Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 15-04-21

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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] CTP decided to actively support Akinci in the second round of the "elections"

[02] Ozgurgun said that they will do what is "necessary" for those who acted against the UBP decision after the "elections"

[03] Ozersay evaluates the "election" results

[04] Columnist says that no one can follow a sustainable policy in the occupied area of Cyprus without taking into account the Turkish settlers

[05] Cavusoglu: 2015 will be an important year for the Cyprus problem

[06] "Turkish Cypriot Football Federation" will submit for approval its new regulation

[07] Yeniduzen: Atalay met with Archbishop Chrysostomos in spite of the fact that he is on "compulsory leave"

[08] Davutoglu offered his condolences to the grandchildren of Ottoman Armenians

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] CTP decided to actively support Akinci in the second round of the "elections"

Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (21.04.15) reports that CTP-BG's chairman, Ozkan Yorgancioglu said that a new meeting will be held next Monday when the "election results" and an "extraordinary congress" will be on the agenda.

Kibris reports also that both candidates in the second round of the "elections", Dervis Eroglu and Mustafa Akinci, had separately visited the CTP earlier yesterday and met with Yorgancioglu and the party's general secretary, Kutlay Erk. Yorgancioglu said that they held no bargaining with any of the two candidates.

In his statements Akinci said that with the CTP they share the same ideals and therefore it is the part of the community from which they expect the biggest support to his candidature. He argued that the CTP-BG also wishes a "president" who is sensitive on the issues of the solution of the Cyprus problem the democratization etc. Responding to a question, Akinci said that he leaves "very satisfied" from the meeting. He noted that he would meet with Kudret Ozersay, the fourth candidate who could not make it for the second round, after the latter's press conference expected to be held this morning. He reiterated that Ozersay's decision not to direct his voters to support a certain candidate in the second round is wrong. He noted that Ozersay has seriously contributed in the "elections" and "carrying forward this contribution is important".

Asked whether Ozersay will participate in the Turkish Cypriot negotiating team in case he wins the "elections", Akinci replied that he never said this, adding that this is something which will be discussed later, but Ozersay had earlier stated that he will not become negotiator any more.

Eroglu also visited the CTP-BG yesterday and met with Yorgancioglu and Erk. Eroglu said that their meeting was sincere and thanked them for their interest. Responding to a question, Eroglu said that he did not like the fact that the turnout in the first round of the "elections" was low and argued that those who had not voted were waiting for the second round or wanted to send a message to some circles. Eroglu expressed the belief that the turnout will increase in the second round because these are "elections" during which the Turkish Cypriots will decide for their future.

Eroglu said that he will meet with Ozersay today.

(I/Ts.)

[02] Ozgurgun said that they will do what is "necessary" for those who acted against the UBP decision after the "elections"

Speaking to the press after the meeting, the leader of UBP Huseyin Ozgurgun announced that they will support the "independent candidate" Dervis Eroglu at the second round of the "elections". He also said that there were some who did not act accordingly to the decision of the UBP in the first round of the "elections", adding that they will do what is "necessary" regarding this issue after the "elections".

He also said that they had evaluated the outcome of the first round of the "elections" and exchanged views on work to be carried out for the second round which will be held this coming Sunday, the 26th of April.

Ozgurgun claimed that Eroglu should be re-elected to his post due to his experience and knowledge.

Noting that a large number of people had not voted in the first round of the "elections", Ozgurgun said that they will work towards bringing those people to the polls.

(DPs)

[03] Ozersay evaluates the "election" results

Ozersay, a first-time candidate with no party backing, finished fourth with a healthy 21.2% just behind the CTP's Sibel Siber with 22.54%.

Ozersay, evaluating the "elections results" at a press conference today, repeated that he will keep his pre-election promises and will not instruct or influence his supporters on how to vote in this Sunday's second round.

A large group of his supporters filled the conference hall at the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce where the press conference was held.

Pointing out that it is out of the question for him to openly support any of the two candidates in the second round, Ozersay however said that he will be voting in Sunday's election as a citizen.

"This is the first time I ran for office. Throughout the elections the biggest challenge I faced was the question in peoples' minds whether I truly had a chance to win the election", he added.

Expressing his belief that the outcome of the "election" could have been different if he had a few more days to campaign, Ozersay said that he nevertheless believes that he has achieved a great success.

"I proved to everyone that a truly independent candidate can win the elections. I believe we restored the public's confidence in what society can achieve" he said, adding that most of the votes he received were not reaction or revenge votes but were votes cast in support of his vision.

(DPs)

[04] Columnist says that no one can follow a sustainable policy in the occupied area of Cyprus without taking into account the Turkish settlers

Publishing two tables from the "population census" held by the breakaway regime in 2011 in order to justify his position, Safakli writes the following, under the title "How much of the TRNC voters potential are Turkish Cypriots and how much are Turks in Cyprus?":

"A lot of discussions were once made on the TRNC's demographic structure in order to support some political views or arguments. While some leftist extremists were putting forward the argument that the population carried to the TRNC would turn the Turks of Cyprus into a minority, the fundamental point was Article 49 (6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. Contrary to this, it was argued by mainly our founding president of the republic [Translator's note: Rauf Denktas] that the population coming to the TRNC was not a problem, but on the contrary, because they were Turks, they contributed to the workface especially in agriculture. Today when we enter into the election period for the presidential elections, this issue is not discussed so much. Because all candidates need the votes of the population carried afterwards to the TRNC in order to become president of the republic. Very well, in spite of this, what is really the situation of the demographic structure in the TRNC? Has the transferred population really the power to neutralize the will of the Turks of Cyprus if it behaves in an organized manner? For a response to these questions, we will take as basis the data of the 2011 population census.

