The outcome of the separate coalition talks will be discussed in detail during the party assembly which will start at 6pm.

Meanwhile, the UBP's coalition efforts will be shaped according to the DP party assembly's decision.

The General Secretary of the UBP Dursun Oguz in a statement yesterday said that they will either meet with the Rebirth Party again or will finalize the coalition talks according to the outcome of the DP party assembly.

In the meantime, the Republican Turkish Party, the People's Party and the Social Democratic Party which held coalition talks with DP are also waiting for the decision of the DP party assembly.

[04] "Peace and Democracy walk" took place in the occupied area of Cyprus with the participation of thousands of "protesters"

Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris (28.01.18) under the front page title: "Peace and Democracy is beautiful;" reported that five thousand people flocked to the streets in support of the walk in order to protest against "lynching attacks" against Afrika newspaper and against violence and fascism.

Some unions, political parties and nongovernmental organizations gave their support to the walk that took place in the occupied part of Lefkosia.

The walk began at the Mehmet Akif avenue and "people" carrying colorful balloons walked to the so-called assembly

The protesters were shouting slogans such as "We will protect our communal existence, democracy and peace", "This country is ours and we will administrated it", "The freedom of expression cannot be prevented", "Unity and struggle for solidarty" and "Shoulder by shoulder against fascism".

In a written statement prepared by the "Turkish Cypriot union's platform" the chairperson of the "Turkish Cypriot Teachers' Union", Selma Eylem, said, inter alia, that despite the rain, thousands of people attended the walk to reiterate their belief in peace, democracy and communal existence.

Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper (28.01.18) covers the issue under the title: "The necessary response was given to Erdogan's calling: mission accomplished".

The paper writes that the Turkish Cypriot "people" gave the necessary response to Erdogan's recent statement against Afrika.

(AK)

[05] Ankara is reportedly trying to organize a "counter rally" to the "Peace and Democracy March"

"I do not know what kind of a result they have reached. The only thing I know is that Ankara evaluates the activities held here as 'opposing Turkey'. And because it evaluates them in the manner, they are trying to activate those who are 'Ankara supporters'. They are trying to prevent the creation of the image that 'the Turks of Cyprus do not want Turkey in Cyprus any more'. They are trying, but they are committing the one mistake after the other.

Reporting the 'known' article of Afrika newspaper to Erdogan in an exaggerated manner and making Erdogan to state that 'our brothers will give the necessary reply' was the first hoop of the chain of mistakes. [?]"

The columnist alleges also that the fact that the issue reached the highest level was something that Sener Levent wanted and that the "Peace and Democracy March" was a result of the "anger of the Turkish Cypriots" for the fact that AKP supporters vandalized Afrika newspaper and then attacked Turkish Cypriot leader Akinci and the "assembly", which is the symbol of the Turkish Cypriots' "sovereignty".

(I/Ts.)

[06] Columnist: The Turkish Cypriots are not sufficiently protected

Noting that it will not be possible to refer to "justice in the country" if those who do commit a crime get away with it, Mutluyakali wonders who is behind those who climbed on the "assembly's" roof, challenged the "will of the Turkish Cypriots" and made a "show of force". "Who supported that ominous action which was turned into lynching", he asks and concludes:

"[?] No one is in favor of the 'escalation of tension'. The culture of consensus is necessary for all of us. However, if there is no persuasive trial, 'violence' will become the norm and no reference to democracy could be made.

The government of Turkey is the address seen as the 'protecting shield' in this action! The instructions came from there. And the way to eliminate this perception is to do as required by the law".

(I/Ts.)

[07] The occupation regime did not allow to a journalist from Kathimerini newspaper to cross into the occupied area of Cyprus

According to the paper, the journalist wanted to cross into the occupied area of Cyprus in order to attend a televised program broadcast by Kibris TV. Stelyas attempted to cross into the occupied area of Cyprus together with his spouse by using his Turkish identity card.

Speaking to the paper, Stelyas explained that he considers that the reason he was prevented crossing into the "TRNC" was due to his tweets to social media for supporting the Peace and Democracy event which was held on Saturday as well as for his support against the attacks to Afrika newspaper.

Meanwhile, commenting on this issue, Mehmet Davulcu, "deputy chairman" of the Communal Liberation Party (TKP) described as unacceptable the fact that the "police" at Agios Dometios crossing point did not allow to the journalist to visit the "TRNC" and especially the fact that there was not any serious reason for this. Davulcu took action immediately after being informed writes the paper and asked from the "ministry of interior" and the "presidency" to "regulate" the issue.

As Kibris reports, Nikolaos Stelyas is a journalist in Greek Cypriot Kathimerini newspaper and it is a Turkish citizen holding a Turkish identity card.

(AK)

[08] Ships traffic at the occupied ports

At the same time, 2,060 ships departed from the illegal ports in the same period.

According to information obtained by the "TRNC ports department", the illegal ports of Famagusta and Keryneia had the most traffic out of the nine ports operating in the breakaway regime.

(CS)

[09] Turkey and the US agreed to work on de-escalating bilateral tension over Syria

"We may have a difference of opinion on some issues, but we are allied countries", H.R. McMaster, the national security advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump, told President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's chief foreign policy advisor and spokesman Ibrahim Kal?n during a phone conversation on Jan. 27, according to sources familiar with the conversation.

