Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 15-05-20

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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] Akinci to brief Turkish Cypriot political party representatives on the Cyprus negotiation talks

[02] Sources close to the "presidency" denied allegations that UN experts may carry out inspections in the fenced off city of Varosha

[03] UBP and DP against the new "citizenship law", TDP and CTP in favor

[04] Ulucay met with the Kyrgyz Deputy who is visiting the breakaway regime

[05] Opposition parties in Turkey express worries for possible election fraud

[06] Turkey has world's 10th most powerful army

[07] Turkey's fate and the importance of strategic votes

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Akinci to brief Turkish Cypriot political party representatives on the Cyprus negotiation talks

According to a statement issued by the so-called "presidential palace", Akinci will brief the Republican Turkish Party-United Forces (CTP-UF), the National Unity Party (UBP), the Democratic Party (DP) and the Social Democracy Party (TDP) officials on the negotiations process.

(AK)

[02] Sources close to the "presidency" denied allegations that UN experts may carry out inspections in the fenced off city of Varosha

(AK)

[03] UBP and DP against the new "citizenship law", TDP and CTP in favor

UBP and DP reacted particularly over the "regulation" which envisages that those who are currently working in the occupied area of Cyprus with a "work permit" will acquire the right to take the "TRNC's citizenship" in 15 years instead of 5 years as the "law" envisaged before.

Commenting on the above change of the "law", the chairman of the National Unity Party (UBP) Huseyin Ozgurgun said that this regulation is unacceptable and added that its party will vote against the "law" in the "assembly".

On his part, Fikri Ataoglu, "deputy" with the Democratic Party (DP) said that the "draft bill" is contradictory to human and legal values.

Meanwhile, commenting on the issue, the "deputy" with the Social Democracy Party (TDP) Mehmet Cakici expressed full support to the "government" towards the "citizenship law" and stated that the changes in the "law" are fair and legal since as he said similar regulations exist in other EU countries.

On the same issue, Kutlay Erk, general secretary of the Republican Turkish Party-United Forces (CTP-BG) said that the new "citizenship law" and "draft law" will pass into "law" after being discussed first. He added that the final form of the "law" will be discussed as well and expressed the view that the extension of the period for a person to have a right to be granted a "citizenship" from 5 to 15 years is in fact very long and should be re-examined.

(AK)

[04] Ulucay met with the Kyrgyz Deputy who is visiting the breakaway regime

During the meeting Ulucay stated that the support of the Kyrgyz Foreign Minister to the breakaway regime, which can be safeguard with the help of the Kyrgyz Deputies, will strengthen the hand of the Turkish Cypriot side at the Cyprus negotiations. On his part Djumabekov said that the aim of his visit is to improve the relations and the cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and the "TRNC" and added that trade and education relationship can be improved even more.

(CS)

[05] Opposition parties in Turkey express worries for possible election fraud

"If there are problems concerning election safety, it would have serious consequences. The government would be seen as illegitimate and elections would be considered null and void," CHP head Kemal K?l?cdaroglu told representatives of Hurriyet and the Hurriyet Daily News at a meeting in Ankara on May 19.

Officials from the CHP and the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) have both expressed concerns over election safety, implying that the AKP was in preparation for a potential fraud. HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtas has even claimed that the AKP has recruited a group of 3,500 people in order to dominate control of all ballot boxes across Turkey.

With less than three weeks left to the polls, the CHP leader claimed that his party is currently above 30 % in the polls and will increase further to 35 % on election day. He also claimed that the AKP's votes were around 37 % and the HDP was above the 10 % threshold.

[06] Turkey has world's 10th most powerful army

The figures on the Global Firepower website showed that Turkey has a relatively large military population, some 411,000, and a strong tank force of 3,778 vehicles.

The country is upgrading its navy, which weighs 148,448 tons as of now, while also bidding to develop its domestic tank, Altay. The country has an aircraft fleet of 1,020 planes. The study noted that Turkey has jihadists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) at its door step.

The website marked Turkish military spending at $18 billion, way below the remaining nine countries on the list, including the top firepower U.S., with $577 billion. Japan, the ninth military power, spends $42 billion in defense.

[07] Turkey's fate and the importance of strategic votes

"There are roughly two weeks until the election slated for June 7. This election may qualify as the most important election in the history of Turkey. Voters will elect politicians who will not only steer the country for a period of five years, but also shape the future of the country. We would be pleased if the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has been in power for 13 years, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who maintains increasing tutelage over the AKP, had internalized democracy and if the nearing election were an ordinary election, not a choice between democratic rule of law and Turkish-type dictatorship.

