Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 16-11-28

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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] "The 'Mont Pelerin knot' is coming loose"

[02] Cavusoglu: "If no result comes up from the negotiation process, then we discuss plan B"

[03] Akinci met with Kidd

[04] Akinci is visiting Istanbul

[05] Burcu rebuts claims about Akinci's resignation

[06] Kurtulmus: Turkey would not make compromises in Cyprus

[07] Siber received ACRE delegation

[08] Siber: Reading the minutes of the Cyprus talks did not give me the impression that we were close to a solution

[09] Ozersay alleges that the Turkish Cypriot side has committed a "strategic mistake" on the territory chapter

[10] Atun asked Turkey to continue with oil exploration activities in Cyprus with Barbaros vessel

[11] Turkey's Ambassador to Beirut claimed that Turkey is the most reasonable and commercial option for the natural gas resources in the eastern Mediterranean

[12] Ataoglu said that they aim to increase flights to the occupied part of Cyprus

[13] The TKP is being revived after Cakici and 70 other persons' resignation from the TDP 14 'Know your limits,' Erdogan tells European Parliament

[15] Kilicdaroglu to EU: Don't punish 80 million people

[16] Erdogan and Putin in intense talks after attack on Turkish troops in Syria

[17] According to a survey, 75% of Turkish citizens believe Turkey is drifting away from EU

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] "The 'Mont Pelerin knot' is coming loose"

"The simultaneous discussion of the territory and the guarantees at a 'Burgenstock type' meeting is on the agenda", writes the paper adding that according to the formula of simultaneous negotiations the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots will be sitting at the one table in order to continue the discussion of the issues which will remain open in the first four chapters as well as the territorial adjustments of the administrative borders from the point they had been left.

"The guarantee and partnership system of the new state will be discussed between Greece and Turkey" at another table, claims the paper arguing that the discussions will be finalized at a five-party conference with the participation of the two community leaders, which is described as "the natural result of the positive developments which will bring the two tables closer to each other".

In case all sides agree, a referendum is expected in Cyprus in the mid-2017, notes Havadis adding that the UNSG, the US Vice President , the EU High Representative for Foreign Relations and Security Policy and the Turkish Foreign Minister undertook an initiative last week in order for the "Mont Pelerin knot to be loose".

On Wednesday, writes Havadis, British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson will visit the island and is expected to announce to both leaders the UK's approach on the chapter of security and guarantees. "British diplomats say that, looking at the Middle East, they do not consider the approach of 'zero army, zero guarantees' to be realistic", notes Havadis, adding that with the statement made by Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides that "the guarantees may remain for a transitional period" the negative climate on the chapter of security and guarantees due to Greece's position that "the island does not need guarantees and not a single Turkish soldier will remain" was abolished.

Referring to the issue, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (27.11.16) cited reliable sources and reported that the Greek Cypriot side has submitted a proposal which provides for the maintenance of a force of 2500 police officers and soldiers on the island, who will act according to certain rules and adjustments for a transitional period. The paper writes that the Greek Cypriot proposal takes into consideration the concerns of both sides providing for steps to be taken on the security issue for a transitional period. The proposals include also the signing of a peace agreement between Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, writes the paper.

(I/Ts.)

[02] Cavusoglu: "If no result comes up from the negotiation process, then we discuss plan B"

Claiming that Turkey has always supported a fair and lasting solution on the Cyprus problem, Cavusoglu underlined the following: "We should proceed to a five-party meeting the soonest possible in order to be able to find a solution on the Cyprus problem. Negotiation talks could be carried out until the in order to achieve progress on the issues remaining unsolved and open, so that convergences are reached. We, as Turkey, have always shown a compromise stance. We are one step ahead from the others. And now we have the same approach. Both sides had accepted the 11th February joint declaration as the framework of the Cyprus negotiation process. We should not step out of this. If no result comes up from the negotiation process, then we discuss plan B. But while the negotiation talks are still in progress and there are still hopes, it is not necessary to speak about plan B' or plan C. Also, the UN say this, that this is the last negotiation process under this framework. And I say that we should not miss this chance. But, if there are some people who want this chance to be missed, I have nothing to say to them. In that case, everybody should look for their own alternatives", Cavusoglu also said.

(AK)

[03] Akinci met with Kidd

Akinci's "advisor for political affairs and history" Meltem Onurkan Samani and "special advisor for diplomacy and the EU" Erhan Ercin were also present at the meeting. No statement was issued before or after the meeting. Meanwhile, the British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will arrive on the island tomorrow.

[04] Akinci is visiting Istanbul

Akinci will deliver the opening speech of the summit which will be held under the theme "global future, global aims."

