Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 13-01-16

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[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Turkey blocks Cyprus and Israel's membership to IRENA's council

[02] Downer briefed Eroglu about his moves

[03] The breakaway regime to participate in the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States in Sudan

[04] Eroglu reiterated his known positions; "the solution of the Cyprus problem should be based on the realities in the island"

[05] A new Turkish Cypriot movement is established; Its first protest is against the change of the demographic structure

[06] TAHAL Israeli desalination firm which operates a factory in occupied Vokolida threats to leave the breakaway regime

[07] Letter reveals Turkish army plans to assassinate Gul and stage a coup d'etat in Turkey

[08] Kucuk met with the Azeri Deputies who are illegally visiting the occupation regime

[09] Former general secretary of FIFA Champagne continues to promote football of the breakaway regime

[10] KTOS reacts to Gunsel's letter to Eroglu

[11] "Elections" approach at occupied Lefkosia's "municipality"

[12] Protest against human trafficking is organized in occupied Lefkosia

[13] Bagis due to Sweden; Turkey's EU negotiation process to be discussed

[14] French Minister of Trade expressed interest in Turkey's nuclear projects; France seeks to ease political tension with Turkey through trade ties

[15] Turkey's YOK submitted a bill aiming to remove headscarf ban for academics; Foreigners to be allowed to open universities in Turkey

[16] Erdogan and Caglayan on Turkey's economy; Erdogan: "Lowest inflation since 1968"

[17] President's Office, the TSK and the Police, the most trusted state institutions in Turkey, survey shows; Erdogan the most trusted political party leader; Davutoglu the most trusted Minister

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Turkey blocks Cyprus and Israel's membership to IRENA's council

In statements to Anatolia news agency, Yildiz noted that Presidents, Prime Ministers and Ministers from many countries have participated in the International Renewable Energy Conference in Abu Dhabi and added that Turkey was represented by the Turkish Ministry of Energy in the 3rd assembly of IRENA. He said that Turkey has prevented the "south Cyprus", as he described the Republic of Cyprus, and Israel to join the council of IRENA.

He argued, inter alia, the following: "Of course, within the framework of our policy, we could not see positively Israel's and south Cyprus membership. This is a sustainable policy. Of course, we cannot support a mentality, which tries to exclude us in Europe and in different environments. And we opposed here to the membership of Israel and south Cyprus. I thank my friends. Thus, they have not been accepted as members of the council?"

According to the paper, among the 185 member-countries of IRENA, only Turkey opposed to the membership of Cyprus and Israel to the 21-member council.

(I/Ts.)

[02] Downer briefed Eroglu about his moves

In statements after the meeting, Downer said that in the end of March he would visit New York to brief the UN Security Council. Responding to questions, Downer described his meeting with Eroglu as good and useful. He said they discussed the work of the technical committees and the negotiations.

Downer argued that they will be able to see better the future after seeing who the winner in the presidential elections of February in the Republic of Cyprus will be.

Downer said he informed Eroglu on the visit he will pay to New York in March during which he will brief the UN Security Council. He added: "We will discuss the Cyprus issue with the Security Council. The elections will be finished. We will see and who will win the elections. Thus we will brief the Security Council and discuss the Cyprus issue, and we will evaluate the point we have come".

Downer concluded by saying that he briefed Eroglu on the "useful visits" he had paid last month to Athens, London and Ankara.

(I/Ts.)

[03] The breakaway regime to participate in the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States in Sudan

The delegation, which consists of Bozer and "MP" with the National Unity Party Ahmet Caluda and "MP" with the Republican Turkish Party Abbas Sinay, is participating in the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States. The meeting is starting today and will continue until January 23.

The delegation of the breakaway regime is participating in the meeting upon an invitation by the speaker of the Sudan Assembly and chairman of the meeting Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Tahi, according to the paper.

[04] Eroglu reiterated his known positions; "the solution of the Cyprus problem should be based on the realities in the island"

Speaking during the main ceremony marking the 29th anniversary of the death of Dr. Faz?l Kucuk, Eroglu said that the Turkish Cypriot side continues to sit at the negotiating table with the aim of reaching a settlement on the basis of the "realities" on the island. "We aim to reach a settlement that will not take the Cyprus Turks back to pre-1974 condition", he said.

Also, touching upon next month's presidential elections in "south Cyprus", as he called the Republic of Cyprus, Eroglu said that a new momentum could be expected in the talks after the "south Cyprus" elections but added that this momentum could only yield positive results under certain conditions. "We believe that from now on, any negotiation has to be carried according to a timetable. We are also ready for a give-and-take exercise and to hold a multiparty conference with the participation of the guarantor powers", he said.

