Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 13-01-03

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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] Erdogan reiterated his call for three children: "One or two children mean bankruptcy"

[02] Unverdi and Gulin Kucuk due to Ankara

[03] The "citizenship" of the regime was "granted" to another 13 persons

[04] Reactions against the return of Avci, Gokmen and Ertugruloglu to UBP continue

[05] "Court" decides a second round of voting for the presidency of the UBP with the same delegates

[06] Columnist Semih Idiz describes Ankara's 'Progress Report' as a 'meaningless exercise'

[07] Turkey ranks second in ECHR's violation cases in 2012

[08] Eroglu's resignation is demanded due to allegations that he is involved in the forging of documents

[09] OIC to convene in Istanbul on "religious intolerance"

[10] "Toparlaniyoruz Movement" in the occupied area of Cyprus has been renamed to "Association of Clean Society"

[11] Antiquities in occupied Famagusta are still being destroyed

[12] Turkey's top court: "It is a Constitutional right for Gul to run for second term"

[13] The number of Turkish representations overseas has reached to 209

[14] Turkey sees exports record with $152 bln

[15] KADEM's survey shows Kibris Media Group to be the most secure media in the occupied area of Cyprus

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Erdogan reiterated his call for three children: "One or two children mean bankruptcy"

Speaking at the International Family and Social Policies Summit, Erdogan said that the strength of a nation lies in its families and the strength of families lies in the number of their children.

"One or two children mean bankruptcy. Three children mean we are not improving but not receding either. So, I repeat, at least three children are necessary in each family, because our population risks aging. We are still on the good side, as we still own a young and dynamic population. But we are slowly aging. Presently, the whole western world is trying to cope with this problem. Please do not take our susceptibility lightly, this is a very serious issue," he said.

Erdogan also underlined the importance of family values and said that the Justice and Development Party (AKP), as a conservative democratic party, focused their whole policy around the idea of strong families. "There are abstract values that make a household a family. And it is extremely dangerous if that family loses those values. Therefore we are working on developing new projects to protect family values. We took measures to remove the pressure on family unity due to economic problems. We distributed a total of 108 billion Turkish Liras in social aid to citizens in need. In April we started a new program for single mothers who lost their husbands. We are providing them an allowance of 500 TL every two months and so far 225,000 citizens have benefited from these assistance projects. We have more projects to come in the near future," he said.

[02] Unverdi and Gulin Kucuk due to Ankara

The conference which is being held today and tomorrow is being attended by representatives from more than 20 countries.

The impact of the internet and developing communications technology over the social and cultural change as well as the family, will be taken up during the panel.

Unverdi and Kucuk are expected to return to the occupied area of Cyprus on Thursday.

[03] The "citizenship" of the regime was "granted" to another 13 persons

"The council of ministers, which convenes on Wednesdays, takes decisions on massively granting the citizenship after every meeting", notes the paper adding that according to the latest decision of the "council", which was published in the "official gazette" of 26 December 2012, the National Unity Party (UBP) "government granted the citizenship" of the regime to another 13 persons in one week.

(I/Ts.)

[04] Reactions against the return of Avci, Gokmen and Ertugruloglu to UBP continue

In a written statement issued yesterday, Ozyigit described this development as "black stain on the Turkish Cypriot political history" and "a great blow to democracy". Referring to "political immorality", Ozyigit said that the three betrayed the will of the "people" once more. He accused them of acting for their personal interests and recalled that Turgay Avci had abandoned the UBP and Tahsin Ertugruloglu had been expelled from the party. As for Mustafa Gokmen, he argued, he turned into a habit his transfers from one party to the other.

In statements on the issue during a TV program yesterday, Serdar Denktas argued that an end should be put to the transfers of so-called deputies. He said that changes should be made to the "political parties law" so that to eliminate the motivation of the "deputies" for transferring to another party. He noted that his party will propose that the "deputies", who abandon their party to join other parties, should lose their right to vote until the end of their "term". Replying to a question on the rumors that some UBP "deputies" will resign from their party and join the DP, Denktas said that after this "term" ends, those who are currently "deputies", like all "citizens", could make their choice and run in the "elections" with the DP, provided that the congress of the party decides so.

