Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 16-05-11

Cyprus Press and Information Office: Turkish Cypriot Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Akinci met with the British High Commissioner

[02] Serdar Denktas claimed that the Greek Cypriot side is guilty of war crimes

[03] Reactions to Denktas' statements: The Turkish Cypriots should pay 100 times more than the Greek Cypriots

[04] Ozersay: In case of a Cyprus settlement the federal government should be responsible for the debts of both sides

[05] Columnist says that Ozgurgun shows how sincere he is by asking the "foreign minister's" participation in the Cyprus talks

[06] Public opinion poll shows that the UBP is in the lead

[07] The "high administrative court" examines the demand of EVKAF to participate in a case as regards a property in the occupied fenced off city of Varosha

[08] Work to identify 23 remains by CMP is launched

[09] High-Level Political Dialogue meeting between Turkey and EU is postponed

[10] A bomb attack in Diyarbak?r

[11] The Panama Papers include 101 companies and names from Turkey and the occupied area of Cyprus

[12] Erdogan: Turkey to design its own presidential system

[13] Turkey-Israel should enhance intelligence sharing against terrorism, says Israeli Envoy

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Akinci met with the British High Commissioner

The latest developments in the Cyprus negotiations process were discussed at the meeting.

Akinci's spokesman Baris Burcu, his advisor for political affairs and history Meltem Onurkan Samani and his coordinator for foreign affairs Deniz Birinci were also present at the meeting which was closed to the press.

No statement was issued before or after the meeting.

[02] Serdar Denktas claimed that the Greek Cypriot side is guilty of war crimes

Speaking on "BRT" on Monday night, Denktas commented on the latest statements made by the Greek Cypriot Negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis regarding the financing and cost of the Cyprus settlement. He argued that Turkish Cypriots have not been able to benefit from financial support and assistance provided by the international community, adding that "no one could and should expect that money Turkey was forced to spend on Turkish Cypriots to be written off".

He even claimed: "The Greek Cypriot side is guilty of war crimes and human rights violations. It has an obligation to pay Turkish Cypriots compensation".

Referring to the Cyprus problem, Denktas said that he is someone, who truly believes in the "TRNC" and alleged that the "state is the only foundation for all guarantees".

On the economic protocol, Denktas said that they have conveyed to the Turkish Ministers in Ankara their desire to amend the protocol but are waiting for the formation of the new government in Turkey. He however added that the basic financial requirements of the "state" will be met without any problem.

Responding to questions regarding the "KIB-TEK" and the "Telecommunications department", Denktas said that they are working on privatizing or partially privatizing the two "authorities" in a bid to provide the public with higher quality and cheaper services.

Moreover, Turkish Cypriot daily Demokrat Bakis newspaper (11.05.16) reports that Denktas, in a meeting with the 'association of martyrs' families and war wounded", referring to the Cyprus talks, added: "Which will be our path this time if there is no solution? We should start discussing this issue. Or we will wait again the new plan with a new General Secretary and a new name?"

Commenting on the negotiation process, Denktas claimed that the statements made by the Greek Cyrpiot side show that whatever they do or say it is not for solution and are against their own good intention.

Meanwhile, the paper reports that Denktas flew to Ankara last night to attend the 72nd plenary session of the Union and Chambers of Commodity Exchanges of Turkey. He will return to the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus tonight after completing his contacts in Ankara.

(DPs)

[03] Reactions to Denktas' statements: The Turkish Cypriots should pay 100 times more than the Greek Cypriots

"[?] I think that Denktas was joking. [?] Because, if we 'are going to set off accounts' with the Greek Cypriots, I think that we will be scattered. Yes, the Greek Cypriots may have to pay a lot of compensations or 'right of use'. However, I have absolutely no doubt that what we will have to pay is at least 100 times more.

The territory! The property! 'The user must have the first say'. No one should doubt for the reality that 'the individuals must accept this' and the issue will be heaped up at the European Court of Human Rights. Who can give the first say to the user? The owner of the property! That is, will Andreas say to Ramazan, who lives in his house in Keryneia, 'ok, since you live here since 1975, express your opinion'? Yes, only this is the way it will happen! Very well, will Andreas accept this?

I am sure that you will be able to solve the compensation or the exchange more easily, but I believe that no one will accept that 'the current user will have the first say'.

I believe that there are some 'values' which go beyond the financial values. Why? I have a pair of scissors at my desk in the office among my pens. I have around 100 pens. I am sick about computer bags and pens [?] My pens are also very valuable. Not financially. They are mine. One can take them and use them, but should bring them back as soon as he finishes. [?] With my scissors it is not the same. I carry my scissors with me for about 30 years. [?] No one can take this pair of scissors away from me. He can only 'steal' it. And the one who steals it becomes a 'thief'.