Explaining that the Turkish Cypriot "people" had run out of patience waiting for a settlement to happen, Eroglu said that the Turkish Cypriots were expecting the "lifting" of the "unjust international embargoes" imposed on them.

[05] A new Turkish Cypriot movement is established; Its first protest is against the change of the demographic structure

Ahmet Kaptan, chairman of the "public" servants' trade union (KTAMS), issued a written statement yesterday on behalf of the Movement explaining the principles of the organization. He noted that they decided to struggle until the "tyranny" of the National Unity Party ends, until any kind of political, economic, social, cultural and demographic impositions, packages and privatizations by the Justice and Development Party, which aims at annihilating the Turkish Cypriot community are prevented, and until a federal solution to the Cyprus problem is reached on the basis of the UN Resolutions in order for the Turkish Cypriots to take their place in the international field.

The political parties, which participate in the Movement, are the following: the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), the Social Democracy Party (TDP), the New Cyprus party (YKP) and the United Cyprus Party (BKP). Other organizations, which joined the Movement, are the following: the chamber of engineers and architects (KTMMOB), the chamber of tradesmen and craftsmen (KTZO), the journalists' union (KTGB), the olive producers' union, the subcontractors' union, and the taxi drivers' union. Trade unions such as KTAMS, KTOS, KTOEOS, Turk-Sen, Dev-is, BES, Guc-Sen, Tip-Is, Cag-Sen, Basin-Sen, DAU-Sen, DAU-Bir-Sen, Koop-Sen, Hava-Sen, El-Sen, Tel-Sen, Devrimci Genel Is, Emek-is, Petrol-Is, Magusa Turk Genel-is, Bank-Sen, Gida-Sen, Saglik-Sen and HTKS are also participating in the Movement.

(I/Ts.)

[06] TAHAL Israeli desalination firm which operates a factory in occupied Vokolida threats to leave the breakaway regime

The firm operates a factory in occupied Vokolida and distributes water in the hotels located in the area and in nearby villages.

The paper publishes statements by the deputy chairman of the firm's engineering body, Itai Stadler who said that if the "TRNC government" cannot obey to the terms of the agreement, and do not pay the debt, then TAHAL will close the factory and will leave.

Kibris writes that the self-styled minister of economy Ersin Tatar commenting on the issue said that it is a scandal and called on for an agreement to be reached between the "government" and the Israeli firm.

[07] Letter reveals Turkish army plans to assassinate Gul and stage a coup d'etat in Turkey

The plans included the assassination of President Abdullah Gul and persuading former Chief of General Staff retired General Yasar Buyukan?t to stage a coup d'etat and the appointment of him as the new president.

Sections from the letter were printed by the Vatan daily on Tuesday. According to the daily, the author of the letter defined himself as a serving military officer at the Special Warfare Department. The letter was addressed to Emre Taner, MIT's former undersecretary. The letter was recently forwarded to the parliamentary Coup and Memorandum Commission for examination.

According to the letter, the department made plans to assassinate a number of leading figures, including President Gul, journalist Tuncay Ozkan and Turkan Saylan, the former chairwoman of the Support for Modern Life Association (CYDD). The letter does not specify exactly when the plans were devised but the fact that Saylan died in 2009 suggests that the plans date from before that year.

The Special Warfare Department hoped to incite chaos in society with the assassinations, which would eventually lead to the collapse of the government. The department planned to ask Hilmi Guler, a former Minister of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, to become the new Prime Minister and shape the new Cabinet.

The letter also claimed that the department urged Buyukan?t to retire earlier than scheduled, in April 2008, so that he could be appointed the new President after a planned coup was put into action. However, the department failed to persuade Buyukan?t, according to the letter. The former military chief retired in August 2008.

In addition, the letter revealed the existence of the Special Warfare Department's secret ammunition depots. The depots were mainly buried underground and their exact locations are unknown to all except for a few members of the department. The writer of the letter included a handwritten map of one of the ammunition depots, which is reportedly in a forested area in the southern province of Hatay. There are around 100 such depots across Turkey, according to the letter. "It is very hard to keep an eye on all these depots," read the letter, cautioning against the discovery and use of the ammunition by ill-intentioned people.

The letter also included the names of several officers working at the Special Warfare Department.

The department was, in addition, engaged in activities to keep tabs on many civilians. The tabs were mainly based on the racial, religious and ideological backgrounds of those civilians. The civilians were categorized as "Sunni, Turk, Kurd, Alevi, leftist or rightist."

