17
TURKISH PRESS
AND OTHER MEDIA
No. 179/08 18.09.08
A. NEWS ITEMS
1. The Orams case caused “quarrel” in the occupied areas; Statements by the lawyer of Orams
2. Soyer said that the assistance secured from various sources should be used by the Turkish Cypriots for reaching the EU standards in all fields
3. Avci participated in a dinner given by the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the ambassadors of the EU countries to Ankara
4. Statements by Erdogan on Turkey’s EU course and Cyprus
5. Gen. Basbug explains Turkey’s stance regarding the Cyprus problem
6. A delegation of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, including the member of the European Parliament, Marios Matsakis, are holding contacts in Turkey
7. The BKP noted that the population policy followed for years is responsible for the chaos existing in the occupied areas in all fields
8. More illegal migrants arrived in the occupied areas in order to cross over to the free areas of the Republic
9. Flights between Turkey’s city of Diyarbakir and the occupied part of Cyprus as of 24 October 2008 will be launched
10. The “Direct Traveler” tour operator is trying to secure a license from the British Civil Aviation Authority in order for direct flights to be conducted to occupied Cyprus
11. The self-styled Turkish Cypriot Football federation has stated that it is open to all the alternative proposals by FIFA except from becoming a member of the Cyprus Football Association
12. The Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Industry and eight other NGO’s are starting a protest act under the name of “civil disobedience”
13. German Court convicts three persons in connection with the Lighthouse fraud case
B. COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS
1. Columnist assesses that Turkey has abandoned its defensive stance and begun to pursue a more active foreign policy
A. NEWS ITEMS
1. The Orams case caused “quarrel” in the occupied areas; Statements by the lawyer of Orams
Illegal Bayrak television (17.09.08) broadcast the following:
“Lawyers battling out the Orams case have finished presenting their cases to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg.
According to a written statement issued by Hasan Vahip on behalf of Vahip Law firm, lawyers representing the Orams couple made an effective and comprehensive presentation on the interpretation of international public policy.
Mr Vahip underlined the importance of refraining from damaging the ongoing UN sponsored Cyprus negotiations process, which is also backed by the European Union, through individual legal cases.
He also added that the European Commission representatives addressing the Court had expressed their happiness for the start of the comprehensive negotiations in Cyprus, which among other issues envisaged a settlement to the property dispute on the island.
Mr Vahip noted that the European Court of Justice’s interpretation of European Union Law was expected to reinforce the British High Court’s September 2006 verdict in favor of the Orams couple.
The UK court had ruled that it had no jurisdiction to act on disputes originating in North Cyprus because EU law was suspended there.”
Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot daily Halkin Sesi newspaper (18.09.08), under the title “The Orams case caused ‘quarrel’”, reports that the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) replied to the accusations by the main opposition National Unity Party (UBP) which claimed that the “government” of the breakaway regime and the Turkish Cypriot leader Talat has not defended the Orams case sufficiently. The general secretary of the CTP, Omer Kalyoncu said that everything which should be done has been done in the Orams case and it is still being done.
Mr Kalyoncu argued that the climate of “lies and manipulations which the UBP is trying to create” is harming the Turkish Cypriots. He said that no initiative was undertaken during the former UBP “governments” in the field of the international law and that is why decisions against the Turkish Cypriots have been taken on the property issue. He noted that this stance of the UBP in a period when the negotiations on the Cyprus problem are being conducted is not surprising and noted that it is obvious that “the non-solution lobby” will try every method during this period.
The paper reports that the hearing of the case started yesterday at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg and the decision is expected to be announced within 2-3 months. Referring to the issue, the self-styled prime minister, Ferdi Sabit Soyer said that “the mentality which rejected the proprietorship system created after 1974 will not be able to solve the Cyprus problem”.
Moreover, Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen newspaper (18.09.08) reports that in statements after the meeting of the “council of ministers” yesterday, Mr Soyer argued that “the mentality which led south Cyprus into the EU unilaterally by not discussing the Cyprus problem for years, has no right to make the Turkish Cypriots experience the same tortures and loses any more”.
Mr Soyer said that the place for discussing the property issues is the negotiating table and argued that UBP’s chairman Mr Ertugruloglu issued a statement yesterday in order to strengthen his position in the forthcoming congress of the party and harm the negotiating process. Mr Soyer said that the stance of Mr Ertugruloglu on the property issue is wrong and added that the property is not a matter of the Greek Cypriots only, but it is also a matter of the Turkish Cypriot properties in the free areas of Cyprus. He accused Mr Ertugruloglu and “the mentality he is representing” of forgetting the Turkish Cypriot properties in the free areas of the island and strongly criticized him for reiterating this stance in 2008.
(I/Ts.)
2. Soyer said that the assistance secured from various sources should be used by the Turkish Cypriots for reaching the EU standards in all fields
Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen newspaper (18.09.08) reports that the self-styled prime minister, Ferdi Sabit Soyer gave a reception last night for the administrators of the schools which acquired the right for taking aid from the European Union within the framework of the program for the Turkish Cypriot community.
In statements during the reception, Mr Soyer said that the assistance secured from various sources should be used by the Turkish Cypriots for reaching the EU standards in all fields and added this is necessary for the viability of the solution to be found to the Cyprus problem. He noted that except from their own sources, the Turkish Cypriots are taking aid from Turkey and the EU.
