Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 13-10-09

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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] Davutoglu announced that he will visit the breakaway regime prior to the two leaders meeting which he said will take place on November 4

[02] Eroglu wants resumption of the Cyprus talks even without joint text

[03] Nami's contacts to Ankara

[04] Denmark MFA: If Cyprus problem is solved, then another obstacle for Turkey's membership to EU will be taken away

[05] Bagis: Cyprus settlement would be significant not only for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots but also for Turkey and Greece

[06] BKP called on Yorgancioglu to announce what they accept from the economic package

[07] Turkish authorities did not give permission to Cyprus Minister/s wife to enter Turkey

[08] Sunat Atun is the new general secretary of UBP

[09] The breakaway regime established an Ad Hoc committee to discuss amendments to "constitution"

[10] Bayrak is using Turkish aid committee money for improving its working standards

[11] Davutoglu accuses Kerry over US "praise" for al-Assad

[12] Islamic Finance Development Centre to open in Istanbul

[13] Erdogan meets Hamas leader Mashaal in Ankara

[14] Turkish public servants start wearing headscarf freely ?Reactions from opposition parties

[15] TV host fired after AK Party official's decollete remarks

[16] "Why won't they reopen Halki Theological School?"

[17] Top Turkish court approves conviction of 237 suspects in coup case

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Davutoglu announced that he will visit the breakaway regime prior to the two leaders meeting which he said will take place on November 4

Davutoglu who held a meeting with the self-styled foreign minister of the breakaway regime Ozdil Nami who is holding "official contacts" in Ankara also stated that the two leaders in Cyprus will be meeting on November 4.

Cyprus problem was the main issue among the other topics discussed between Davutoglu and Nami, according to the paper.

He stated that the Cyprus problem came to a very critical point and said that if there strong political will, the solution in Cyprus is possible.

As regards the visit of the two representatives of the two Cypriot leaders to Ankara and Athens accordingly, Davutoglu stated that this is the first time in 50-60 years that such a development is taking place and said that an important psychological obstacle was overcame.

[02] Eroglu wants resumption of the Cyprus talks even without joint text

Claiming that he invited persistently the Cyprus President Anastasiades to sit on the negotiation table, Eroglu said that he wished to resume the Cyprus talks at the second half of October, adding that they may be extended to November.

Referring to the joint text that both sides are working on, so the leaders could address with UNSG Special Advisor Alexander Donwer at the first day of the resumption of the talks, Eroglu said that if there is no agreement on the joint text, they may again start the negotiations. He explained that the joint text was a request by the Greek Cypriot side as Downer informed them, adding that they want the resumption of the Cyprus talks even if there is no joint text, because their aim is the solution.

Eroglu reiterated that the Turkish Cypriot side wants to continue the negotiations from the point they stopped.

Replying to a question regarding his meeting with US diplomat Eric Rubin, Eroglu noted that contacts have been increased lately. Eroglu said that the international public opinion does not want to waste time anymore and it gives the message that it is ready to aid in order to find a solution the soonest possible. He claimed that if there is will, then the talks can be finished until March, or April.

Commenting on the visits of the negotiators to Ankara and Athens, Eroglu also claimed that the agreement includes that the meetings of the special representatives will be in the same level and with equal position. The visits will take place at the second half of October.

Noting that Anastastasiades has lost his credibility in the public opinion due to the economic crisis, Eroglu said that Anastasiades brought into the agenda the opening of the fenced off town of Varosha in order to gain his credibility back.

[03] Nami's contacts to Ankara

Nami, who is currently visiting Ankara, made these statements prior to his meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, during which he informed him about the expectations of the Turkish Cypriot side regarding the stage reached on Cyprus negotiations.

Nami stated that the Cyprus problem came to a very important stage and claimed that the international community begun mentioning that this is the last effort for reaching a comprehensive solution for the Cyprus problem. He went on and stated that their aim is a solution to be reached soon and thanked Turkey for the help towards the breakaway regime.

Nami and Davutoglu's meeting continued behind closes doors.

In addition, Turkish daily Today's Zaman newspaper (09.10.13) reports about Nami's in Ankara and writes that according to a senior Turkish diplomat who spoke to Today's Zaman on condition of anonymity, Nami, who is on his first "official" visit to Ankara and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will exchange views on the political process in Cyprus and the negotiations that are expected to start in the coming days.