Two methods could be used in order to understand the demographic analysis of our people currently living in the TRNC. One of them is their place of birth and the other is their nationality.

As it is seen from the table, in year 2011, the TRNC population was counted to be 286,257. The distribution of the TRNC population is better seen as a percentage. The percentage of the Turkish Cypriots, whom some people call as original Cypriots, is 47.64%. The percentage of those who are solely nationals of Turkey is 28.14%. The percentage of those who have both the TRNC and the Turkish nationality is 13.30%. It is understood that the potential of the population of Turkish Republic origin to determine the voters' will is totally 41.44% (28.14+13.30). When the place of birth is taken into consideration, it is possible to reach a similar structure: 104,641 persons out of the 286,257 persons of the TRNC population in 2011 were born in Turkey. The percentage of the population born in Turkey is 37%. When the children of these persons born from their marriages and their children are taken into consideration, it should be considered as very normal if this 37% approached 50%.

THE ABOVE SITUATION SHOWS THAT ANY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND/OR ANY POLITICAL PARTY WHICH DOES NOT TAKE INTO ATTENTION THE SENSITIVITIES OF THE PEOPLE OF TURKISH REPUBLIC ORIGIN, MAINLY ON THE PROPERTY ISSUE, HAVE NO POSSIBILITY OF FOLLOWING A SUSTAINABLE POLICY".

(I/Ts.)

[05] Cavusoglu: 2015 will be an important year for the Cyprus problem

Touching also upon the Cyprus issue during his speech, Cavusoglu said that a window of opportunity to find a political solution to the Cyprus issue which has been going on for over 50 years exists. He also expressed the belief that 2015 will be an important year for the Cyprus problem.

Claiming that their commitment for a solution continues, he said they are expecting the stalled negotiations to resume soon. Cavusoglu also expressed the Turkish side's readiness to put forward an extra effort to help the two sides to reach a solution before the end of this year. He however added that it takes two to tango.

Expressing that political will is needed to achieve a solution in Cyprus, the Turkish Foreign Minister claimed: "If the Greek Cypriot side and Greece show the same strong will then there is no obstacle in the way of reaching a solution in Cyprus."

Meanwhile, Turkish daily Sabah (online, 21.04.15) reports that Cavusoglu is expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday. Cavusoglu is expected to focus his efforts on urging Washington not to use the word "genocide" in Obama's speech.

Apart from this issue, Cavusoglu and Kerry are expected to discuss the crisis in Yemen, the latest developments in Syria, the ongoing fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and Turkey's contribution to a possible ground operation in Mosul, the resumption of peace talks on Cyprus, Ukraine and the issue of energy security. Turkey's demand for the U.S. to deport the U.S.-based imam Fethullah Gulen will also be on Cavusoglu's agenda.

Apart from his meeting with Kerry, on Tuesday Cavusoglu will also meet with the U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, and will continue his working visit by attending a meeting with Kerry and the Senators, which is expected to last for two hours. He will meet with U.S. National Security Advisor, Susan Rice, on Tuesday and is expected to discuss strategies to fight terrorism and resolve regional crises.

(DPs)

[06] "Turkish Cypriot Football Federation" will submit for approval its new regulation

Hasan Sertoglu, Chairman of the "KTFF" announced that the approval of the regulations will be the only item in the agenda of the general congress, adding that after the approval of the new regulations they will take other concrete steps on their membership to the Cyprus Football Association (CFA/KOP). He also said that legal and administrative steps will be taken in order the "Steering Committee", which will consist of four Turkish Cypriots and four Greek Cypriots, to be established. Therefore, it is expected that officials from both federations (KTFF and KOP) to go to Zurich again before the FIFA congress by the end of May.

(DPs)

[07] Yeniduzen: Atalay met with Archbishop Chrysostomos in spite of the fact that he is on "compulsory leave"

The head of EVKAF's administrative council, Mustafa Ozgu stated yesterday that they had asked a "legal opinion" for Atalay's application for undertaking a political post without resigning from his current "office" and added that they had officially informed him that he is on a "compulsory leave" during this procedure. He said that EVKAF was not informed about Atalay's meeting with Archbishop Chrystostomos yesterday and added that Atalay should comply with the decision of the administrative council.

(I/Ts.)

[08] Davutoglu offered his condolences to the grandchildren of Ottoman Armenians

His comments came in a statement on Monday in which he said that the deaths of Ottoman Armenians would be commemorated on April 24 in Turkey in a religious ceremony to be organized by the Armenian Patriarchate.

Davutoglu said: "Our common responsibility as the grandsons of two different peoples who shared the same joy and sorrow, is to relieve the pain of the past century and rebuild our humanitarian bond."

"During the last years of the Ottoman Empire, many Ottoman citizens from different ethnicities, who lived together for centuries in peace, suffered great torments. We commemorate the innocent Ottoman Armenians and convey our condolences to their grandchildren," Davutoglu added.

In 2014, when incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was Prime Minister, he expressed his condolences for the first time to all Ottoman citizens who lost their lives during the 1915 events, including Armenians. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION

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(DPs/ AM)

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