Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 12-07-09

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

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Eroglu alleged that the Republic of Cyprus EU presidency will negatively affect the Cyprus negotiations

[02] Eroglu, Kucuk and Bozer met with the Turkish Volunteers Service Confederation

[03] Ozgurgun on the Republic of Cyprus' EU presidency

[04] The "TRNC citizenship" was granted to seven more persons

[05] KADEM research shows that crime, unemployment and economy among the main worries of the persons living in the occupied area

[06] Five companies submitted tenders for the illegal Tymbou airport

[07] Afrika reports on the Turkish Cypriots' banners during the inaugural ceremony of the Cyprus EU term presidency at Kourion

[08] The number of tourists who visited the breakaway regime reportedly increased by 30% in the last three years

[09] Turkish columnists assess Turkey's foreign policy; Reference to the Cyprus problem

[10] Turkey to extend 150 million USD for Afghanistan

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Eroglu alleged that the Republic of Cyprus EU presidency will negatively affect the Cyprus negotiations

Eroglu made these statements during a meeting he held with a delegation of the Turkish Cypriot Social Solidarity and Culture Association. He went on and alleged that the unjustness conducted against the Turkish Cypriots from the world, continue and added that in 1990s, when the Republic of Cyprus applied to become member of the EU, they protested by they were told that the application would not have been push forward. "However, as we have seen. The Greek Cypriots have become both EU members and EU presidents", he stated.

[02] Eroglu, Kucuk and Bozer met with the Turkish Volunteers Service Confederation

Firstly, the delegation met with Hasan Bozer. During the visit, Bozer pointed to the importance of unity for the "TRNC" on the Cyprus issue and said that the "Greek Cypriot Administration's", as he called the Republic of Cyprus' EU term presidency, is another example of the injustices towards the Turkish Cypriots.

For his part, the so-called prime minister, Irsen Kucuk touched upon the water transfer project between Turkey and the "TRNC" and added that the economy of the country will benefit enormously from this project.

He said that "motherland" Turkey has contributed greatly in order for the Turkish Cypriot "people" not to feel the strains of the "unjust isolations and embargoes".

Lastly, the delegation met with the Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu.

In his speech Eroglu said the Turkish Cypriot "people" are forced to live under "unjust embargoes", not only by the EU, but also by the world. "Despite the Greek Cypriot side rejecting every agreement in Cyprus, today it is not only a member of the UN but the EU as well and is the term President of the EU" he said.

[03] Ozgurgun on the Republic of Cyprus' EU presidency

Ozgurgun expressed the belief that the Greek Cypriot side taking over the EU term Presidency has severely harmed the Cyprus negotiations process and noted that the process had now failed for a year. "During this time, instead of substantial talks taking place, only technical meetings will take place", said.

Noting that with this term presidency the EU's structure is now being questioned, Ozgurgun said that the German Deputy Prime Ministers' statement that the sausages are being entrusted to the dogs puts everything out in the open.

Touching upon the Cyprus negotiations process, Ozgurgun said: "we support a bizzonal solution that is based on UN parameters and TWO founding states but the Greek Cypriot side is trying to cut back on bizonality with its insistence on cross-voting".

Moreover, Turkish daily Zaman (07.06.12) reports that the self-styled ministry of foreign affairs Huseyin Ozgurgun, commenting on the undertaking of the EU presidency by the Republic of Cyprus, alleged that the Greek Cypriots and not the locomotive but not even the last wagon of the train.

In addition Zaman alleged that despite the fact that there were 500 guests at the ceremony taking place in Kourion, much less persons attended the event.

(CS)

[04] The "TRNC citizenship" was granted to seven more persons

According to the paper, during the last three months every time the self-styled council of ministers conveys, it grants the "TRNC citizenship" to some persons, mostly of Turkish origin.

The persons which became "TRNC citizens" are the following according to the "official" gazette of the breakaway regime:

Sabri Koc, born in Kavakalan in 10.11.1046, Nuket Saracek, born in Afyon on 05.06.1959, Murat Guler born in Gialousa on 08.08.1993,Ismail Aksoy, born in Samsun on 29.10.1954, Tunc Sirintuna, born in Malkara on 25.10.1978, Yeter Gumdes, born in Morfou on 27.07.1993, Bulent Cetinkaya born in Inebeyi in 01.01.1966.

(CS)

[05] KADEM research shows that crime, unemployment and economy are among the main worries of the persons living in the occupied area

According to the research, replying to a question what is the most frequent subject that they talk about when they meet with friends or relatives, 57.3% replied crime, 52.7% replied unemployment, 47.1% replied the economic situation, 39.5% family ties, 39% the old days/ the old Cyprus, 34.5% the political situation, 32.2% the Cyprus problem and 29.9% human relations in the neighbourhood.

The paper notes that the interest regarding the Cyprus questions is reduced.

In addition, replied to a question if they feel safe to go out in dark alone in the area of their residence, 35.4% replied that they do not feel very comfortable, 30.8% replied that they feel fine, 16.8% stated that they feel completely safe and 16.3 stated that do not feel very safe.

The survey was conducted with a sample of 3148 persons, with face-to-face interviews. The persons participated in the survey were over 18.