Meanwhile, tomorrow night Akinci will attend the premier in Turkey of the "Kanatsiz Guvercinler" theatre play directed by Turkish Cypriot actor Huseyin Koroglu.

The play which will be staged in Istanbul is being held under the auspices of the "TRNC Presidency".

[05] Burcu rebuts claims about Akinci's resignation

On a program broadcast on "RIK" a journalist from Istanbul reported that they had received reports that the real reason behind Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's visit to the breakaway regime was to persuade Akinci who was considering resigning from his position, not to resign.

Explaining that he has seen a similar claim printed in a local newspaper in the north of the island, Burcu said: "This claim is totally unfounded and the topic was not even on the agenda of Mr. Cavusoglu's visit". He added that Akinci is fulfilling the promises he made to the people when he was elected and nothing else.

[06] Kurtulmus: Turkey would not make compromises in Cyprus Turkish daily Yeni Safak (26.11.16) reports that Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus stated that Turkey would not make compromises in Cyprus and emphasized that Ankara knows where to stop concessions with references to the talks.

"I want to say that Turkey will never take a step back from the existence of a bi-communal Cyprus where the sides have equal rights," he said.

Kurtulmus said the problems cannot be solved because of the international system established with the conditions of World War II.

He also reiterated Turkey's position on the UN: "The world is greater than five" ? a critical approach to the locked decision-making mechanism of the Security Council voiced repeatedly by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

[07] Siber received ACRE delegation

Speaking during the visit, the European Parliament Polish Deputy Tomasz Piotr Poreba said that they did not approve of the un-binding motion passed by the European Parliament urging countries to halt Turkey's membership to the EU.

He said that members of the alliance had voted in abstention. "We believe that Europe needs Turkey and we must evaluate relations with Turkey carefully before we can set common ground", he said.

British MP Lord Callanan of Low Fell also stated that both Turkey and the "TRNC" were valuable partners.

"There is no logical excuse to exclude Turkey from the bloc. Turkey is in a difficult situation with 2 million refugees and endless terrorist attacks" he said.

Siber said that the European Parliament was wrong in passing the non-binding motion to freeze Turkey's membership bid. She said that the motion will not contribute to bringing rest to either the EU or the region and that despite being only of an advisory motion it still hurt relations between the bloc and Turkey.

Siber expressed the view that the motion will also have a negative impact on efforts to reach a solution to the Cyprus problem. Also touching upon the outcome of the Mont Pelerin talks, she said that although the talks had failed to produce any results, efforts to achieve a settlement must continue. She said that the Turkish Cypriots' desire for a settlement continued but this did not mean that the negotiations could continue open-ended.

"The Greek Cypriot side which enjoys international recognition wants to continue open-ended negotiations with the Turkish Cypriot side which suffers from international embargoes and isolation" claimed Siber, stating that this was not a fair situation.

[08] Siber: Reading the minutes of the Cyprus talks did not give me the impression that we were close to a solution

Evaluating the failure of the Mont Pelerin meeting on a television programme at KANAL T as a guest, Siber said that the "Turkish Cypriot people's desire for solution and peace is high, however they should not get the idea that all their problems will be solved with the Cyprus settlement, because a great percentage of their problems does not related with the Cyprus problem".

Siber argued that the continuation of the Cyprus problem does not reflect negatively in the daily life in the Greek Cypriot side because they continue their normal government relations. She further claimed that it is because of this reason they do not want to be in hurry and they want the continuation of the open-ended negotiations.

Asked to comment on the latest stage of the Cyprus talks after the Mont Pelerin failure, Siber said: "I can express openly, as a person, who is reading the minutes, that I don't have great hopes. I shared this with my closed environment and some deputies. (?)"

Replying to a question on what were her expectations from Mont Pelerin, Siber said: "We reached consensus in a great extent in some chapters. The chapters in which we could not reach consensus would have been completed. The territorial issue would be put at the negotiating table and when the maps would appear then, the date of the five-party meeting would have been determined. Could they proceed so quickly? Because even at the criteria of the property issue, which is the most important chapter, I could see that there was not any agreement yet".

Referring to the "emotional bond" issue, Siber said that the Greek Cypriot side insists that the refugees, who were over 10 years-old during the Turkish invasion to Cyprus in 1974, should have first the right to return to their houses and claimed that the ruling on Demopoulos case is referred also to the "emotional bond" that is valid for the "user".

Siber, referring to the guarantee system, argued that the guarantees have become EU primary law when Cyprus became an EU member. Recalling that the Republic of Cyprus was a bi-communal federal state but not bi-zonal, Siber said that for this reason, President Anastasiades says that the "solution that will be found, will be the continuation of the Republic of Cyprus".