Referring to the situation in Belgium, Mr Soyer said that “for us Belgium is an example which should never be repeated” and argued that the difficulty in the federation in Belgium is deriving from economic problems. The self-styled minister of education, Canan Oztoprak, some “MPs”, school directors and trade union officials participated in the reception, where the officials of the Finnish firm with which a three-year agreement was signed for providing technical support to the reform were introduced.
(I/Ts.)
3. Avci participated in a dinner given by the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the ambassadors of the EU countries to Ankara
Turkish Cypriot daily Halkin Sesi newspaper (18.09.08) reports that Turgay Avci, self-styled minister of foreign affairs of the breakaway regime, has accused the Greek Cypriot side of harming the process for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem. Mr Avci participated yesterday in a dinner given by the Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the ambassadors of the EU countries to Ankara. In a written statement, Mr Avci called on the Greek Cypriot side to refrain from bargaining with the Turkish side through the press and participate in the negotiations with good will.
He accused the minister of Foreign Affairs, Markos Kyprianou of making statements which harm the positive climate and deal a blow to the procedure. Mr Avci alleged that Mr Kyprianou’s “unreal statements towards motherland Turkey which ignore the independence and sovereignty of the TRNC exceeded the limits of political good manners”.
“Their delirium does definitely not change the reality that the TRNC is an independent state”, he claimed and added that “the TRNC is a fully sovereign, free and democratic country with all its institutions and organizations established with the free will of the Turkish Cypriot people”.
Replying to statements that the stance and the decisions of the Turkish Cypriots are determined with instructions from Ankara, Mr Avci alleged that “the only interlocutor of the Christofias administration at the negotiating table is the Turkish Cypriot side” and reiterated the positions of the Turkish side regarding a solution based on two peoples, two zones and two founding states with equal status.
Mr Avci said that there is nothing odd in exchanging views between Turkey and the “TRNC government” when policies either on the Cyprus problem or on socio-economic issues are determined. Mr Avci claimed that Turkey has rights and responsibilities deriving from history and international agreements and because of these rights and responsibilities no solution could be reached without Turkey’s effective and actual guarantees.
Furthermore, Turkish Cypriot daily Sozcu newspaper (18.09.08) refers to the visit of Mr Avci to Ankara and reports that during the dinner he shared the same table with the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Babacan, with whom he exchanged views.
The paper writes that Mr Avci held a short discussion with Mr Erdogan and exchanged views with him regarding the recent developments. The paper writes that in a significant part of his speech after the dinner the Turkish Prime Minister referred to Cyprus and criticized the stance of the countries of the guest ambassadors after the referendum, urging them to lift the so-called isolation of the Turkish Cypriots.
(I/Ts.)
4. Statements by Erdogan on Turkey’s EU course and Cyprus
Turkish daily Today’s Zaman newspaper (18.09.08) reports the following:
“Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized the European Union for proceeding too slowly in accession talks with candidate Turkey and urged the 27-nation bloc to treat Ankara fairly.
Erdogan, speaking at a fast-breaking dinner, or iftar, for foreign envoys in Ankara on Tuesday evening, complained that the process of opening and closing talks on negotiating chapters had been prolonged unnecessarily, the Anatolia news agency reported. "Before our membership process started, opening and closing chapters was not an issue. Chapters were opened and closed. But now we are struggling for this," he told the ambassadors and heads of foreign missions.
Turkey opened accession talks with the EU in 2005 but progress since then has been very slow. Erdogan complained that the EU made a habit of opening only two chapters out of a total of 35 at a time, thus slowing down the process.
He said this was not a fair approach, adding that Turkey expects the EU to adopt the same approach it did with other candidates. Turkey is not asking for privileges, he noted. "We say: We want you to give us the same rights you granted to others [candidates] before us. If you see us as a burden -- that's a different story -- then say so. But you should know that Turkey is coming to relieve you of your burden, not to be a cause of burden. You should view Turkey like this," the prime minister was quoted by Anatolia as saying.
The majority of Europeans are skeptical toward the accession of Turkey, a Muslim country of 70 million. In 2006, the EU suspended negotiations on eight chapters due to Turkey's refusal to open its ports and airports to traffic from EU member Greek Cyprus. France, which opposes Turkish membership, refuses to open talks on five chapters that it says are directly related to accession.
Erdogan said the EU should not have initiated the accession process with Turkey in the first place if it had doubts over whether Turkish membership would be a burden or if it was planning to allow Ankara's membership bid to be thwarted due to obstacles raised by the Greek Cypriots. "Then, you should not have opened the door in the first place," he said, referring to the EU.
In a regular meeting with Foreign Minister Ali Babacan in Brussels on Friday, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn urged Ankara to speed up the overhaul of its Constitution to break the stalemate in the reform process. Constitutional reform is seen as unlikely amid severe rifts between political parties in Parliament, but the government recently unveiled a reform package containing amendments to dozens of laws to meet EU standards.
Erdogan complained that the EU had demoralized Turkey by making statements that undermine its desire for reform, although Ankara has reasserted its readiness and determinedness to continue with reform efforts. But Ankara is still committed to reforms as shown in its latest plan, the Third National Program, he added.”
5. Gen. Basbug explains Turkey’s stance regarding the Cyprus problem
Illegal Bayrak television (17.09.08) broadcast the following:
“Staff General of the Turkish Armed Forces, General Ilker Basbug, has said that Turkey’s views regarding the Cyprus issue are quite clear and that it is out of question for any changes to be made on this view.
Speaking with television and news agency directors, on the second day of ‘Communication Meetings’ that are taking place in Turkey, General Basbug evaluated the Cyprus issue and Turkey’s EU prospects.