Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 16-06-29

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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] 36 killed, 147 injured in Brussels-style Istanbul Ataturk Airport terror attacks

[02] Erdogan strongly condemns Istanbul terror attack

[03] Yildirim: "Daesh is likely behind Istanbul terror attack"

[04] Yildirim: Normalization with Russia has begun

[05] Turkey, Russia Foreign Ministers to meet at Sochi on July 1

[06] Opposition parties slam government over Israel deal and Erdogan's apology to Russia

[07] Turkey and Israel to begin appointing Ambassadors this week

[08] Burcu on economy after a solution

[09] Distribution of the water from Turkey started in occupied Morfou

[10] Columnist outlines the economic and political dimension of Turkey's relations with Britain

[11] Direct flights from Black Sear region to the breakaway regime

[12] Turkey voices readiness for normalization with Egypt

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] 36 killed, 147 injured in Brussels-style Istanbul Ataturk Airport terror attacks

Flights partially resumed in the airport on Wednesday morning, while many of the schedule flights were cancelled or delayed.

The assessments show that three suicide bombers carried out the attacks in three different spots at the airport, Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said in a statement released after the attack.

A health official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions, said to the media that six injured were in a critical condition.

The blasts occurred at the entrance of international flights terminal, domestic flights terminal, and the parking lot.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said that one of the terrorists opened fire on people with an AK-47 automatic rifle and then blew himself up.

The President met with Prime Minister Binali Y?ld?r?m and Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar at the presidential complex upon receiving news of the explosion in Istanbul. Prime Minister Binali Y?ld?r?m, Deputy PM Numan Kurtulmus, Transportation Minister Ahmet Arslan and Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Betul Sayan will travel to Istanbul.

According to a Turkish official who spoke to Daily Sabah on the condition of anonymity, security forces fired shots at suspects at the international terminal's entry in an effort to neutralize them.

The Turkish airport attack also follows coordinated suicide bombings at Brussels airport and a city metro station in March that left 32 people dead.

Security experts have said that there are striking similarities between Istanbul airport attack and the recent attacks in Brussels airport.

Brussels airport tweeted its condolences, saying: "Our thoughts are with the victims of the attacks at @istanbulairport. "We wish them, their relatives & all airport staff strength & courage."

Meanwhile, United States Ambassador to Ankara John Bass has sent a tweet condemning the attack. "Horrified by tonight's attack at Ataturk airport. We mourn with the families of those lost, and pray for speedy recovery for those wounded," he said. Meanwhile, the U.S. President Barack Obama was also briefed on the attack.

There have been no claims for the responsibility of the attacks.

On the same issue, Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News newspaper (online, 29.06.16) reports that one Ukrainian and one Iranian citizen were among the 36 killed people, officials from the two countries said on June 29.

Around 150 people were wounded in the attack and Saudi media reported that among those hurt were seven Saudis, who were in good condition.

[02] Erdogan strongly condemns Istanbul terror attack

"We expect that a resolute stance against terrorist organizations should be adopted by the world and especially Western countries with their parliament, media and non-governmental organizations," Erdogan said in a statement while stressing that Turkey would continue its fight against terror groups.

"Turkey will continue its fight against all terrorist organizations at all costs until the end of terrorism," he said.

Erdogan also stressed that Turkey has enough power, wisdom and potential to fight terrorism and warned of consequences if all nations fail to join a global effort to defeat it.

"All the bad terrorist scenarios, acts -- even we fear to bring them into our minds -- will come true one by one if all countries do not carry out a joint fight against terrorist organizations," he said. The President also offered his condolences to the victims' families.

[03] Yildirim: "Daesh is likely behind Istanbul terror attack"

Briefing the media, Yildirim condemned the attack and extended condolences to the victims' families while he confirmed that airport operations had resumed.

Even though there are strong indications that the Daesh terrorist group is responsible for the attack in which three suicide bombers are believed to have been involved, the Prime Minister said police are conducting ongoing investigations.

Asked whether an attacker may have escaped authorities in the chaos of the attack, Yildirim denied the claim but stressed that security officials are considering all possibilities.