In a written statement on the issue, Izzet Izcan described the transfers as "political immorality" and said that the UBP has been turned into "a coalition of interest gangs rather than a political party".

Commenting on the issue, the YKP noted that the political decay continues in the occupied area of Cyprus and called on everybody to react for "clean politics". The party called also on the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan to end their open meddling even in the internal affairs of the Turkish Cypriot political parties and to remove their hands from the Turkish Cypriot political life.

Meanwhile, Kibris reports also that UBP's district organization in occupied Famagusta convened last night and rejected the return of the three to the party. Afet Ozcafer, chairwoman of UBP's district organization in occupied Famagusta, told Kibris that their decision was unanimous. She said the views of the members of the party were not taken before deciding to accept these three persons back in the UBP and argued that this decision was contrary to the regulations of the party. The paper recalls that UBP's district organization in the occupied part of Lefkosia had also rejected the return of the three back to their party.

(I/Ts.)

[05] "Court" decides a second round of voting for the presidency of the UBP with the same delegates

The court came to the conclusion that the congress decision [to declare Kucuk as the president of the party after the voting] was contrary to "articles" 28 and 31 [of UBP's "statute"] and that a second round of voting should be held within ten days.

According to Kibris Postasi, Kasif's supporters welcomed the "court's" decisions with applauses.

The "court" decided that the voting should be held with the same delegates.

(I/Ts.)

[06] Columnist Semih Idiz describes Ankara's 'Progress Report' as a 'meaningless exercise'

"What do you do if you are Turkey and do not like the EU Commission's Progress Report, the annual 'report card' for candidates that shows where they stand in their bid for membership in the union?

Well, first you get your Minister in charge of the whole affair to treat this report as a worthless piece of paper. Then you get a key jurist from the governing party to symbolically throw it in the garbage on live television.

Finally, you prepare your own immaculate 'Progress Report,' full of self-praise, and start blowing raspberries at Europe by pointing out how wonderfully Turkey's democracy is progressing at the same time that the EU is in such a state of dissolution that it can only be saved by Turkish membership.

This is what the Recep Tayyip Erdogan government did last week, getting its EU Minister and Chief Negotiator, Egemen Bagis, to announce Turkey's own Progress Report, which supposedly tells the world what the situation in Turkey really is. If this is not 'Turkish-style self-gratification,' then what is?

Of course, no one can claim that the EU has behaved completely decently toward Turkey. There is also truth in what Bagis says when referring to bigotry in certain European countries and quarters toward Turkey. It is also true that the EU is not what it used to be, having lost much of its charm for many Europeans, let alone Turks.

It is also true that there are many European politicians and strategists looking at Europe's long-term economic and strategic interests, and admonishing as 'dangerously shortsighted' those who have been opposing Turkish membership on civilizational grounds.

As has been frequently repeated in this column, however, it is the powers-that-be in Europe, when the time comes, who will decide if Turkey becomes a member or not, and not the man on the street. This was also the way it happened for Turkey's Council of Europe and NATO memberships.

Both were initially resisted ? although not on civilization but political grounds ? but both happened in the end because the way of the world, with Soviet expansionism turning into a nightmare for the West, required it.

If Europeans naively believe they will have a say in Turkish EU membership when the chips are really down, then they should consider just how much say they have today in what their leaders are doing to get Europe out of its economic crisis.

One does not see any referenda on whether the current austerity measures ? which are making life much more unbearable than Turkish membership probably would ? should be implemented or not. All the deeply disappointed average European can do today is to take to the streets in futile protest.

To return to Turkey, though, the point is that Ankara's own progress report can be taken as the latest reflection of the government's reluctance when it comes to reforms which are required for EU membership, but much more importantly, are also vitally important for this country's own sake. This self-gratifying report is no more than a smokescreen, enhanced by meaningless demagoguery, which is designed to shroud what the Erdogan government has not done.

