Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 16-01-28

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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] Siber: "The Turkish Cypriots will not accept a solution that will not envisage Turkey's guarantees in Cyprus"

[02] Elcil: "The ambassador speaks the language of CHP and MHP"

[03] Kalyoncu: We shall finalizing the water issue after meeting with Turkish officials

[04] Excavations are taking place today in two military zones in occupied Mia Milia and Agios Georgios Keryneia villages

[05] Number of vehicles registered in the breakaway regime for 2015

[06] The occupation regime participated in a tourism fair in Dublin

[07] Illegal YDU received European Network of Engineering Education

[08] Turkey's NSC discussed Syrian crisis, Turkey-EU relations and Cyprus issue

[09] Columnist: "Is the Cyprus problem nearing a solution?"

[10] Erdogan to visit South America

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Siber: "The Turkish Cypriots will not accept a solution that will not envisage Turkey's guarantees in Cyprus"

Referring to the contacts she held yesterday with high level officials in Ankara and with Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister, responsible for Cyprus Affairs Tugrul Turkes, Siber alleged that Turkey has always supported the solution of the Cyprus problem and it has shown a clear and lucid stance. "Turkey always sent positive messages; it supports the negotiation process and it undertakes steps towards the solution. Turkey is always by our side and its support is important", Siber said.

Referring to the issue of "guarantees", Siber argued: "Turkey's guarantees are a security for us and the stance of the Turkish Cypriots towards this is clear. A solution which will not envisage Turkey's guarantees will not be accepted by the Turkish Cypriot people".

Siber added further that that the guarantees issue will be discussed at the end of the talks by the Greek Cypriot side, the Turkish Cypriot side, Turkey, Greece and the UK in a five-partite summit.

Asked to evaluate the interconnection of Turkey's EU bid with the Cyprus problem and the fact that the "Greek Cypriot administration", as the Republic of Cyprus is called, blocks the opening of chapters for Turkey, Siber said: "In fact, it shouldn't be like this. It is unacceptable the connection of the Cyprus problem with Turkey's ties with the EU". "We demand by the Greek Cypriot side, which is a member of the EU, not to put obstacles in Turkey's EU bid and not to block Turkey's EU bid, since, Turkey is at present in favor of the solution of the Cyprus problem", she added.

Referring to the issue of the energy sources in the Eastern Mediterranean, Siber expressed the wish that these would not bring pain and create distress in the region.

On the ongoing Cyprus negotiation process, Siber reminded of the fact that the process is carryied out on the basis of the federation model and added that in this framework, the two founding states to be, will be established under the umbrella of a "federal state" and will have their own "government" and "assembly". "We wish a fair and viable solution of the Cyprus problem. Our wish is the rotating presidency. Without a rotating presidency, we will not consider ourselves as equal partners. We want the president of the federal state to be, to be elected by turns", Siber also said.

Siber added further that due to the so-called embargoes, the voice of the "TRNC" is not possible to be heart in the international community and called for the lifting of the "embargoes".

(AK)

[02] Elcil: "The ambassador speaks the language of CHP and MHP"

Supporting that Turkey implements a colonial policy in the "northern part of the island", Elcil accused Turkey of its imposition policies in the "TRNC".

(AK)

[03] Kalyoncu: We shall finalizing the water issue after meeting with Turkish officials

Commenting on the issue before entering a "council of ministers" meeting, Kalyoncu said that the careful and detailed deliberations on a sensitive and crucial issue such as water are only natural. He said that work to ensure that the water is brought to the people at the highest possible standard and quality is continuing. "We shall be finalizing the issue in the coming days after meeting with officials from Turkey" he said.

Also commenting on the escalation of the war of words between self-styled communication minister Tahsin Ertugruloglu and the "ombudsperson" Emine Dizdarl? over a tender awarded to a company to audit services at occupied airport of Tymbou, Kalyoncu said that it is wrong for the issue to be handled this way. "From journalists to ordinary citizens, everyone is involved and has taken sides. This is not the way to go about it. Our legal experts are looking into the matter", he said.

[04] Excavations are taking place today in two military zones in occupied Mia Milia and Agios Georgios Keryneia villages

According to the Committee, the excavations are taking place in areas that there is information that can lead to findings of new evidence for missing persons. In occupied Mia Milia there is information about the remains of a Greek Cypriot soldier and in occupied Agios Georgios Keryneia about the remains of three Greek Cypriot soldiers.

(CS)

[05] Number of vehicles registered in the breakaway regime for 2015

According to the paper, around 25,000 vehicles did not renew its road tax in 2015 while 102,000 other deleted their registration. The paper adds that 175,982 vehicles were registered in 2015 and only 135,406 of them pay for the road tax and as a result the breakaway regime received only 80, 316,270 Turkish Lira.

In statements to the paper, the chairman of the "vehicles importers and sellers" Ibrahim Akin, stated that the breakaway regime must adopt the European standards on the issue noting that this is the only solution for clearing things up.

(CS)

[06] The occupation regime participated in a tourism fair in Dublin

According to a statement issued by the so-called ministry, in the framework of the fair, "officials" of the so-called ministry and "representatives" of the "tourism sector" held contacts with several tour operators from the EU, Ireland and the UK.