"We have injured people. Many of our wounded have been lightly injured," he said. "Some foreign nationals were also injured," he added.

The attackers arrived at the airport by a taxi, according to Yildirim, but he said "there is no security gap at the airport".

The timing of the attack was very "meaningful", he said, just as Turkey had begun new foreign relations approaches with Russia and Israel.

[04] Yildirim: Normalization with Russia has begun

"I can say that the normalization process has begun," Y?ld?r?m told his party's parliamentary group.

In another sign of Turkey's desire to rapidly restore ties with Russia, Y?ld?r?m said that Turkey was ready to pay compensation to the family of the Russian pilot that was killed during the incident on Nov. 24, 2015.

"The content of the letter is obvious. We express our sorrow. We say we share the pain of the families of the deceased [pilots]. We say we will pay compensation if need be," Y?ld?r?m told the Turkish Radio Television Corporation (TRT) in an interview late June 27.

But sources from the presidential office corrected Y?ld?r?m's words on June 28, underlining that the letter did not mention anything about paying compensation to either the Russian state or the family of the pilot.

Y?ld?r?m, too, corrected his statement on June 28, saying no compensation would be paid to the Russian state. "No, no, there is nothing like that. We have just expressed our sorrow and shared their pain. Legal proceedings against the person accused of responsibility for the killing of the pilot are underway," Y?ld?r?m said.

Diplomatic sources said that compensation was a legal definition and should be considered as a legal issue which has nothing to do with the current situation. "We are talking about a humanitarian issue here. [Making a payment to the family of the pilot] should be considered in this context," a source told the Hurriyet Daily News.

In the case, the family of the deceased pilot would accept Turkey's payment then the methodological details would be discussed by diplomats from both sides.

In an address to his Justice and Development Party (AKP) parliamentary group on June 28, Y?ld?r?m said the "ice between the two countries has been broken" following Erdogan's letter. Y?ld?r?m said it was the duty of politicians to turn extraordinary situations into ordinary processes. "Crises are exceptions; normalization is essential."

[05] Turkey, Russia Foreign Ministers to meet at Sochi on July 1

Moscow invited Ankara to the economy meeting on June 23, marking the first such move since relations between the two countries soured after Turkey downed a Russian jet for violating its airspace last November.

Cavusoglu accepted the invitation on June 27 after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his "regret and sorrow" over the jet incident in a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow believes that Turkey has made a "serious step in the right direction" after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his "regret and sorrow" over the downing of a Russian jet last year, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said June 28, according to Reuters. However, the Kremlin also said on June 28 that it would take more than a few days to mend Moscow's relations with Ankara.

According to diplomatic sources, the meeting between the two Ministers will seek to establish a road map for the normalization of bilateral ties between the two countries in line with the instructions the two Presidents will deliver to them.

The removal of trade and economic sanctions imposed on Turkey and the lifting of visa requirements for Turkish citizens, as well as the resumption of stalled energy cooperation between the two countries, will likely be on the Ministers' agenda in Sochi.

[06] Opposition parties slam government over Israel deal and Erdogan's apology to Russia

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), expanded his criticism to the June 27 letter sent by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, about the downing of a Russian jet in November last year for violating Turkish airspace.

"A deal was struck with Israel and right after that they sent an apology letter [to Putin]. The Kremlin announced that 'Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter to Putin [and] apologized on behalf of Turkey.' Who are you to apologize? If you are to represent the Turkish Republic, then do it in a proper way", Kilicdaroglu said on June 28 in comments apparently directed towards the President, while he was addressing his party Deputies in Parliament.

"You cannot represent the Turkish Republic. You don't have the power or capability for this," he added.

Kilicdaroglu said that Erdogan's stance on the matter constituted a U-turn. "Who breached our border? The Russians. Who set the rules of engagement? We did it, and we declared it to the whole world," he said, adding that statesmen were in a race at the time to take responsibility for giving the order to down the Russian Sukhoi Su-24M bomber aircraft near the Syria?Turkey border on Nov. 24, 2015.