"Turkey [?] wants the Cyprus dispute to be resolved as soon as possible and the talks not to be delayed indefinitely," the diplomat said. When asked whether a definite schedule for the talks has been set, the diplomat said that the start date was still unclear and could be postponed to November. He added, however, that Turkey expects the talks to start in October.

"In order to reach a solution, first the talks should start and this should not be delayed further," the diplomat said.

The paper also publishes statements by Mehmet Hasguler, a Turkish Cypriot academic who teaches at the illegal European University of Lefke, who said that he expects the talks to start by November. "I hope that the media in Greek Cyprus don't publish manipulative reports that will damage the negotiation process. Indeed, it will be a tough process, but first it should start," Hasguler told Today's Zaman.

The diplomat also said that Turkey and Greece have agreed on the visits of the two special representatives of the two sides in Cyprus. "Their visit will definitely take place. However, the date is not clear. But we predict it to be before November, in coordination with the Greek side," the diplomat said.

[04] Denmark MFA: If Cyprus problem is solved, then another obstacle for Turkey's membership to EU will be taken away

On the same issue, Ankara Anatolia news agency (09.10.13) reports that Sovndal also said: "We want all other chapters which have been blocked to be opened but l cannot put up a time table for Turkey's membership to EU while l can [list] some obstacles."

Regarding Turkey's reform program, Sovndal said Turkey came a long way with the reform program, and the country can always develop further, adding: "We ask you to be brave in the agenda item on freedom of speech and minority rights. We want all other chapters to be opened which have been blocked. He also said that the Chapter 22 was opened and the Chapter 23 will be opened as well.

"Turkey has also taken major steps to solve Cyprus problem," Sovndal said.

[05] Bagis: Cyprus settlement would be significant not only for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots but also for Turkey and Greece

"That is why we supported the Annan Plan although it was not a perfect one," he said, reminding that the Greek Cypriot side did not support the Plan.

During his visit in Athens, Turkish minister discussed several issues including the opening of the Halki seminary, the mosque problem in Greece, and lifting visa requirements for Turkish citizens.

Bagis said Greek authorities voiced their demands over the opening of the Halki seminary (the Theological School of Halki), which is located on the Turkish island of Heybeliada (Princes' islands) off Istanbul.

"We told them that it was not a political decision of us to close the school; it was a judicial decision for which we try to find a formula," he said.

"If Greece keeps its promises to the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the last 12 years, it may encourage the way to the formula (for the Halki seminary)," he noted.

He also touched on the issue of Athens' lack of a mosque and he underlined problems such as the ban on using Turkish words in the names of some associations as well as the lack of a Muslim cemetery in Athens.

[06] BKP called on Yorgancioglu to announce what they accept from the economic package

In a written statement yesterday, Izcan described Yorgancioglu's statement that he doesn't reject entirely the economic programme as unfortunate and disturbing. He repeated that Yorgancioglu has not announced yet the content of the letter he sent to Ankara regarding the implementation of the economic package and he called him once more to share with the public the letter's context.

Asking for the immediate cancellation of the economic package, Izcan stressed that the persistence of implement this package would be the biggest harm for the Turkish Cypriots.

[07] Turkish authorities did not give permission to Cyprus Minister/s wife to enter Turkey

Referring to confidential sources, the news portal reports that Kenevezou waited at the airport for six hours without being able to obtain a visa. Kenevezou created a diplomatic episode and the issue reached to the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the news portal reports.

Kenevezou was going to participate in an educational conference in Izmir as a speaker.

[08] Sunat Atun is the new general secretary of UBP

Sunat Atun was elected with 47 votes while the other candidate for the position, Ersan Saner, received 37 votes.

Atun's election created new reactions in the party since the decision of holding elections for the position of the general secretary was taken by UBP' central committee, despite the fact that the previous general secretary Necdet Numan did not officially resigned.

[09] The breakaway regime established an Ad Hoc committee to discuss amendments to "constitution"

[10] Bayrak is using Turkish aid committee money for improving its working standards

Making a statement on the issue BRT Director Mete Tumerkan stated the following: "972 thousand Turkish liras have been provided by the Turkish aid committee to Bayrak Radio Television Corporation to buy vehicles, cameras, computers and furnishings".

[11] Davutoglu accuses Kerry over US "praise" for al-Assad

"Anyone who speaks about Syria should not say anything that they wouldn't be able to say when looking into the faces of Syrian refugees who are suffering," Davutoglu said on Oct. 8, speaking during a press conference with his Danish counterpart, Villy Sovndal.