[07] Illegal YDU received European Network of Engineering Education

According to the paper this is the highest accreditation for this field of study.

(CS)

[08] Turkey's NSC discussed Syrian crisis, Turkey-EU relations and Cyprus issue

Turkish top officials also discussed other critical matters mainly focusing on the anti-terror operations against the PKK and Daesh, Turkey-EU relations and the Cyprus problem.

According to Turkish daily Sabah (online, 27.01.16), the National Security Council concluded that Turkey's determination to continue its support to the Turkmens in North-western Syria who are being targeted by the Russian airstrikes will continue.

The Council reiterated determination to fight against terror and Turkey's stance on the Syrian crisis, adding that a solution to the atrocities in the country cannot be achieved with the President Bashar al-Assad, or the Democratic Union Party (PYD) terrorist organization, which is the Syrian wing of the PKK.

[09] Columnist: "Is the Cyprus problem nearing a solution?"

"There have been signs of optimism coming from officials deeply involved in the Cyprus problem. They have re-emphasized their hope that a solution is likely in 2016. This hope was also expressed last week by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during his talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

One of the differences in the present attitudes of the Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders, Mustafa Akinci and Nikos Anastasiades, respectively, from previous attitudes is that they seem to be more target-oriented. In the words of someone closely involved in the process, 'The leaders and their teams do not defend positions but actively seek solutions'.

The intricacies of the problem are the same as in the past. Some of the major thorny issues include security and guarantees, property, power-sharing and a rotating presidency.

I will discuss only two of these issues in order to point out the difficulty in overcoming them: property and security.

Property

The property issue constitutes one of the most difficult topics. Tens of thousands of Cypriots on both sides had to leave their homes after Turkey's military intervention in 1974. Turkish Cypriots living in the south of the island had to move to the north and settled in houses vacated by Greek Cypriots. Similarly, Greek Cypriots moved into houses vacated in the south by Turkish Cypriots. Some of the houses were sold by the original owners to the new occupants. Therefore, the problem seems to be solved, but only for this group that constitutes a small number, as a bigger unsolved property issue still remains.

A new group will find themselves dealing with this property issue when the border delineating the boundary between Turkish and Greek parts of the island is redrawn. Turkish Cypriots who will have to be evicted from their ancestral homes or from the homes they have lived in for more than 40 years will have to be resettled in a new place and be provided the opportunity for livelihood. This will require more than $10 billion. Such a huge sum is not readily available. The European Union and the international community are expected to come forward and cover at least part of this cost. Furthermore, Cyprus may take long-term loans from international financial institutions, which would be paid back with money that the solution of the Cyprus problem could generate. But Cypriots of neither side will find any incentive to vote in favor of this solution in a referendum if the money is not promised to be paid back immediately.

Security

Security is another serious issue in the solution process. There is a general understanding that this topic will be left until the end of the talks because it is what lies behind the mutual distrust between Turkish and Greek Cypriots.

This issue has three parts: The first is the guarantees enshrined in the 1960 and 1961 London and Zurich agreements. These guarantees are provided by the three guarantor powers that established the Republic of Cyprus, which are Turkey, the United Kingdom and Greece.

The second is the question of the presence of the Turkish military unit in Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots attach great importance to the Turkish military presence because the atrocities they suffered at the hands of Greek Cypriot activists are still fresh in their minds. They perceive the insistence of the Greek Cypriots on getting rid of the Turkish military presence as an indication of their intention to attack the Turks again in the future. Similarly, the Greek Cypriots perceive Turkey's insistence to keep its military presence on the island as an indication of its intention to intervene again militarily in the future.

The third part of the security issue is the separate police force for Turkish and Greek Cypriots in addition to a federal police force.

Reaching an agreement on these and other issues is not impossible, but it needs hard work and determination. After the leaders reach an agreement, they will have the harder task of persuading their respective electorates to vote in favour of the solution in a referendum to be held at the end of the process. There are reasons for optimism this time, but mine is still a cautious optimism."

[10] Erdogan to visit South America

Erdogan's three-nation Latin America tour will be very important for the development of Turkey's bilateral relations with these countries, according to Turkish officials. The President will first head to Chile on Jan. 31 and will stay there until Feb. 2, when he will go to Peru. On Feb 3, he will go to Ecuador.

"On the visits, bilateral political and economic issues will be discussed as well as regional and international developments," the statement said.

Erdogan's trip to Chile will be the second visit to the country in nearly 20 years. It will be the first visit to Peru and Ecuador by a Turkish President, the statement added.

The President will preside over the signing of a series of important agreements which are expected to cover areas such as economic and technical assistance, industrial investment, infrastructure development and technical and scientific exchanges among the countries.

Erdogan is also expected to address Turkish and South American business people on his visit.

The trade volume between Turkey and Chile was $417 million in the first 11 months of last year, a decrease from $921 million in the same period of 2014.

Chile's former President, Sebastian Pinera, visited Turkey in 2012, when he signed a number of agreements as part of a strategic partnership framework. Chile was the first Latin American country with which Turkey signed a free trade agreement. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION

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(AK/ AM)

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