"Then we saw them offering an apology," Kilicdaroglu said, recalling an Erdogan interview on CNN International on Nov. 27, 2015, when the President said that it was Russia which had to apologize for violating Turkish airspace.

"Look, their foreign policy is this: First you should roar like a lion and then you should meow like a cat when you cannot dare to do it," he said.

"You may be meowing but this casts a shadow on the Turkish Republic," he added.

On the Mavi Marmara incident, Kilicdaroglu said that when the ship was to leave Turkey in May 2010, some ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputies had initially wanted to get on it but then stepped back "upon news they heard".

He said the Israeli attack on the ship was by no means right.

"Turkey faced an action suitable for a pirate state", he said, harshly criticizing the killing of 10 citizens in international waters. However, the ruling party later named Israel "the number one enemy," abusing the incident as an instrument of domestic policy.

Erdogan had said in 2011 that aid flotillas from Turkey would be accompanied by navy ships to reach Gaza, but this never happened. Erdogan was the Prime Minister at the time and Kilicdaroglu criticized him for not keeping his promise. "He did not send [the ships] and has begun to meow now," the CHP head said.

He also recalled that Erdogan vowed to go to Gaza in April 2013, but this also did not happen.

The CHP supported the three Ankara demands from Tel Aviv - an apology, an end to the Israeli embargo on Gaza and compensation.

Still, Kilicdaroglu said that oral compensation was not enough and Turkey should receive it in writing.

He also slammed an Israeli demand for a code approved at the Turkish Parliament which would ban further individual legal complaints about the killings. "How can you sign such a deal?" he asked. "If you have even a little bit of conscience, how can you withdraw from this case in exchange for $20 million? Are you with your country, with justice or with those Israeli soldiers who killed [Turkish citizens]?"

Meanwhile, Figen Yuksekdag, the co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), said that the most crucial item of the deal with Israel was selling "Palestinian" natural gas to Europe. "They are making a deal to market what belongs to orphan children in Palestine", Yuksekdag said, in her weekly address to party deputies.

"They are selling the words that they call 'sacred' at another bargaining table," she said.

On the Russia crisis, Yuksekdag said that Turkey had apologized to Russia but the government was pretending not to. Erdogan's office described the letter as an expression of regret, not an apology. "In the letter, the President stated that he 'would like to inform the family of the deceased Russian pilot that I [Erdogan] share their pain and to offer my condolences to them. May they excuse us,'" Erdogan's spokesman, Ibrahim Kal?n, said.

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) head Devlet Bahceli said that the "one minute show" that started in Davos in 2009 was now over. "One minute" refers to Erdogan's interruption of a speech by then-Israeli President Shimon Peres. "When it is time to kill, you know how to kill well," Erdogan said at the time, vowing to no longer attend the meeting in the Swiss city. With the Israeli deal, the "exploitation" has ended, Bahceli said.

"The President had repeatedly accused Israel of being a terror state. Israel was killing Gazan children on beaches. Erdogan was rightfully criticizing this heavily. He said that Israel even surpassed Hitler in barbarism," he said, citing Erdogan's former remarks. "This means that the government has been meeting with Israel for years secretly and we were not aware of this," the MHP head added.

"If we were to agree with Israel, make peace and hug each other, what was the meaning of these very heavy insults?" he asked.

[07] Turkey and Israel to begin appointing Ambassadors this week

"This week we will start the process of Ambassador appointment [between Turkey and Israel]," Kal?n told reporters in Ankara on June 28.

[08] Burcu on economy after a solution

Speaking to illegal TAK News Agency on the issue, Burcu said that teams from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank had been carrying out technical work for some time now with the aim of preparing for the financial aspect of a solution.

Noting that the data provided by the two sides were the source of the technical work carried out, he said "analyses are being made both separately and jointly by the two sides within the scope of the obtained data.

[09] Distribution of the water from Turkey started in occupied Morfou

The paper further reports that the "municipality council" of occupied Keryneia has decided in favor of receiving the water transferred from Turkey.