But railing at the EU and debunking its Progress Report ? which most democratic and liberal Turks would endorse, despite some technical mistakes ? does not do away with the problems this country faces daily in the areas of democracy, human rights, press freedoms and others.

One really has to have selective eyesight not to see the objective truths contained in the EU's Progress Report, and to swallow hook, line and sinker what the Erdogan government's subjective Progress Report claims are Turkey's grand successes.

All of this shows that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) is less interested in EU membership today, and more interested in its popular image, which it believes is being wilfully tarnished by a bigoted Europe.

Other than that, Ankara's 'Progress Report' is a meaningless exercise".

[07] Turkey ranks second in ECHR's violation cases in 2012

There are almost 18,000 cases currently ongoing against Turkey, making it the country against which the second-highest number of cases has been filed. Turkey follows Russia, which has nearly 30,000 cases filed against it. The cases filed against Russia last year constitute 22% of the total caseload of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), while the cases filed against Turkey last year constitute more than 13% of the ECtHR caseload. Russia and Turkey were followed by Italy, Ukraine, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Poland and the UK, respectively.

The ECtHR will announce the final figures of 2012 at the end of January.

The total number of cases filed against Turkey in 2011 was 15,950. The ECtHR announced its judgments for 174 cases against Turkey in 2011 and ruled against Turkey in 159 of them. Turkey was the country with the highest number of violations of the ECHR in 2011, the third year in a row.

The ECHR, drafted in 1950, placed Turkey under the jurisdiction of the ECtHR. Turkey, in 1990 recognized the compulsory jurisdiction of the court. However, Turkey has still not ratified some of the protocols of the convention despite having signed them.

Turkey is likely to adopt a law that will establish a commission to review ongoing cases against Turkey at the ECtHR and decide whether to offer compensation to the plaintiffs in an attempt to decrease the number of cases before the court.

Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin explained in November the specifics of the proposal. He said that as of December 2011, the court had fined Turkey 2,404 times, finding it guilty of having violated a number of provisions of the ECHR since 1959, the year the country acknowledged the right of individual applicants to file cases with the European court. "This makes Turkey the most frequently fined country by the European court, followed by Italy and Russia", the Minister said. He said 493 of the rulings against Turkey were made due to lengthy trial periods, adding that exceeding a reasonable period in the judicial process is the main reason behind the frequency of the rulings against Turkey.

[08] Eroglu's resignation is demanded due to allegations that he is involved in the forging of documents

Ugural stated yesterday that Eroglu prevented the "legal procedure" regarding the teachers' exams, which were regarded to be "shady". Noting that "the suspicions that Eroglu is related with the forging of signatures have come to a serious stage", Ugural said that they demanded a "legal procedure" to be launched against Eroglu and added that his resignation is a moral obligation he has against the "TRNC" and the Turkish Cypriot "people".

Ugural argued that self-styled prime minister, Irsen Kucuk has also political responsibility for signing the decisions of removing "commission's" high ranking officials from their duties.

(I/Ts.)

[09] OIC to convene in Istanbul on "religious intolerance"

Officials said that the Istanbul meeting would be attended by legal and human rights experts.

OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu will deliver the opening speech of the Istanbul meeting in which legal means to fight against religious intolerance would be discussed in depth.

A report to be prepared after the Istanbul meeting will be submitted to leaders at the OIC Summit to take place in Egypt between February 2 and 7.

[10] "Toparlaniyoruz Movement" in the occupied area of Cyprus has been renamed to "Association of Clean Society"

The chairman of the new "association" is Kudret Ozersay, writes the paper.

(AK)

[11] Antiquities in occupied Famagusta are still being destroyed

(I/Ts.)