"Esteemed [MIT] undersecretary, it is possible to see that there are some traitors inside the TSK. However, it is impossible to say that those traitors represent the entire [TSK] forces," the writer concluded his letter.

In the meantime, the Taraf daily reported on Tuesday that prosecutor Mustafa Bilgili had asked the parliamentary Coup and Memorandum Commission to send him copies of letters previously sent to MIT and published by Taraf last week, which revealed illegal activities of structures formed within the Turkish military. The letters contain information on illegal activities of some groups set up within the General Staff such as the Special Warfare Department, the Tactical Mobilization Group (STK), the Special Forces Command (OKK), and the Wartime Search and Rescue Unit (MAK). The letters are believed to have been written by authorities who have obtained confidential documents pertaining to these clandestine groups.

[08] Kucuk met with the Azeri Deputies who are illegally visiting the occupation regime

As the paper writes, during the luncheon, Kucuk discussed with the Azeri Deputies the cooperation works which are exerted by the two "countries", the cooperation project between illegal DAU and Azerbaijan's Parliament in the fields of education and science, and issues related to the flowing of students from Azerbaijan to the occupation regime.

In statements during the luncheon, Kucuk referred to the strong ties of friendship that exist between the occupation regime and Azerbaijan.

The paper reports on the names of the Azeri Deputies: Malahat Ybrahimgizi, head of the delegation and Deputy from the New Azerbaijan Party's Nasimi region, Malik Hesanov, Deputy and member of the Natural Resources and Energy Council, Flora Gasimova, Deputy and member of the Human Rights Council, Sahiba Gafarova, Deputy and member of the Council of Culture of National Assembly and vice-rector of Azerbaijan's Slavic University and Rustam Khalilov, deputy.

(AK)

[09] Former general secretary of FIFA Champagne continues to promote football of the breakaway regime

The paper also notes that Mustapha Kesus, a French sport journalist from Le Monde newspaper, will cover tomorrow's meeting and notes that he will travel in occupied Famagusta and occupied Keryneia tomorrow, to gather information about football in the breakaway regime. Kesus stated to Kibris that he will bring into the agenda the sport problems in the occupied area of Cyprus.

[10] KTOS reacts to Gunsel's letter to Eroglu

In a written statement issued yesterday, Elcil said that the real face of the political regime imposed on the Turkish Cypriot community was revealed once more with Gunsel's statement. According to Elcil, Gunsel called Eroglu for help, because he sees that the regime, which served him until today, "is creaking".

Elcil argued that Gunsel's cry for help is a joy for the Turkish Cypriot community.

Elcil accused Gunsel of accepting everything which the governments in Ankara impose on the Turkish Cypriots and of applauding the AKP.

(I/Ts.)

[11] "Elections" approach at occupied Lefkosia's "municipality"

During a meeting which was held yesterday, four members of the "council" submitted their resignation. In statements after the meeting, they said that in case the resignations are accepted, the number of the members of the "council' will fall below 50% and "byelections" will be held for the "municipality" within 60 days.

The members of the "council" who come from the National Unity Party (UBP) are expected to convene today in order to discuss the issue of the resignations.

(I/Ts.)

[12] Protest against human trafficking is organized in occupied Lefkosia

The organizers of the meeting said in a statement issued yesterday that sex slavery and human trafficking is an open sore subject both in the free and the occupied area of Cyprus.

Turkish Cypriot Primary School Trade Union (KTOS), Turkish Cypriot Secondary School Trade Union (KTOEOS), Civil Servants Trade Union (KTAMS), New Cyprus Party (YKP), and feminist organizations like FEM and FEMA will participate in the protest.

[13] Bagis due to Sweden; Turkey's EU negotiation process to be discussed

Speaking to reporters prior to his departure, Bagis said he was set to meet with his Swedish counterpart Eva Birgitta Ohlsson Klamberg as well as with Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and International Development and Cooperation Minister Gunilla Carlsson. "We will asses Turkey's European Union membership process. We attach great importance to the support that countries such as Sweden extend. There are seven political parties in Sweden and all of them support Turkey's EU accession bid," Bagis said.

[14] French Minister of Trade expressed interest in Turkey's nuclear projects; France seeks to ease political tension with Turkey through trade ties

"We are interested in nuclear projects in Turkey. We want to strengthen our ties with Turkey again," Bricq told the Anadolu Agency after a meeting in Istanbul.

Bricq said trade relations could help Turkey and France to ease tensions recently seen in political relations, adding that ties between the two countries were based on an economic partnership. "France and Turkey are two great nations. We need Turkey and I believe Turkey would need as well a big partner like France," she said.