The property issue and the debt issue in the Cyprus problem are very serious. We have taken the properties of the Greek Cypriots for this or that reason. We have left our properties to the Greek Cypriots. Some of our leaders came out and referred to 'global exchange'. I could not figure out how a leader who was a lawyer would 'globally exchange' the 'individual property right'! Actually, this proposal was evidently 'not wanting a solution', because the 'global exchange' could only take place in the form of communist property. In the individual property global exchange could not happen.

Afterwards, after the climate in Turkey 'became milder' on the Cyprus issue due to various other interest relations, the 'exchange, compensation and return' came up. By accepting the 'exchange, compensation and return', we have actually accepted that the property right is an 'individual one'. Moreover, this acceptance was a court decision. [?]

I do not give even my scissors to anyone! [?] Why should the Greek Cypriots give away their houses, their fields to you? What I want to explain is the big difference between 'wanting a solution' and 'appearing as wanting a solution'. [?]"

Furthermore, Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper (11.05.16) reports that Dogus Derya, "deputy" with the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) also referred to Denktas' statements asking him in her social media account "who will pay the money for the plundered properties in Varosha". Commenting on the issue in its column "The hero of the day", Afrika points out the following:

"It is so, a lot of assets had been carried away from Varosha. They had been loaded on ships and were carried away. It is said that even the banks were plundered and robbed. Varosha was a very rich place. I wonder, does Serdar know the value of the wealth carried away from there? He did not reply to Dogus' question yet".

(I/Ts.)

[04] Ozersay: In case of a Cyprus settlement the federal government should be responsible for the debts of both sides

Ozersay, participating at a television program at the private channel Diyalog TV, argued that this issue has been discussed at the negotiating table and it is not new. He further said that it was said whoever benefit from the debt will also pay it, however, the debt belongs to the federal governement. Ozersay added: "The Greek Cypriots, who insist on the single international identity, should also know that the United Cyprus is the only responsible for the foreign debt.

(DPs)

[05] Columnist says that Ozgurgun shows how sincere he is by asking the "foreign minister's" participation in the Cyprus talks

The columnist recalls that the regime's "foreign minister" is Tahsin Ertugruloglu, who had stated that if the Greek Cypriots have voted 'yes' to the Annan Plan he would have gone up to the mountains to fight.

"This proposal of Ozgrugun, who says that he wants a solution and he will work in harmony with the president of the republic, is showing how sincere he is in his wishes and statements", writes the columnist recalling that Ozgurgun had made the same proposal when Mehmet Ali Talat was the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community in 2009 and the UBP won the "elections" and formed a "government" alone. When Eroglu was "elected" leader of the community, Ozgurgun has never participated in the negotiations as "foreign minister" for a period of three years, notes Kismir.

"They are criticizing only to harm the process and secure the continuation of the current system", he says adding that these views are "populist" and aim at preventing the process. "Moreover, they are insincere and so much making fun with the community", he notes.

(I/Ts.)

[06] Public opinion poll shows that the UBP is in the lead

According to the results of the telephone survey which was conducted with the participation of 500 persons, after a long period of time, the "people" started seeing the Cyprus problem as the "most serious problem of the country". The director of CMIRS, Mine Yucel said that the "economic situation" is seen as the second important problem, followed by "unemployment", "the incompetent politicians", the "health system", the "education system", the "increasing criminality" and the "increasing use of drugs".

Yucel noted that the replies to the question "which party will you vote for if elections take place next weekend" show that the participants in the survey consider the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) responsible for the "very bad course" of the issues in the community.

The replies to the above question were the following:

36,01%: I will not vote

14,1%: Undecided

6,51%: Mix vote

15,84%: National Unity Party (UBP)

11,5%: People's Party (HP)

7,38%: Republican Turkish Party (CTP)

4,77%: Social Democracy Party (TDP)

3,25%: Democratic Party (DP)

0,43%: New Cyprus Party (YKP)

0,22%: United Cyprus Party (BKP).

Yucel said also that contrary to the tendency of decrease of the political trust, the trust to the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci systematically increased one year after his "election". The reason for this, she argued, is the fact that the participants consider Akinci to be more effective than his predecessors in the Cyprus problem.

(I/Ts.)

[07] The "high administrative court" examines the demand of EVKAF to participate in a case as regards a property in the occupied fenced off city of Varosha

According to the paper, the company had filed an application to the "commission" in 2012 and afterwards filed a demand in the "high administrative court" for speeding up the case and because the "commission" involved EVKAF in the case. In 2015, the "high administrative court", composed of one "judge", annulled the decision for involving EVKAF in the case, but EVKAF and the regime's "attorney general's office" filed an appeal for annulment of the above-mentioned decision. The ?lawyers" of the sides addressed the "high administrative court" yesterday composed of three "judges".