[12] Turkey's top court: "It is a Constitutional right for Gul to run for second term"

In June, the court annulled part of the law that barred Gul from running for another term, saying that it was unconstitutional to limit his rights. The appeal was filed at the court by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

In its reasoned opinion, the top court said the annulled law aimed to prevent Gul and other former Presidents from standing again in Presidential elections. The court said amendments made to Article 101 of the Constitution invalidated the previous practice, which barred someone from becoming President for a second time, so it is possible for the incumbent and former Presidents to benefit from the right to be re-elected to the Presidency. "It is impossible to eliminate a fundamental right that is granted by the Constitution," added the court.

In a move to end the long-standing confusion over the duration of Gul's term in office, last January Parliament passed a bill which stipulated that Gul's current Presidential term will expire in 2014, while also making it impossible for Gul to run for a second term.

Ever since Gul was elected President in 2007, there has been a debate over whether he will serve for five years or seven. The debate stems from a legal package the government presented in a referendum after Gul's election in 2007 that included a change enabling voters, rather than the Parliament, to elect the President.

Due to a miscalculation in timing, the package was put to a public vote on October 21, 2007, after Gul was voted in as President. The package included changes to the term of office for the President and Deputies -- shortening parliamentary terms from five years to four and reducing Presidential tenure from one seven-year term to a renewable five-year term.

Soon after the approval of the piece of legislation in Parliament, the CHP claimed that the change was unconstitutional and challenged it at the Constitutional Court.

(?)

[13] The number of Turkish representations overseas has reached to 209

Delivering the opening remarks of the Fifth Conference of Turkish Ambassadors in Ankara on Wednesday, Koru said that there was no other country in the world which increased its overseas representations to such a number in such a period. "Turkey opened 10 embassies and 3 consulates general in 2012. The number of Turkish representations overseas rose to 209. In 2013, new Turkish embassies will go into service," Koru also said.

In his speech, Naci Koru provided information on the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), its projects, infrastructure and organization.

[14] Turkey sees exports record with $152 bln

This surpassed the official government target of $149 billion, as TIM President Mehmet Buyukeksi said local exporters aimed for $160 billion of exports this year.

On an annual basis, defense sales posted a large increase of 43 % to more than $1.25 billion, as December 2012 exports slightly fell to $11.9 billion from the same month a year earlier, the figures showed.

Gold sales also supported the annual figures with a 42% increase from a year earlier, as Turkey has started using gold as an indirect payment tool for gas from Iran to bypass the U.S. embargo on money transactions with the Islamic Republic.

Speaking at an Ankara meeting held by TIM, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said some 60% of the gold exports went to Iran as another 30% went to the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.). He said Turkey would continue such trade as long as it found buyers for its gold. Turkey reportedly sends some of its exported gold to Iran via the U.A.E.

"Turkey sold nearly $1 billion worth of gold to both Switzerland and the U.K. as well", he said.

The country's current account deficit dropped to $41 billion in the first 10 months of 2012 from $65 billion in the same period a year earlier.

The south-eastern province of Gaziantep, a regional production hub, posted a 16% increase in exports, signalling a recovery from the sharp fall due to the tensions with Syria.

Turkey's tobacco exports also increased 25%.

Germany topped Turkey's export markets once again as Iraq and the U.K. followed.

Exports to Libya increased by 188% mainly due to the recovering process in the so-called Arab Spring nation.

Exports to the crisis-hit European Union countries fell by 7% to $58 billion.

Automotive exports topped Turkey's export items list last year with $19 billion as chemicals and textile products followed.

Exports from Istanbul, the industrial and business capital of the country, increased to $61 billion as neighboring Izmir ranked second with $13 billion in exports. Izmir and Bursa are Turkey's automotive industry hubs.

[15] KADEM's survey shows Kibris Media Group to be the most secure media in the occupied area of Cyprus

KADEM's research was conducted with a sample of 532 persons. The survey showed also that Kibris newspaper with a percentage of 79.5%, is the most readable newspaper in the occupied area of Cyprus. Havadis follows with 20.7% and then Yeni Duzen with 17.7% and Afrika with 13.9%.

Also, according to the survey, Resat Akar, columnist in Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper, has been classified as the most readable columnist with 15.2%, and Serhat Incirli comes second with 13.8%.

(AK) TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION

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