Bricq said Turkey and France had a trade volume of 15 billion euro, adding that her visit in Turkey was aimed to boost that figure.

The French Minister also said that she set to meet with her Turkish counterpart and the Turkish Energy Minister on Wednesday.

[15] Turkey's YOK submitted a bill aiming to remove headscarf ban for academics; Foreigners to be allowed to open universities in Turkey

In the proposed legislation, YOK states that any discrimination against academics based on their background, gender, religion or choice of dress should be prohibited. If the draft law is approved by Parliament, the law will allow headscarved women to teach at universities.

YOK's bill also states that students in institutions of higher learning cannot be discriminated against for their political views, religion, language, race, gender, choice of dress or any other reason.

A headscarf ban that prevented students wearing headscarves from receiving an education at Turkish universities was eliminated by YOK in 2010, but several universities still impose the ban.

The education board also states in its legislative proposal that the only feature that will be used to differentiate between academics will be the qualifications required for the position. The draft law also went on to state: "People who are given special treatment as determined by the university committee for reasons of disability or particular needs cannot be considered within the scope of this article. Furthermore, academics cannot be suspended from their positions and they cannot be fired from their jobs by any person or institution other than institutions of higher learning or high-ranking university managers and supervisory bodies."

With the recent draft law, foreigners will also acquire the right to open private universities or academic institutions in Turkey. These universities will be run according to the principles of the foreign country and will not have to comply with the Turkish higher education principles.

YOK also plans to bring other substantial changes to universities on issues such as the election of university rectors and the type of entities allowed to open universities with its draft law.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency on Tuesday, YOK President Prof. Gokhan Cetinsaya said: "YOK will delegate some of its powers to universities, and university senates and councils will be using the delegated powers."

The bill suggests classifying universities into three categories; universities with a governing council, universities without a council and new universities. In relation to this, the bill brings different election models for each category. Universities with councils must create a board to nominate rector candidates who will then be assessed by the university council, which will make the final decision on the new rector. The elected candidate will then will be officially appointed by the President.

Three different models are suggested for the election of rectors at universities with no council. According to the first model, the rector will be elected by the academics at the university. The second model, however, requires the forming of an election board for rector election. The last model suggests creating university senates for the election of rectors.

Under current law, university rectors are appointed by the President from among candidates selected by members of the faculty of each university. The draft legislation also includes a clause that would allow private companies to establish universities. Currently universities can only be established by the state or a foundation.

According to the bill, the name of the board will also be changed to the Turkish Higher Education Board (TYK).

[16] Erdogan and Caglayan on Turkey's economy; Erdogan: "Lowest inflation since 1968"

During his speech at his party's parliamentary group meeting, Erdogan reminded that in 2012, the inflation rate was 6.2 %, which was the lowest inflation rate achieved in Turkey since 1968.

Erdogan said that in the past decade his party achieved successful results and added that at the end of 2002, the inflation rate was about 30%.

After a long while, in 2004, the inflation rate was dropped to single digits and in 2012, Turkey hit a new record of 6.2% of inflation rate.

Erdodan stressed that in 2002, main index of Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) was 11,000 in average, yet, in 2012, the index reached an average of 64,000.

He drew attention to the automotive sales and said that in 2012, the number of car sales annually was 556,000. In 2002, this was 91,000.

He also reminded of another record and said: "When we came to office, the foreign exchange reserves of Turkish Central Bank was $27.5 billion and now it reached to $122 billion 146 million."

Erdogan said: "We owed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) $23.5 billion and we took over the management with these figures. Now, it is under $1 billion. Hopefully, with two payments until May, we will write off. As a result of talks, we lend IMF $5 billion. These are the figures of 2013's first days. Hopefully, we will continue achieving successful results in 2013, as we did in 2012."

Erdogan also mentioned newly added projects and said that they will spare 46 billion Turkish Liras (TL) for 2,737 new projects of 2013. He said that they increased the annual allowance for projects by 20 % compared to previous year and explained that the 14 billion TL of the 46 billion TL allowance would be spent for transportation, the 8 billion TL for education, 6 billion TL for agriculture and the 3 billion TL for health services.

On Marmara project and suburban lines, Erdogan said that for the year of 2013 they spared 9.3 billion TL allowance and said: "Hopefully we will complete it by September 30 and open for the service. We also spared 8.2 billion TL for the high-speed rail line between Ankara and Istanbul and also planning to complete this project on September 30 as well."

Lastly, Erdogan said that in 2001, the average completion time for projects were 9 years, yet now it has dropped to 3 and a half years.