(DPs)

[09] Ozersay alleges that the Turkish Cypriot side has committed a "strategic mistake" on the territory chapter

In exclusive statements to Havadis, Ozersay argued that agreement had been reached that the territory, the map and the numbers would be discussed at the final stage of the negotiations, but the Turkish side accepted their discussion in Switzerland and put itself in an extremely difficult situation. Ozersay claimed that the Turkish Cypriot side was weakened by discussing the territory before the final stage.

He argued: "I think that the negotiations should not continue from the point they remained, [?] because the point at which the negotiations remained is not a position from which fair negotiations could be conducted, [?] it is a position at which we as Turkish Cypriot side, were put at a disadvantage".

(I/Ts.)

[10] Atun asked Turkey to continue with oil exploration activities in Cyprus with Barbaros vessel

"Israel is determined to dispatch its natural resources. With or without a solution on the Cyprus problem, Israel will transfer its natural gas via Turkey. At this point, an important opportunity arises for the TRNC. And we demand this potential. Today, there is the opportunity to evaluate Israel's natural gas. Israel does not need south Cyprus now. Israel need Turkey and the TRNC in order to transfer the natural gas via a pipeline", Atun alleged.

Expressing also his desire for new oil and natural gas exploration activities to take place in the Eastern Mediterranean, Atun added that they conveyed their demand to Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Berat Albayrak, who leans towards this. "Mr Albayrak sees this issue very warmly. During the talks we had with our Minister, we demanded to continue from the point we stopped. Barbaros vessel to continue with seismic exploration activities and to also carry out drilling works. Of course, the two states should sit and discuss this issue in a technical level and make an evaluation. As TRNC ministry, we would like to know of course where our marine reservoirs are. With new explorations, we will find out about this", Atun also stated.

Referring to the Cyprus negotiation process and the negative outcome of the Mont Pelerin summit, Atun recalled that the talks prolonged for the last 40 years and supported that they had affected the people of Cyprus in all fields, political, economic and social. Supporting that the negotiation process cannot continue open-ended, Atun alleged that the only goal of "south Cyprus", as he described the Republic of Cyprus, is to possess the whole of Cyprus.

Explaining that during the last stage of the negotiations they had their red lines as well, Atun argued that the most important is the continuation of the existence of the Turkish troops in Cyprus. "Second, comes the issue of Turkey's active and effective guarantees and third is the territory issue. The political equality is also considered amongst the most important elements. The Greek Cypriot side demanded concessions on the guarantees. And besides this, they asked for territory. They have asked for 1% more land in comparison with 2003. They want an agreement that will advocate their rights unilaterally. It is for this reason that there is currently a deadlock at the negotiation process", Atun also alleged.

(?)

(AK)

[11] Turkey's Ambassador to Beirut claimed that Turkey is the most reasonable and commercial option for the natural gas resources in the eastern Mediterranean

Speaking in a panel entitled "Natural gas expectations in the East Mediterranean: Production and Markets" held in Beirut, Turkish Ambassador Erciyes said that the reserves of natural gas found in the eastern Mediterranean, will be an important factor on the issue of providing an energy alternative in Europe, meeting the needs of the domestic market and obtaining a regional consensus.

Erciyes further claimed that the natural gas reserves discovered offshore Cyprus cannot be used due to the uncertainty on the determination of the maritime boundary in the international law and the size of the discovered reserves as well as the complexity of the Cyprus problem.

Meanwhile, Cyprus Ambassador to Beirut Christina Rafti also addressed the panel.

(DPs)

[12] Ataoglu said that they aim to increase flights to the occupied part of Cyprus

He also announced that efforts were continuing for launching flights from new cities and for touchdown flights.

Ataoglu made a statement regarding tourism planning in the country. He said that they aimed to increase the tourism potential with touchdown flights, and added: "The launching of new flight destinations by Turkish Airlines will contribute greatly to this aim." He also announced that besides the UK and Germany the touchdown system will also be practiced for flights from Iran and Azerbaijan.

Ataoglu also evaluated the tourism market in Turkey. Stating that works continued towards increasing the number of tourists from Turkey, he said: "We decided to promote the country in Turkey first."

Pointing out that 91.5% of Turkish citizens have not visited the breakaway regime, Ataoglu said: "Everyone residing in the motherland has an island and that is Cyprus. We are waiting for them here."

Also announcing that contacts are continuing with the Turkish Airlines on new flight destinations from Turkey, he said Konya, Eskisehir and Trabzon are being considered as new destinations.

