way with a concert in the Mediterranean province on Sept. 11.

The event is organized by the Joint Administration of Turkic Culture and Art (TURKSOY), an international body that oversees cultural cooperation among its 14 member states, in collaboration with the Mersin State Opera and Ballet and the Greater Mersin Municipality, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The event is being held on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Azerbaijani national operas production of Leyla and Mecnun, which is billed by opera circles as the first-ever Eastern opera. Opera artists from Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), Bashkor-tostan and Tatarstan are scheduled to attend the event, which will later travel to northern Cyprus for a concert on Sept. 14 in Girne [occupied Keryneia].

Moreover, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (21.08.08) reports that the self-styled minister of finance, Ahmet Uzun has said that the Turkic Opera days will be organized in September in the occupied areas of Cyprus with the participation of opera artists from 13 Turkic states. In statements yesterday after the meeting of the council of ministers, Mr Uzun noted that these activities started 10 years ago.

[07] The self-styled football national team of the breakaway regime will participate in a tournament in Denmark between 1 and 5 October 2008

According to the paper, the opponents of the Turkish Cypriots in the tournament will be teams from Fiji islands and Greenland. The fourth team which will participate in the tournament is expected to be announced within the next few days. The technical director of the national teams of the breakaway regime, Enver Sedat Simavi said that on 29 August they will announce the participants in the Turkish Cypriot delegation. The delegation will depart for Denmark on 29 September.

(I/Ts.)

[08] Adal said they are preparing counter proposals to FIFAs proposals

Claiming that the Turkish Cypriot football and their sports in general are under embargo, he said that the previous administration of the federation had accepted the authority of the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) on the island and becoming a member of the CFA in order to be able to find a way out and be opened to the world. The proposals of FIFA and UEFA were given to us based on this declaration, he noted.

Pointing out that during the past few days some political officials and other persons as well as some football organizations are making statements regarding football, Mr Adal said that these statements should not put their federation in a difficult position.

Referring to the proposals of FIFA and UEFA, Mr Adal noted that they could not be rejected or accepted as a whole. Therefore, while we are preparing our counter proposals, we are working fastidiously. We do not have the luxury of making a mistake, he added.

(I/Ts.)

[09] Talat addressed the 1st General Assembly of the Cyprus Youth Platform

Mr Talat pointed out that it is important for the young people to be organized. He noted that the Turkish Cypriots want to unify with the world and added that this is not possible as long as the Cyprus problem remains unsolved.

(I/Ts.)

[10] Turkish daily connects the Turkey Israel USA Reliant Mermaid naval exercise to the Martyr Lieutenant Caner Koneli Search and Rescue exercise launched in occupied Cyprus

This is the 9th time that the trilateral Reliant Mermaid exercise is being held.

(ML)

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[11] The Africa opening

Whenever Turkey sets aside the internal squabbles, moves away from the intense distractions of domestic politics, and turns its face toward the world, it achieves dynamism appropriate to its true vision.

With the conclusion of the closure case involving the AKP [Justice and Development Party], the TBMM's [Turkish Grand National Assembly] going into recess, and the summer vacation period's putting domestic politics into the background, Turkey's agenda has concentrated on international issues.

Last week, the entire world was discussing the problem of the Caucasus. The visits that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made to Russia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan revealed a more active and dynamic stance in the Caucasus. The Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform that Erdogan proposed has so far drawn the attention of four countries. Should Armenia as well display a stance in parallel with that of Russia, it is not at all outside the realm of possibility for the Platform to go into implementation in the near future.

The development of an effective dialogue mechanism by the countries involved in the problems in the Caucasus, which is one of the world's most problem-plagued regions, should not be underestimated.

Turkey is one of the rare countries that have been able to gain simultaneously the trust of the countries involved in tension in a number of international problems. In tensions between two countries such as Syria and Israel, Palestine and Israel, Russia and Georgia, and the United States and Iran, Turkey has won the confidence of both sides, and comes at the head of those countries that have been able to establish comfortable dialogue with the parties involved. This characteristic derives not only from Turkey's history and its cultural character, but at the same time from the foreign policy that has been pursued in the recent period.