Meanwhile, according to Ankara Anatolia news agency, Turkish Minister of Economy Zafer Caglayan has referred to the household labor force figures for October 2012 and said: "When we examine the economic situation of the world, I take our employment rate results as successful."

Caglayan said that according to the figures, Turkey's labor force reached its highest with 28 million 51 thousand people in October 2012. Caglayan referred to the October 2012 household labor force figures in Turkey and said: "There is serious rise. Number of employed increased by 1 million 23 thousand people compared to October 2011 and reached to 25 million 509 thousand people in the period of October 2012."

Caglayan said that according to results which were published on Tuesday, the unemployment rate in Turkey was 9.1 percent in October 2012 and added, "It is a high rate when we just look at that. I wish we could pull it down. We aim to bring that to 6 to 7 % over the medium or long term."

According to the Turkish statistics authority, TurkStat, the number of unemployed people increased by 87 thousand in the period of October 2012 and reached 2 million and 541 thousand in Turkey.

Labor force participation rate (LFPR) was 51% with 1% increase compared to the same period of the previous year for Turkey in October 2012 period.

[17] President's Office, the TSK and the Police, the most trusted state institutions in Turkey, survey shows; Erdogan the most trusted political party leader; Davutoglu the most trusted Minister

The Ankara-based MetroPOLL Strategic and Social Research Center conducted a survey on people's confidence in state institutions and compared people's existing confidence in those institutions with the previous year.

According to the poll, the people's confidence in the President's Office is measured at 7.6 points out of a full 10 points, and the figure is 7.5 points for the TSK and 7.3 for the police force. The institutions are followed by the Prime Ministry with 6.8 points, Parliament and the Constitutional Court with 6.5 points each, the government and the judiciary, both with 6.3 points, the Higher Education Board (YOK) with 5.5 points and the media with 5.1 points.

The public confidence in all institutions is, however, in relative decline.

The figure for the President's Office was calculated at eight points in December 2011, while the figure for the TSK was 7.7%; the police force was 7.6%; the Prime Ministry was 7.4%; Parliament was 7.1%; and the media was 5.2 percent.

Among those least trusted are opposition parties, according to MetroPOLL's new survey, with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) at 4.3 points and the Republican People's Party (CHP) at 4.2 points.

The survey was conducted from September 26- December 1, 2012, by telephone on a random national sampling of 1,202 adults residing in cities, towns and villages. The margin of error for the overall poll is 2.8 percentage points, at a 95% confidence level.

Pollsters also questioned respondents about their level of confidence in Ministers. According to the responses, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is most trusted by the people. He is followed by Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Ali Babacan, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Ar?nc, Health Minister Recep Akdag, Family and Social Policy Minister Fatma Sahin and Transportation Minister Binali Y?ld?r?m.

Asked about the course of Turkish democracy, 33.8% of respondents said democracy grew stronger in 2012. More than 25.8% responded to the contrary and said democracy grew weaker last year. A full 28% said democracy did not strengthen or weaken in 2012, while 9.7% declined to comment.

One of the main questions directed at respondents was about their voting behavior. If Parliamentary elections were held today, 40.3% of those polled said they would vote for the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), a figure lower than the June 12, 2011 general elections, in which the ruling party won around 50% of the vote. This figure is likely to increase at the ballot box for the AK Party, through the split of the vote of those who are undecided, which the survey shows to be more than 11%.

The CHP would receive 18%. This figure shows that the main opposition party has been unable to maintain its rising popularity among voters since the last general elections in which it garnered 26% of the national vote. According to MetroPOLL, the MHP would receive 8.7% of votes cast, while the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) would garner 4.5%. More than 10% declined to comment, while 5.1% said they would protest at the ballot box.

The survey also found that Turks show declining support for the country's bid to join the 27-nation European Union. While 43% said they support Turkey joining the EU, 40.7% said they do not. More than 10% said they are undecided, and 5.9% declined to comment. The support was much higher in previous surveys. One of the surveys conducted in 2011 showed that more than 53% would vote "yes" if a referendum were to be held today about Turkey's aspirations to become a full member of the EU.

Regarding a question as to which of the existing political party leaders they trusted the most, 43% of respondents said they trusted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan the most. Erdogan was followed by CHP Chairman Kemal K?l?cdaroglu with 11% and the MHP's Devlet Bahceli with 5%.

When asked about their contentment level, 52.2% of participants said they were pleased or very pleased with their lives. More than 19% said they were neither pleased nor unhappy about their lives, while more than 27% said they were unhappy with their lives. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION

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