Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 14-03-21

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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] Ozersay: There will be important developments soon

[02] Ertug: We are closer to the solution than yesterday

[03] Member of Eroglu's negotiating claims says that the "constituent states" will be sovereign and have the right of self-determination

[04] Eroglu: We expect positive outcome from the negotiations within 3-5 months

[05] Eroglu: The world must see the reality of the existence of two "peoples" in Cyprus

[06] Nami on his contacts in USA and the Cyprus negotiation talks

[07] Cicek: "There are two separate states in Cyprus"

[08] Turkey blocks Twitter, after Erdogan vowed 'eradication'; Gul expressed his disagreement

[09] Turkey 'may consider' military operation into Syria to protect the tomb of Suleyman Sah

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Ozersay: There will be important developments soon

Ozersay argued that taking into consideration the recent developments in Ukraine, Europe, which is depended on Russia in the field of energy, will be more willing on the issue of carrying Eastern Mediterranean's energy resources to the international markets and this makes inevitable the revaluation of the situation in Cyprus.

He went on and argued: "The need for regional stability had been secured with long lasting negotiations without a result and with the status quo, but the latest developments showed once more that this should change now. It is very important to overcome this long lasting stagnation, which has put the Turkish Cypriots into a dead-end from the point of view of their status, and for the people to breathe. The ideal way of solving this is the comprehensive solution. Only on the way leading to the solution some concrete steps may be taken. We believe that soon important developments will happen on these issues".

After meeting with officials from the US State Department yesterday in Washington, Ozersay met with Mr Smart, who according to the paper is President Obama's advisor, and afterwards departed again for New York, where he is discussing the latest developments with the Ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

(I/Ts.)

[02] Ertug: We are closer to the solution than yesterday

Ertug referred to the property issue and said that it should intensively be discussed in the negotiations and we should say that "some give and take" will happen. He alleged that the users, who have created some development on the properties, should be taken into consideration and added that they exert efforts in this direction on the negotiating table. He said that "new conditions" have been created as regards the properties both in the occupied north and the government-controlled south area of Cyprus during the last 40 years and alleged that the solution should be in a manner that will influence negatively to the minimum extent these [conditions].

Ertug claimed that people are worried about what will happen with their houses and whether they will move again to another place. He said that they do not want to abandon their places again and live under Greek Cypriot administration.

Ertug argued that the Greek Cypriot side wants a great deal of territory and submitted a proposal that takes into consideration the percentage of population of the communities, noting that the Greek Cypriots consider the population of the Turkish Cypriot side to be 18%-20% [of the island's total population] and asks for a population census.

(I/Ts.)

[03] Member of Eroglu's negotiating claims says that the "constituent states" will be sovereign and have the right of self-determination

In statements to Kibris, Hasipoglu noted that this concept has been clarified in the joint declaration by saying that United Cyprus as member of the UN and the EU will have single international legal identity and single sovereignty as it is described in the UN Charter.

"Given that reference is made to the sovereignty of the UN member states, it would not be wrong to say that this definition could be interpreted within the Swiss Constitution model, some articles of which are taken into consideration by the Turkish Cypriot side", he alleged adding that this constitution provides that the cantons are sovereign as long as their sovereignty is not limited by the federal constitution. He claimed also that the cantons could make international agreements on issues within their jurisdiction provided that these are not contrary to the law, the federal interests and the law of the other cantons.

Referring to article 1 of the UN Charter, Hasipoglu alleged: "Given that there is no single people in Cyprus, according to the UN Charter it is understood that sovereignty includes an arrangement which gives possibility to the peoples to determine their equality of rights and their own future".

Hasipoglu claimed that sovereignty has internal and external dimension, something which is understood by the opposition in the government controlled area of Cyprus and on which many local and foreign academicians agree. He argued that the sovereignty may be single, absolute, inseparable and unlimited only in unitary states. He claimed that the actual problem is that the Greek Cypriot side did not abandon its view as regards the transformation of the Republic of Cyprus into a federation.

(I/Ts.)

[04] Eroglu: We expect positive outcome from the negotiations within 3-5 months

He made these statements during a meeting he held with a group of students from Estonian Tartu University. He also told them that the efforts for a solution had been on-going since 1968 and that the "people of TRNC" got tired of the never ending process.

[05] Eroglu: The world must see the reality of the existence of two "peoples" in Cyprus.