(I/Ts.)

[08] Work to identify 23 remains by CMP is launched

Nine individuals buried in the area are believed to be victims killed in the Ayios Vasilis massacre in December 1963 which had later been moved and reburied at the cemetery located in the walled city of the occupied part of Nicosia between 13 and 14 January 1964.

The remaining 14 individuals are believed to have been martyrs who were killed in Nicosia and surrounding areas.

Speaking to the "TAK news agency", the Turkish Cypriot Member of the CMP Gulden Plumer Kucuk said that the exhumation at the "Tekke Bahce" is taking place using hand tools instead of heavy equipment. She explained that the bodies of the 9 individuals who had been exhumed and brought from Ayios Vasilios had been reburied in 1964 without properly being identified because they were in a state beyond recognition.

She further said that it was not clear how much time experts would need to complete the exhumation but stated that all individuals would have a marked grave once the work is completed.

[09] High-Level Political Dialogue meeting between Turkey and EU is postponed

"The EU and the Turkish side agreed together to reschedule the HLPD to a later date in the coming weeks," an EU official said on May 10, without elaborating on the reason for postponement.

A senior Turkish diplomat confirmed that the meeting was postponed. "It is not yet clear when it will be held," the senior diplomat added, speaking under condition of anonymity.

The High Representative for Foreign Affairs/Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini, Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Turkey's EU Minister Volkan Bozkir, were supposed to attend the HLDP. Bozk?r already departed on May 10 for official talks in Strasbourg and Brussels.

On May 11, in Strasbourg, Bozkir will hold a bilateral meeting with Mogherini, EU officials said. A meeting with Hahn when he proceeds to Brussels was already on Bozkir's official schedule posted on May 10.

The Hurriyet Daily News has learned that Cavusoglu is scheduled to be in Turkey this week, but diplomatic sources were not able to elaborate on his schedule for May 13.

The HLPD meetings are part of regular bilateral meetings between the European Union and Turkey, taking place on a ministerial level twice a year since July 2010.

[10] A bomb attack in Diyarbak?r

The Diyarbak?r Governor's Office has stated that the attack was staged while an armoured police vehicle was transferring seven members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who had been detained after seizing a nearby factory, for medical checks.

[11] The Panama Papers include 101 companies and names from Turkey and the occupied area of Cyprus

Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper (11.05.16) reports that except for the above-mentioned names Huseyin Altinbas and Imam Altinbas are also included in the list. The paper writes that the owners of Altinbas were born in the occupied area of Cyprus and grew up in Turkey.

Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen newspaper (11.05.16) refers to the issue under the title "The 'TRNC' came out of the Panama Papers, There are at least four names in the list". The paper reports that in parallel to "one holding" which has relations with the occupied area of Cyprus there are three more names among which one company that is based in occupied Keryneia and two other names one of which possesses a residence or a business in the occupied part of Nicosia and the other in occupied Karavas. Two other names which are included in the Panama Papers through an address in the occupied area of Cyprus have relations with China.

(I/Ts.)

[12] Erdogan: Turkey to design its own presidential system

"It is the nation that will have the last word over the presidential system, as in every other issue. We should have no fear about the nation's choice," Erdogan said in an interview with the Parliament's periodical. He added that many examples of the presidential system from around the world would be studied "to find what Turkey needs".

Erdogan further said that the current parliamentary system could not serve as a solution to the country's problems, a fact that he said "has been proven by experience many times". "The new Constitution is not a political option, but a fundamental demand of the public", he argued.

[13] Turkey-Israel should enhance intelligence sharing against terrorism, says Israeli Envoy

Commenting on whether cooperation would occur on Turkey's fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Cohen said the PKK "is a Turkish confrontation, a Turkish issue. We don't intervene in Turkish decisions or policy vis-a-vis the Kurdish problem. It's a Turkish thing to be concluded by Turkey".

Stating that normalizing the difficult relations between Turkey and Israel would need to wait until after the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) extraordinary convention on May 22, when a new head of the party will be elected after Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu formally abandons his post.

Cohen also said Turkey should reconsider its relations with Hamas, which Israel sees as its worst enemy. "Hamas is a terrorist organization. It's our worst enemy and you have to reconsider your relations with Hamas," he said. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION

http://www.moi.gov.cy/pio

(DPs / AM)

Cyprus Press and Information Office: Turkish Cypriot Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article