Touching on Turkey's support for a recent deal on the elimination of chemical weapons in Syria, the minister said he "openly discusses" the issues with Kerry, while underlining that he had a "close, friendly relationship" with the U.S. secretary of state.

"Any discourse that does not address the hearts of the Syrian refugees will not bring peace; on the contrary, it will raise offensiveness ... will egg on an offensive regime to stage more attacks just after chemical weapons were used," he said.

Davutoglu referred to pictures of dead children due to recent chemical attack in Syria and stressed that many world leaders, including Kerry, had seen them. "We don't think those who are responsible for the attack deserve any praise," he added.

Davutoglu also warned against the risks if the international community lost its decisive stance against the Syrian government.

The U.S. secretary of state praised al-Assad on Oct. 7 for beginning to destroy chemical weapons in Syria just a week after a U.N. Security Council resolution was passed on the matter.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Davutoglu also once again refuted allegations that Turkey was supporting the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front fighting in Syria.

[12] Islamic Finance Development Centre to open in Istanbul

The agreement was made in an exchange of letters between the World Bank, which proposed establishing the centre, and Ibrahim H. Canakci, the undersecretary of the Treasury.

The proposal letter states that the initiative will be implemented in Istanbul over a four-year period, ending in 2017, it will cover the development of work programs related to Islamic finance and it will establish a physical presence for the World Bank in Istanbul through the centre.

The centre will collaborate with stakeholders in the areas of Islamic economics and finance, including international financial institutions, standard-setting bodies, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector.

[13] Erdogan meets Hamas leader Mashaal in Ankara

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, National Intelligence Agency (MIT) chief Hakan Fidan, Deputy Undersecretary for the Prime Minister's Office Ibrahim Kalin and advisor Sefer Turan were also present at the meeting, Anadolu Agency reported.

The meeting between Mashaal and Erdogan came around four months after their latest meeting. It came at a time when rumours suggest that Mashaal, currently in exile in Qatar, is searching for another place to live.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, sources from the Office of the Prime Ministry declined to give further information regarding the agenda of the meeting. The latest meeting between Erdogan and Mashaal also took place at the prime ministry official residence on June 18. Gaza's Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and a number of members of Hamas' political wing had also participated in that meeting.

[14] Turkish public servants start wearing headscarf freely ?Reactions from opposition parties

The watershed move, which was announced by the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) government in a "democratization package" on Sept. 30, was the fulfilment of a long-time promise.

Both the lifting of the headscarf ban and the abolition of an oath that was obligatory for primary school students are moves that will serve to normalize the country and bring back the authentic spirit of the Turkish Republic, Erdogan told a parliamentary group meeting of his ruling party yesterday.

In an apparent response to objections against the move that are based on secularist concerns, Erdogan said there were "ignorant and exploitative" circles who were attempting to portray each and every step and reform by the government as anti-republican.

Erdogan said they had fixed imbalances, brought the republic back to its origins, and steadily removed pressures, bans and "cruelties" that had been imposed since the 1940s.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu chose not to comment on the development in his address to his party's parliamentary group meeting yesterday.

While Kilicdaroglu was delivering his critical remarks over the government's recently announced democratization package in his address to his lawmakers and party members at the meeting, a party member made a loud comment and said, "Their primary objective was to allow the headscarf for public servants." Kilicdaroglu, however, did not respond to the comment.

For his part, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli, who has constantly expressed his support for the lifting of the ban, criticized the government for waiting so long to implement an initiative that could have been instituted much earlier.

"Now the headscarf has come on the agenda once more and been put in the PKK [the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party] package," Bahceli said at his parliamentary group meeting, referring to the democratization package which his party considers as a concession given to the PKK.

"For us, being annoyed at the headscarf goes against the grain. However, Prime Minister Erdogan has made the headscarf a cover for the PKK and its own disgraces instead of putting it on the heads of pious women," Bahceli said.

[15] TV host fired after AK Party official's decollete remarks

"The TV host of a game show yesterday [Saturday] was wearing such a dress, which, I mean, is not appropriate. We are not interfering in anyone's life but it was too much. It is not acceptable in the rest of the world, either," AK Party Deputy Chairman Huseyin Celik said, speaking on a television program on Sunday. Although he did not name the TV host, he was reportedly referring to Gozde Kansu, the host of the song contest "Veliaht" (Crown prince) as there is no other game show on Turkish TV channels on Saturday that is hosted by a woman.