Most recently, its hosting the African Union summit is very significant.

Turkey became an observing member of the Organization of African Unity [OAU] in 2005. The Organization of African Unity decided that Turkey was one of its strategic partners.

For Turkey, after Japan, China, South Korea, and the EU, to be declared a strategic partner, is an important step.

Turkey, which for years had turned its back upon Africa and had tried to see the countries in Africa only via Libya and Egypt, has with its recent opening turned a new page in terms of Africa.

We currently have seven embassies in Africa; the goal in the period ahead is to reach 22 embassies...

Turkey has in the past three years provided significant humanitarian aid in Africa via TIKA [Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency].

TIKA's becoming an active instrument in our foreign relations widens Turkey's areas of influence.

While our volume of trade with the countries of Africa was only 5 billion dollars in 2005, it increased to 12 billion dollars last year. The new target is 30 billion dollars. But even this figure is very minor within Turkey's total trade volume.

While the construction sector in the world has risen to a volume of 105 billion dollars, Africa accounts for approximately one-fifth of this.

Turkey is also one of the 25 countries that are members of the African Development Bank.

For Turkey, which is conducting accession negotiations with the European Union, and which is expanding its area of influence in the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, deepening its relations with Africa is both necessary and important.

When Turkey turns its face toward the outside world and expends its energy to integrate with the world, it becomes a serious regional actor.

[12] From the Turkish Press of 20 August 2008

a) Caucasus Crisis

Assessing the first concrete problem Turkey will be facing with regards to the Caucasus crisis in an article in Milliyet, Semih Idiz consults Prof Huseyin Pazarci, an expert in international law, and various Foreign Ministry officials on what Turkey's response should be in the event a request comes from Washington regarding the passage of hospital ships through the straits within the framework of the humanitarian aid being extended to Georgia. Detailing the Montreux Treaty that regulates the passage of ships through the straits, Idiz writes that all concerned believe that the rules and regulations laid down by the Treaty should be applied. Otherwise the balances in the Black Sea will be disrupted and Turkey will be the country that will most suffer from it, Idiz notes, adding that Foreign Ministry officials expect Washington to show understanding concerning the Montreux realities.

In an article in Milliyet, Hursit Gunes views how Turkey can reduce its energy dependence on foreign countries in general and Russia in particular. Pointing out that Turkey imports 92 percent of its oil and that 40 percent of its oil imports and 64 percent of its natural gas imports come from Russia, Gunes underlines that the surest way to avoid this dependence is to become a distribution centre. Declaring that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is the first step to becoming a distribution centre, the writer argues that the Blue Stream project proposed by Russia envisaging a pipeline along Novorossisk-Samsun-Ceyhan-Ashkelon line -- a line which Gunes believes to be safer and more lucrative from a commercial point of view -- can be placed on the agenda once again. In conclusion, Gunes says that the most profitable and secure way of transporting Russian energy to Israel, the Mediterranean, and eastern Asia passes through Turkey, adding that this situation should direct the two countries to cooperation and not to competition in the field of energy.

Commenting on the assessment made by some that Russia's intervention in Georgia under the pretext of South Ossetia has opened a new cold war era in an article in Sabah, Mehmet Barlas says that this might partially be true, adding that, however, this new cold war is fundamentally very different from the old one in that it is lacking an "ideological factor." Raising the possibility that "political Islam" might have substituted "communism" as the ideological dimension facing the US bloc in this new cold war, Barlas says that this may be al-Qaida, Hamas, Hizbullah, the Taliban, or the pro-Khomeini forces. Urging Turkey to take its place within the "EU Bloc" in this new cold war, Barlas calls on the government to implement all the necessary reforms to achieve that goal.