But unfortunately, Erdogan and the AKP have undermined all democratic institutions and rules and categorically breached many provisions of the Constitution, turning the nearing election into a critical vote over whether the country will remain a democratic regime. For this reason, on June 7, Turkey will make a choice not about which party will govern the country, but what type of regime the country will have. The choices are clear. On one hand is the quest for perfecting the parliamentary democratic state governed by the rule of law as part of 150 years of democratization efforts in Turkey, a country which has so far failed to implement democracy in a true sense. On the other hand is the one-man dictatorship whose capacity for unlawfulness, despotism and arbitrariness can hardly be estimated today...

Do not be fooled by their repeated reference to a "presidential system." They never intended to establish a democratic, pluralistic and liberal system based on the principle of separation of powers, checks and balances and the idea of decentralization. They just try to conceal their true intentions by calling what they fail to refer to as a "dictatorship" or "sultanate" a "presidential system." Just as Adolf Hitler did in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy, they seek to put in place a fascist one-man regime through elections. To this end, they are motivated to engage in all sorts of tricks and manipulations.

What distinguishes a true democracy from other regimes is that it gives the nation the opportunity not to elect unfavourable political views to power as well as to remove a corrupt ruling political party from power through peaceful methods, without causing violence or chaos. The biggest weakness of democracies is that they may easily fall prey to anti-democratic mentalities that derive power through democratic means. For this reason, democracies have developed certain legal and institutional measures to protect against the possibility of a corrupt ruling party's undermining the democratic system after having come to power through democratic means. Yet, to our dismay, corrupt populist parties that have managed to cling to power for extended periods may succeed in thwarting these measures. The current chaotic process in Turkey is a typical example of this. The legal mechanisms that are supported to safeguard democracy have long been turned into the tools for the despotic march that will uproot all democracy ruthlessly.

Theoreticians of democracy who ponder ways to safeguard democracy -- by nature, democracy is naive to a certain extent -- from this bad fate argue that the struggle for democratic is a never-ending process. They emphasize that democrats should exhibit full confidence in the safety of democracy, but should always be vigilant for any deterioration. Unfortunately, I can hardly say that democrats in Turkey properly comply with these precautions.

Having secured the backing of the masses which it can deceive with populist policies and an abuse of national, moral and spiritual values, the ruling AKP has managed to abolish all democratic institutions and rule of law through gradual erosion, as witnessed by all the democrats in the country. It now seeks to finalize this process of destruction with the electoral support it seeks to muster in the coming election. More correctly, it intends to stamp out the parliamentary democratic state governed by rule of law and replace it with a nondescript dictatorial monstrosity. This is the main reason why Erdogan is fervently holding political rallies to ask voters to support the AKP, although he took the oath of impartiality.

So what should the country's democrats from diverse ideological camps do in the face of such a clear and present danger. Should they just sit and watch the prospective disaster as it unfolds? Or should they jettison their traditional political patterns of thinking to contribute to the creation of a political scene which would trigger a new process to put the parliamentary, pluralistic, competitive, liberal and democratic state of law back on the right track? I don't remember any previous election in which the protection of the democratic climate prevailed so strongly over political preferences and ideological stances. Now that it is an undeniable necessity to make informed calculations regarding the nearing election, we need to get properly prepared for the game of democracy.

All public opinion polls indicate that the AKP is bleeding votes in its ant-democratic adventure but will still emerge as the strongest party in the coming election. These polls may or may not be successful in aptly indicating the nation's political preferences. Worse still, virtually the entire country is sure that the AKP will employ certain tricks to rig the election, and so society is busy estimating how many votes will be transferred to the AKP through such tricks. The June 7 election is characterized by a number of uncertainties, and it may be that the level at which these tricks are employed may play a decisive role in shaping the fate of this election. Therefore, it has never become so critical for democrats not only to go to the polls, but also to take measures to ensure that their votes are correctly registered.

Leaving aside the concerns about election rigging efforts, all simulations based on the recent poll results imply that the AKP will assume power as a single party if three parties manage to secure parliamentary representation in the election. If a fourth party manages to enter Parliament, then the AKP, which has become the center of corruption and crimes against the Constitution, does not have a chance of forming a single-party government. If this election is a life-and-death matter for the democratic parliamentary system, then it is the duty of democrats from all political camps to prevent the corrupt and despotic AKP from coming to power once again, isn't it? What should be done to this end is obvious... The party which might enter Parliament as the fourth party might not only manage to pass the election threshold, but also secure strong electoral support to turn into a party appealing to the entire country, thereby signalling the beginning of a new era in which all non-peaceful solutions to the century-old Kurdish issue are ruled out for good.

[?]

Thus, if the virtually only option available to us is to ensure that a fourth party enters Parliament, then the party must enter Parliament. This option is no longer a simple choice or fantasy for democrats. Rather, this option is a duty for democrats to fulfil in the nearing election that is a life-and-death matter." TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION

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(CS/ AM)

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