The conversation between the two advisors came after Trump and Erdogan spoke over the phone on Jan. 24 in which the two leaders discussed Turkey's ongoing "Operation Olive Branch" against the YPG in the Afrin district of Syria.

Both the content of the conversation and the readout issued by the White House over the Trump-Erdogan phone call have further fuelled already strained ties between Turkey and the U.S.

Turkey accused the White House of mischaracterizing the talk by inserting matters that were never discussed between the two leaders in the presidential readout.

According to the same sources, McMaster admitted the lack of coordination within the White House in the issuance of the readout after the conversation. "We were in Davos when the phone conversation took place but the statement was issued by our staff in Washington at the White House," McMaster told his counterpart, sources informed the daily Hurriyet.

The two officials have agreed to issue presidential statements following future phone exchanges or in-person meetings in full coordination, a custom that was abandoned in the latest conversation.

Apart from this issue, Kal?n and McMaster mainly focused on Turkey's ongoing military operation and disagreements over the U.S. support to the YPG.

According to the information Hurriyet gathered from senior Turkish officials, Kal?n and McMaster agreed to work on improving ties between the two allies on the grounds of mutual interests and respect. They also agreed to work on overcoming the existing confidence crisis between the two allies, with Ankara believing that it will not be an easy process.

According to sources in Ankara, re-building trust between the two allies heavily depend on the steps the U.S. will take with regard to its partnership with the YPG. McMaster reiterated that no weapons will be delivered to the YPG, during the phone talk with Kal?n, a commitment that was already given to Turkey in recent months.

"We will closely follow to what extent they will fulfill their commitments," the sources said, underlining once again that they want concrete actions taken by the U.S. in the field.

According to the sources, here are five measures the U.S. needs to take:

[01] No weapons should be given to the YPG.

[02] Weapons already delivered to the YPG should be taken back immediately.

[03] Military training given to the YPG should be ceased.

[04] No logistical support should be given.

[05] All ties with the YPG should be cut.

General Votel reportedly said that withdrawing forces from PKK-linked YPG-held Manbij is "not something the U.S. is looking into," CNN reported.

[10] Turkey slams European Parliament Rapporteur Piri over 'PKK remarks'

Referring to Piri's statement, Celik on his Twitter account wrote "such wrong views" will not be taken seriously by the Turkish side.

"Piri partly continues with the wrong view by saying that 'the number one threat for Turkey is not ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant], but PKK.' It is actually very rare to see such an open statement of this ugly approach toward terrorism," he added.

Celik said Turkey is the only country which is fighting against both ISIL and PKK militants "at the same time and on equal footing". (?)

"As Piri and similar circles think that mankind is living only around their geography, they only regard the ones who threaten them as terrorists, but they don't perceive any threat from the ones who attack others. It is clear that there is a problem here about how they view humans even before how they view terrorism," Celik said.

He stated that the "wrong view" on such terror groups allow them to "easily find ideological habitats" and described Piri with such "wrong view" reporting on Turkey at the European Parliament as "unfortunate".

"It is a tragedy that a politician, who doesn't have the abc level knowledge on these issues or who rejects these even if she knows them, is the Rapporteur for Turkey in the biggest Parliament of Europe," he said.

On the same issue, Turkish daily Sabah newspaper (29.01.18, https://www.dailysabah.com/eu-affairs/2018/01/28/eu-minister-celik-dismisses-ep-rapporteur-piris-remarks) reports that Celik said that Turkey will not take seriously any comments about Turkey coming from Piri, someone whom Celik said that she has a distorted mentality.

[11] Turkey warns Greek Minister off Aegean islets

According to the paper, "Coast Guard officers warned off Panos Kammenos, who was heading to the Kardak (Imia) islets in an assault boat to lay a wreath there for three Greek military personnel who died during the 1996 Kardak crisis.

Following the warning, the Greek boat left Turkey's territorial waters without further incident, the Ministry added. In a statement, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the Coast Guard units did what was necessary."

[12] The Turkish army 'neutralized' over 550 terrorists in Afrin; TRT news presenter said twice that TAF attacks civilians in Syria

According to a statement issued by the Turkish General Staff, the army "neutralized" 73 PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG and Daesh terrorists alone on Sunday.

The statement said 13 Turkish jets safely returned to their bases after destroying 20 targets -- used as weapon pits, shelters, and ammunition depots by the PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG and Deash terrorist groups. Operation Olive Branch is "successfully continuing as planned", it added.

The military asserted that it was showing utmost care in order not to harm any civilians during the operation.

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot news portal Haber Kibris (29.01.18, http://haberkibris.com/trt-canli-yayininda-buyuk-gaf-tsk-sivilleri-vuruyor-2018-01-29.html), under the title "In a live programme TRT made a big goof! 'TAF hits civilians'", reports that on the ninth day of Turkey's Olive Branch operation to Arfin a "weird" incident was broadcast by the Turkish state channel TRT. The news presenter Tugba Dalkilic used twice live the expression that the Turkish Army Forces (TAF) targets civilians. She said: "Our reporters informed us with very important news. For example, Bulent Culcuoglu just now said from the conflict area that 'the TAF from this point is attacking to the civilians'. Dalkilic later apologized to the public through her social media account that she made a mistake. It was reported that an investigation has started regarding the incident.

TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION

(DPs/ AM)

https://www.pio.gov.cy/moi/pio/pio2013.nsf/All/EDB254ABD6F3EAE1C225816F00425E83?OpenDocument

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