[13] The TKP is being revived after Cakici and 70 other persons' resignation from the TDP

Cakici handed in his letter of resignation to the self-styled speaker of the "parliament" Sibel Siber on Friday. Speaking at a press conference before handing in his resignation, Cakici announced that he would start work on forming a new political party as soon as possible.

Criticizing the TDP leader Cemal Ozyigit of "alienating certain sections of the TDP rather than embracing all members of the party", he said that it was no longer possible for him and some of his colleagues to stay in the party.

"The TDP is being dragged into chaos due to bad management and decisions. There is no longer an environment within the party to conduct politics", he argued.

Meanwhile, the TDP issued a written statement thanking Cakici and his followers for their past services to the party. The statement said that the TDP would continue on its path with its current members. The statement said that they "could not tolerate the unethical actions of some of our party members who violated the party program and statuette, especially at a time when our promise to the people to conduct clean politics stands".

The statement noted that the party had channeled all of its energy for "the lasting reunification of Cyprus".

Under the title "TKP's revival", Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper (28.11.16) reports that Cakici announced that they have launched efforts with the aim of establishing the Communal Liberation Party (TKP). Former members of the TKP, who resigned from the TDP, organized a meeting at occupied Trahoni village and decided to establish a committee under Cakici's leadership and the slogan "TKP: towards the solution, the correct choice".

The paper writes that 70 persons resigned from the TDP at the first stage and new resignations are expected.

In its column "The hero of the Day", Afrika recalls that the TKP had once been one of the big political parties of the Turkish Cypriot community, which afterwards turned into Peace and Democracy Movement (BDH) and then was renamed into TDP.

[14] 'Know your limits,' Erdogan tells European Parliament

"Saying 'don't fight terrorism' to a country who fights against terror every day is to tell them to put up the shutters. Are you [European Parliament] inviting terrorist groups?" he said.

"The government and parliament can extend the length of the state of emergency. What is it to you? Does the European Parliament rule this country or the government [of Turkey]? Know your limits! Those days are over," Erdogan said. Turkey is in its second three-month term of its state of emergency that came after the foiled coup attempt and a series of terror attacks.

Erdogan said Turkey would continue to "go its way no matter what they say," in accordance with its centennial independence anniversary ambitions of 2023.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim also urged European leaders on Nov. 26 to "decide on whom to cooperate with," demanding from them to make a choice between his country and "terrorist groups."

[15] Kilicdaroglu to EU: Don't punish 80 million people

"Don't impose sanctions on a country with a population of 80 million after getting angry at a person and his words," Kilicdaroglu said in a speech in Istanbul's Bakirkoy, adding that if the EU imposed sanctions on Turkey merely because of the country's president, it would be tantamount to punishing the entire nation.

"We are fighting that struggle in our country already," he said.

"The European Parliament took a decision. They temporarily froze Turkey's negotiation process. This is a recommendation. I would like to call on all members of the EU and all its authorities. The Turkish Republic has been facing the West since the very day it was founded. We are a nation that unconditionally defends a secular, democratic and social state of law," he said.

[16] Erdogan and Putin in intense talks after attack on Turkish troops in Syria

The two leaders talked about the recent developments in war-torn Syria and efforts to find a solution to the humanitarian crisis in the Syrian city of Aleppo, according to a presidential source, who spoke to state-run Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

This phone conversation came one day after Erdogan and Putin spoke over the phone on Nov. 25 to discuss bilateral and regional issues.

A number of issues topped the conversation then as well, including an attack on Turkish soldiers near al-Bab in northern Syria.

[17] According to a survey, 75% of Turkish citizens believe Turkey is drifting away from EU

According to a survey conducted by ANDY-AR focusing on Turkey-EU relations, 75.3 % of the participants believe Turkey is moving away from the EU, whereas 19.9 % believe Turkey is not.

Some 88 % of the respondents who are voters of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) say that Turkey is drifting away from the EU. The number is 79.6 % for the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) voters, 78.7 for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) voters, and 70.3 for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) voters.

Some 77.8 % of the respondents in the 25-34 age group and 76.3 % of the above-55 age group said that Turkey is moving away from the bloc.

The suspension of the EU-Turkey negotiations is a negative development according to 47.4 % of the survey participants, while 44.3 % welcome it.

Around 58.6 % of the AKP voters and 54.2 % of the MHP voters are positive about the halting of membership talks. However, the trend is different among CHP and HDP voters, with 75.5 % of the former and 81.9 % of the latter thinking that halting negotiations is a negative development. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION

http://www.pio.gov.cy

(CS/ICH)

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