During the meeting, Eroglu stated that Church should not interfere in politics. He also said that the contacts between the two religious leaders in Cyprus must continue and added that he believes that the world must see the reality of the existence of two "peoples" in Cyprus.

Atalay on his part said that religious leaders approach the solution process from a religious perspective. Speaking about the Geneva meeting, Atalay said that good activities took place where many firsts were experienced.

[06] Nami on his contacts in USA and the Cyprus negotiation talks

Nami referred to his US trip and explained that he did not had the chance to meet with the negotiator Kudret Ozersay, since when Ozersay arrived to the island, he was on the way for the USA. He, however, said that they met and exchanged views with Ozersay before his departure for the USA. Nami added that the "foreign ministry" exerts efforts in order to have coordination with the "presidency" and added that the principal negotiator is "the president", as he called the Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu.

Stating that it is not possible to continue with the negotiation process without being in coordination with the "government", Nami indicated as examples the issue of territory and taxes and said that it is not possible to continue with these issues without to be informed first from the related departments.

Regarding the ongoing negotiation talks, Nami said that they consider that the number of meetings is not sufficient and added that it is not enough for the leaders to meet once a month.

Referring to his contacts in the USA, he said that there were successful and fruitful.

AK

[07] Cicek: "There are two separate states in Cyprus"

In statements during the meeting, Cicek referred to the Cyprus problem and said that the Cyprus problem is the most important dispute which was not possible to be solved during the last 50 years. He also expressed hopes for a solution to be found soon and added: "There are two equal communities, two equal states there. Turks are not the minority, but are essential components. We are willing to reach to a peace solution that will safeguard all legal rights. If it is not possible to reach to this agreement, we do not consider it right to continue in this way forever".

Pointing out that Cyprus is Turkey's national policy, Cicek said that no matter which party is in power in Turkey, it will always be by the side of the "TRNC" and continue putting the "TRNC" into the agenda during Turkey's bilateral talks in the international platforms.

AK

[08] Turkey blocks Twitter, after Erdogan vowed 'eradication'; Gul expressed his disagreement

"We now have a court order. We'll eradicate Twitter. I don't care what the international community says. Everyone will witness the power of the Turkish Republic," Erdogan said at his campaign rally in the western city of Bursa on March 20, 10 days before the upcoming local elections.

The Press Advisory of the Prime Ministry has later in the night clarified Erdogan's statement, arguing that Twitter officials currently "ignore" some court rulings in Turkey, which order the social media platform to "remove some links" as per the complaints filed by Turkish citizens.

Just before midnight, access to Twitter was already blocked in Turkey. The Communication Technologies Institution (BTK), which was given extraordinary powers with the recently passed Internet law, lists three court rulings and one prosecutor decision on its website as the reason of the outage. Eventually, all Internet service providers (ISP) in Turkey have abided by the rulings, as Turkish social media users have started to figure out ways to circumvent the blocking, like DNS-tweaking and VPN services.

In addition, the paper also reports that Turkish President Abdullah Gul has expressed his disagreement with the access restriction of social media websites, in his first remarks on the Twitter ban.

"A total shutdown of social media platforms cannot be approved," Gul tweeted via his own account on March 21.

Despite stressing that no such ban could be fully implemented, Gul expressed his hope that the government's move would not last long. "As I have said many times in the past, at the point where communication technologies have reached today it is technically impossible to entirely block access to social media platforms used across the world such as Twitter. I hope this practice will not last long," he wrote.

Gul had assured that there was no question of blocking access to social media platforms or popular sharing websites such as YouTube, following the recent enactment of a controversial law increasing government control over the Internet.

[09] Turkey 'may consider' military operation into Syria to protect the tomb of Suleyman Sah

"The tomb of Suleyman Sah is a rare place, which is Turkish land outside Turkey's own borders. There is no difference between the tomb and Ankara or Sinop. The soil where it is located is Turkish soil. Our armed forces are ensuring security and protecting it," Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said, responding to earlier statements by Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

On March 19, Kilicdaroglu called on the Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Ozel "not to embark on an adventure" with a military intervention in Syria to protect the tomb.

The tomb for Suleyman Sah, the founder of the Seljuk Empire in Anatolia who died in 1086, is located in the governorate of Aleppo. Two Turkish F-16 fighter jets are reportedly on duty to protect the tomb, from either Syrian government forces or ISIL. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION

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