Reporting on the same issue Turkish Cypriot daily Vatan newspaper (29.06.16) writes that the "municipality council" of occupied Lefkosia will come together on July 1 to re-examine the issue of the water distribution. The "municipality council" has previously rejected the use of the water transferred from Turkey due to its selling price.

(CS)

[10] Columnist outlines the economic and political dimension of Turkey's relations with Britain

"The British made their decision. They are splitting from the European Union. On our part, we cannot say, 'All these bedlams are between Britain and the EU? It is none of our concern'.

- Both the British and the EU markets are important for our exports.

- Britain and the EU countries are important for the inflow of direct investments and credits.

- The British exit from the EU will reshuffle the "established balances". There will be a period of uncertainty. Then new balances will emerge. It is hard to predict how Turkey will be affected by these changes.

- Lots of our Turkish passport holding citizens are living in Britain and the EU countries.

Our markets are in turmoil.

Some 45% of our exports go to EU markets and 38% of our imports come from EU countries. After Germany, Britain is our biggest export market. It ranks ninth in imports.

- During the period of adaptation to the new situation (during the period of uncertainty, in other words), there will be market contraction both in Britain and in the EU countries. Whereas, we had placed all our expectations on the revitalization of important markets.

- The British exit from EU membership will also upset the parity between the Pound, Euro, and Dollar. This will affect our export and import prices.

- Britain ranks first in capital and credit inflow to Turkey. Portfolio investments and foreign currency credits enter Turkey via London. Some 15% of private sector's long-term loans originate from Britain, 11% from Germany, and 9% from the United States.

- There are around 200,000 Turkish citizens living and working in Britain. Growing xenophobia in Britain and the EU countries affect our citizens living there.

We Need Friends.

These are issues of economic importance for us. However, there is also a political dimension to our relations with Britain.

- Britain is one of the biggest players on the international political scene. Britain and Turkey had a relatively normal relation. The anti-Turkish slogans used during the referendum should not be allowed to spoil Turkish-British relations.

- We have an important tie with Britain as regards the Cyprus problem. We must not lose the support of Britain in the solution of the Cyprus problem.

All of these are developments that impact us. The exit decision will generate strong storms mostly inside the EU. Although Britain's ties with the EU were weak, it was nonetheless the strongest supporter of Germany after France. The British exit will energize the secessionists in other EU countries. (?)"

[11] Direct flights from Black Sear region to the breakaway regime

According to the paper, following the demand of the "Black sea culture association) [Tr. Note: a settlers association in the occupied area of Cyprus), Durust came into an agreement with Pegasus airlines for conducting flights to the breakaway regime three times per week. Durust stated that there are 18,000 Black sea origin persons living in the breakaway regime and that he took into consideration their demand for direct flights.

(CS)

[12] Turkey voices readiness for normalization with Egypt

"There isn't any obstacle [in front of] improving our economic relations with Egypt. Minister-level visits may start," said Prime Minister Binali Y?ld?r?m during an interview aired live on public broadcaster TRT Haber late on June 27.

When asked about expectations for the normalization of bilateral relations with Egypt, Y?ld?r?m first of all stated that the Egypt issue was "very clear".

"Democracy [in Egypt] has been subject to a coup. Democracy received a blow. Morsi [former Egyptian President Mohammed], who took the office through an election, was forced to lay down his office through a coup," he said.

"President [Erdogan] has stated to the world since its beginning that this is a coup and that we will never approve of this change in such a way. This is just one side of the matter. Let's set this aside but on the other hand life goes on," Y?ld?r?m said, noting that the two countries lived in the same region and needed each other.

"Our ships sail to the Red Sea though the Suez Canal and from there continue to [Saudi] Arabia, Jordan, Yemen and to the east of Africa. Therefore we cannot cut loose our relations even if we wanted to because we have a geographic connection and intimacy. I'm not even talking about our religious and cultural ties. Aside [from] the way the regime changed there all the unjust allegations that were made, particularly to Morsi and his team after being unseated, there is no reason for the economic relations to [not] improve. Our businessmen and our investors can mutually go about improving their investments and this way ground convenient for normalization can perhaps be laid in the future," he said. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION

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(DPs/ AM)

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