Reports emerged on Tuesday that Kansu was fired by the channel administration and Sevilay Yukselir, a columnist with the Sabah daily, which is from the same media group with ATV, confirmed the reports on her Twitter account. She said she talked to ATV managers on the issue and they told her that Kansu was fired not over her dress but because of her "low performance."

Some reports also linked Kansu's sacking to her support for the anti-government protests that engulfed Turkey in June. She was a supporter of the protests that began in Istanbul over the government's plans to build a replica of a historic military barracks in place of what is now Gezi Park in Taksim and turned into widespread protests against the government.

Responding to criticism on his Twitter account later on Tuesday, Celik said that during the interview he was asked about concerns that some would "exaggerate" the practice of allowing the headscarf at public institutions and he said these concerns were groundless, adding that he referred to the TV host as an example for "exaggeration." "I did not name a TV channel, a show or a person in my speech," Celik said. "My sensitivity is for the sensitivity of the public. It is my natural right and freedom of expression to voice my thoughts on an issue as an individual, a TV viewer and a politician," he added.

[16] "Why won't they reopen Halki Theological School?"

"Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke in Parliament on Tuesday, addressing his party.

Among many other things, he spoke about the conditions under which the Halki Theological School will be reopened. "When our cognates [referring to the Turkish minority] in Greece are able to choose their own mufti, then we will reopen the Halki Theological school," he said.

When I heard these words, I wondered if the Prime Minister had ever mentioned this so called "precondition" to his All Holiness Bartholomeos. As far as I know, they communicate on various occasions and I am sure that the reopening of the Halki School must have come up sometime during these frequent communications. This is a life and death matter for the survival of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey.

As I indicated various times before in this column, the reopening of Halki has always been on the agenda of this government. If you look at newspaper archives, you will observe that as early as 2003, at ministerial levels, different spokespeople from the government have spoken about the possibility of reopening Halki Theological School. Most of the time, they say "there is no obstacle before reopening the school." But somehow, when it's time to turn this into concrete reality, they come up with different excuses, all of which are related to "reciprocity."

Before, they had said Greece should first open a mosque in Athens. Now, the Prime Minister comes out with this final precondition: "the election of the mufti by the Muslim minority in Greece."

When you're unconscious (some say subconscious) dictates you to do something, your conscious always fabricate something to justify it. You cannot change the dictates of your unconscious mind until you fully confront them and sometimes with the source of its creation.

Whatever changes on the frontier, deep down Turkish statesmen's mentality of the image of non-Muslims and what they symbolize have not changed dramatically. Non-Muslims are infidel, unwanted, untruthful and unfaithful elements of this society. Was it not the patriarchate people who welcomed the Greek army when they invaded Istanbul? Wasn't it the minorities who caused the loss of large territories from the Ottoman Empire? These and so many other perceptions somehow remain alive on an unconscious level in some segments of society and statesmen alike.

This is the most non-Muslim friendly government that we have seen during the whole republican era. But they cannot move beyond the point of giving some "presents" sporadically and do not recognize minorities' fundamental rights.

We all welcomed this government's initiative of returning Mor Gabriel Monastery's land back. If you forget who seized them in the first place, you can regard this as a great step. It was the very state agencies acting under the strict control of this government who took this land after winning a legal battle which they fought fiercely. And now the government is giving the land back.

The government is taking some steps but none of them has the effect of creating fundamental changes for non-Muslims, such as creating legal devices recognizing the institutions of these groups.

As I always say, unless Turkey reaches the point of fully confronting with its past, there will not be a fundamental change in these spheres because goodwill or anything else cannot change the dictates of your unconscious mind. Turkey, unfortunately, will continue to act on automatic pilot and will not take the fundamental steps to fully address the grievances of non-Muslims unless we fully confront with our problematic past."

[17] Top Turkish court approves conviction of 237 suspects in coup case

The court approved the acquittal of 36 suspects, while quashing the convictions of 63 other suspects on the grounds that they had agreed to commit a crime but had not followed through and actually committed an infraction. The suspects will soon be released, although it was not immediately announced when and if they would face a retrial.

The court also ordered the release pending a retrial of 25 imprisoned suspects over problems with evidence.

The much-anticipated final verdict announced by the Ninth Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals is seen as the precursor for other controversial coup cases into plots like Ergenekon and the Feb. 28 process.

The verdict is the product of the longest trial in the history of the Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals, with the process including defenses from 96 lawyers at 17 sessions that stretched out for a month. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION

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