(CS)

[06] Five companies submitted tenders for the illegal Tymbou airport

According to Saner, the company that will win the tender will rent the illegal Tymbou airport for 25 years. He further said that the tender is open also for the local capital.

Saner stated further that in case of a possible solution of the Cyprus problem, illegal Tymbou airport will be in an advantageous position compared to the airports of Larnaka and Paphos, because of its location.

(AK)

[07] Afrika reports on the Turkish Cypriots' banners during the inaugural ceremony of the Cyprus EU term presidency at Kourion

The paper writes that the banners, which were carried by the chairman of the Turkish Cypriot Primary School Teachers' Trade Union (KTOS) Sener Elcil and the chairman of the Turkish Cypriot Secondary School Teachers' Trade Union (KTOEOS) Tahir Gokcebel, drown the attention of EU and Greek Cypriot politicians. According to Afrika, President Christofias stated that he liked the action, and the President's Spokesman Stefanos Stefano said that he thought the slogan referred to Turkey and the British; However, Sener Elcil stated that the slogans referred to the Republic of Cyprus as well: "We referred both to Turkey and you?Turkey occupied the land in the north, you occupied the state in the south", Elcil said.

Commenting on the issue, the editor in chief of Afrika, Sener Levent, wrote that "our teachers taught the EU a lesson".

The paper also writes that various journalists contacted Elcil and Gokcebel to discuss with them the issue and also adds that European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule invited the Turkish Cypriots to Brussels.

(CS)

[08] The number of tourists who visited the breakaway regime reportedly increased by 30% in the last three years

According to statements of the self-styled minister of tourism, environment and culture Unal Ustel, 230 thousand persons visited the occupied area in the period between January-May 2012 and this consists of a 30.4% increased compared to the same period in 2009.

He also stated that the hotel capacity was increased compared to the same period and said that in January-May 2009 the hotel capacity was 27% while in 2012 was 31.5%.

As regards the tourism income, in 2011 was 610 million dollars while in the same period has a rise of 7.5%. "We estimate that the tourism income for 2012 will reach 660 million dollars", Ustel said.

[09] Turkish columnists assess Turkey's foreign policy; Reference to the Cyprus problem

(?) Referring to the criticism expressed against Turkey as regards its policy on the Cyprus problem, Sahin Alpay writes: "The criticisms directed towards Ankara's Cyprus policy since the rejection by the Greek Cypriots of the Annan plan for the reunification of the island, are also fair and justified. Ankara could have extended the customs union to southern Cyprus as required by its legal commitments to the EU, and even withdrawn part of its military presence on the island in line with the once-pursued policy of being one step ahead in efforts to unify the island. The unresolved Cyprus problem is blocking Turkey's accession to the EU while leading to new tensions concerning the exploitation of natural gas reserves located in the island's waters".

Also, in a commentary entitled: "Turkish foreign policy: Quo vadis?", in Turkish daily Today's Zaman (06.07.12) columnist Ihsan Yilmaz, writes, inter alia, the following: "Claims about a shift in axis taking place in Turkish foreign policy were wrong, but Turkey has not made much effort to refute these claims either.

Our politicians and their supporters in the media did not only ignore the EU accession process thanks to a few pretexts such as Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel and Cyprus, but they also belittled the EU because of its financial problems. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's recent trip to Paris last week is a good sign that Turkey has decided to focus on the EU for good reasons such as the trouble we have faced in Syria. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) always said that even if the EU halts Turkey's accession process, Turkey would change the Copenhagen criteria into Ankara criteria and continue reforming the country. Unfortunately, this did not happen. The AKP has been suffering from 'Eurofatigue,' and the reform process has been very slow. In contrast to the past, our politicians stopped visiting EU capitals and when they did they preferred to speak to the Turkish domestic audience rather than to their foreign hosts. Despite many promises, the issues of transparency, accountability, civil-military relations were not properly dealt with. Especially after the financial crisis in some EU countries, maybe not the politicians directly, but their close supporters in the media were simply making fun of the EU. Moreover, Turkey very strongly declared that during Cyprus' EU presidency, Turkey would freeze its relations with the EU. Despite this declaration, a few days after the start of the Cyprus presidency with Davutoglu's visit to France, we now read completely different comments and news stories about Turkey-EU relations. I am very happy with this. I have always held the belief that transitory, right-wing politicians such as Sarkozy and Merkel will go one day, so Turkey should not stop or slow down its EU reforms. Zero problems with neighbours was a good approach in the time (?)".

[10] Turkey to extend 150 million USD for Afghanistan

Turkish Development Minister Cevdet Yilmaz, who attended a conference on future of Afghanistan in Tokyo, said that the conference aimed to bring prosperity, peace and stability to Afghanistan.

Yilmaz said that Turkey believed that Afghanistan would be able to stand on its own feet and settle peace across the country, thus, Turkey carried out many projects on education, health, agriculture, rural development, infrastructure and training of Afghan security forces.

Recalling that Turkey committed to extend 200 million USD to Afghanistan during meetings in London and Paris, Yilmaz said that Turkey's ongoing projects in Afghanistan were planned to be completed by 2014. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION

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