A report in Vatan states that the United States five days ago asked Turkey to allow its two giant hospital ships to pass through the straights. According to the report, Turkey informed the United States that permission on the issue is problematic because of the Montreux Treaty, thus causing a crisis between the two countries. These hospital ships that cannot dock at Poti Port because of their size, will be anchoring in the Black Sea, adds the report, noting that they aim to have a psychological effect on Russia.

b) Gul's Pardon of Erbakan

Commenting on Gul's pardon of former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan in a an article in Hurriyet, Oktay Eksi touches on what he calls a "twist of fate" pointing out that had Erbakan been the president, Gul would have been the one pardoned because he was one of the suspects in the case filed against Erbakan. The investigation concerning Gul was not concluded because of his "parliamentary immunity," Eksi writes.

Recalling that Erbakan and Abdullah Gul were suspects in the same court case, Vatan columnist Gungor Mengi argues in his article that President Gul by pardoning Erbakan actually pardoned himself. Pointing out that Erbakan was anyway serving his prison term under house arrest in his summer house in Altinoluk and receiving all the necessary health services, Mengi argues that this pardon will not change anything in Erbakan's life. Declaring that there was no objection from the public to commuting 82-year-old Erbakan's prison term to house arrest, Mengi maintains that the president will be criticized for using his special pardon authority on behalf of a "partner in crime." Mengi concludes by hoping that this will be the last of the problems Turkey will be confronting as a result of the state summit's understanding of law and justice that does not inspire any trust.

c) Sudanese President Al-Bashir's Visit

Criticizing the courtesy bestowed upon the Sudanese president during his visit to Istanbul to participate in the Turkish-African summit, Hurriyet's Tufan Turenc reminds his readers that al-Bashir was accused of committing genocide. Pointing out that if an arrest warrant is issued against al-Bashir, Turkey will not have to comply with the warrant since it is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Turenc declares that al-Bashir, who cannot visit any other democratic country, is safe in Turkey. Recalling that "this person who is hated by the democratic world and who is considered guilty of crimes against humanity" received the red carpet treatment when he visited Turkey as the official guest of President Gul last January, Turenc finds it difficult to understand why the AKP administration is honouring this criminal.

Drawing attention, in the first section of his column in Hurriyet, to the contradiction between Turkey's aspiration for a temporary seat at the UN Security Council and the "veiled support" granted to the al-Bashir administration in Sudan, Mehmet Yilmaz says that when the voting on the issue takes place the ambassadors at the United Nations will take into consideration Turkey's stand on issues that concern the international community. Yilmaz notes: "On one hand, there is a 'culprit' whom the International Criminal Court is seeking to arrest, and on the other, there is Turkey indicating that it does not attach much importance to the international community by hosting this culprit."

Assessing Turkey's efforts to become a regional power in an article in Radikal, Turker Alkan argues that efforts to force regional alliances to prove that Turkey is a regional power have mainly failed. Citing attempts such as the Balkan Pact, the Baghdad Pact, CENTO, the Black Sea Cooperation Organization, the D-7 initiative, and efforts to organize the Turkic Republics as failed attempts at forging alliances, Alkan is sceptical about the results to be achieved from the Turkish-African Cooperation Summit held in Istanbul. Questioning al-Bashir's contribution to the Istanbul summit, the writer argues that Erdogan will be received as an odd figure in the political stage of the world with remarks to the effect that "Muslims do not kill people," a remark the prime minister made soon after his visit to Sudan.

d) TUBITAK Appointment

A report in Vatan entitled the "Controversial Appointment" states that President Gul has appointed Prof Nuket Yetis to head the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), by amending the TUBITAK Law. According to the amendment, the prime minister will be able to elect ten of the 14 Council members as opposed to the seven he could elect prior to the amendment. This amendment places TUBITAK under government control, the report points out, adding that it has also changed the procedures governing the appointment of a chairman enabling President Gul to appoint Yetis.

e) Property Purchased by Foreigners

A report in Ortadogu entitled "8.3 Million Square Meters of our Land Have Gone to Foreigners," claims that Turkey is being seized by foreign citizens. Pointing out that 75,492 foreigners have so far purchased 64,629 immovable properties in Turkey, the report adds that 8.3 million square meters of Turkish territory is now in the hands of foreigners. German, British, and Austrian citizens constitute the majority of foreigners who purchase property in Turkey, the report notes.

EG/

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