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Turkish Press Review, 04-04-26Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr><LINK href="http://www.byegm.gov.tr_yayinlarimiz_chr_pics_css/tpr.css" rel=STYLESHEET type=text/css> e-mail : newspot@byegm.gov.tr <caption> <_caption> Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning26.04.2004FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNSCONTENTS
[01] TRNC APPROVES, GREEK CYPRIOTS REJECT UN PLANIn Saturday’s historic referendums on the UN plan for Cyprus, Turkish Cypriots approved the plan by a nearly two-thirds majority of 65%, while 35% voted against it. On the other hand, Greek Cypriots rejected the plan by a margin of 76%. The plan’s failure brought widespread international criticism of Greek Cyprus, which now will enter the European Union on May 1 alone. /All Papers/[02] NSC TO CONVENE TODAYThe national Security Council (NSC) chaired by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer is set to hold an extraordinary meeting today. During the meeting, recent developments on Cyprus, especially Saturday’s referendums and the subsequent future of the island, are expected to be discussed. /Turkiye/[03] ERDOGAN CALLS ON TURKISH CYPRIOTS TO REMAIN UNIFIEDAddressing a Justice and Development Party (AKP) meeting yesterday, Prime Minister and AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan evaluated the result of Saturday’s historic referendums on Cyprus. He urged the international community to embrace Turkish Cyprus in light of the positive steps taken by both Ankara and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) for the island’s reunification. “The Turkish side’s constructive efforts during the negotiating process cannot be ignored,” said Erdogan. Vowing to support Turkish Cyprus no matter what the future brings, the premier called on Turkish Cypriots to maintain their unity. “Your unity will strengthen your case, which is a justified one,” said Erdogan. He added that no one should regard himself as above the public. /Turkiye/[04] SERDAR DENKTAS: “OUR COALITION GOVERNMENT WILL CONTINUE”Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Foreign Minister and Democratic Party (DP) leader Serdar Denktas said yesterday that his party would continue to serve in the TRNC coalition government with the Republican Turkish Party (CTP). During an afternoon meeting, Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat and Foreign Minister Denktas evaluated the results of Saturday’s referendums and the coalition government’s position in light of it. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Denktas said, “We’ve decided to continue in this government, as we can find no better partners than ourselves.” In related news, Special UN Cyprus Envoy Alvaro de Soto is set to visit the TRNC Prime Ministry’s Office this afternoon for the first time ever to meet with both Talat and Denktas. After the Greek Cypriot rejection of the UN reunification plan on Saturday, de Soto is set soon to close his office on Cyprus. /Hurriyet/[05] TRNC’S TALAT TO DISCUSS END TO ECONOMIC EMBARGO IN BRUSSELSIn the wake of Saturday’s historic referendums, in which his nation accepted the UN Cyprus plan while the Greek Cypriots rejected it, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat is due to travel to Brussels today to discuss lifting the economic embargo on Turkish Cyprus. Speaking to reporters before leaving, Talat reiterated that Greek Cyprus would join the EU alone on May 1, adding that certain measures were needed in order to prevent Turkish Cypriots paying a penalty for their neighbors’ rejection. In related news, appearing on German television yesterday, European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen said that a United Nations resolution was needed for international recognition of the TRNC, but warned that Russia could try to block this. “The result of the referendums will cast a shadow on Greek Cyprus’s EU membership,” said Verheugen, adding, “What we will seriously consider now is finding a way to end the economic isolation of the Turkish Cypriots.” /Cumhuriyet/[06] RAUF DENKTAS: “IF THE UN PLAN HAD BEEN ACCEPTED, I COULD HAVE RESIGNED”Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas said yesterday that if the UN Cyprus plan had been accepted in Saturday’s referendums, he could have resigned. In related news, TRNC Foreign Minister Serdar Denktas charged yesterday that by rejecting the UN reunification plan, the Greek Cypriots had effectively blocked a resolution on the island. “A resolution was blocked due to the Greek Cypriots being unready for peace and a settlement,” added Denktas. “The result of the referendums show clearly which side was the spoiler.” He further stated that he had no regrets over rejecting the plan himself. /Milliyet/[07] BAYKAL: “THE CYPRUS ISSUE WILL NO LONGER BLOCK TURKEY’S EU BID”Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said yesterday that in the wake of Saturday’s historic Cyprus referendums, the Cyprus issue would no longer block Turkey’s European Union membership bid, adding that now it was important to make other countries recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Baykal stated that the referendums had proved that there were two nations on the island and that the EU’s Cyprus policy was “bankrupt.” In related news, Ankara Chamber of Trade (ATO) Chairman Sinan Aygun yesterday praised the result of the referendums as positive and criticized TRNC Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat’s call for TRNC President Rauf Denktas to resign. /Cumhuriyet/[08] GREEK CYPRUS’ PAPADOPULOS: “WE DIDN’T URGE PEOPLE TO VOTE AGAINST THE PLAN”Speaking to reporters yesterday, Greek Cyprus leader Tassos Papadopulos tried to defend his nation in the face of widespread condemnation of its rejection of the UN Cyprus plan on Saturday, arguing that he hadn’t urged his countrymen to vote against it. Stressing that Greek Cyprus would continue its efforts for a settlement on the island, Papadopulos said they would do their best to see that Turkish Cypriots benefits from the blessings of the European Union within the framework of “possibilities and rules.” The Greek Cypriot administration is reportedly worried about an EU backlash due to its rejection of the UN plan. /Turkiye/[09] ERDOGAN TO VISIT GERMANYPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to travel to Germany today to hold a series of contacts on Cyprus and economic issues. He is set to attend the ribbon-cutting of the new Cologne office of the Turkish-German Chamber of Trade and Industry. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is also present at the ceremony. After the ceremony, the two premiers are expected to hold a meeting. /Turkiye/[10] ANZACS COMMEMORATE FALLEN FOREBEARS IN CANAKKALEHundreds of Australian, New Zealander and Turkish citizens yesterday gathered in Canakkale to mark the 89th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli and to commemorate their forebears who lost their lives in World War I. Australian Defense Minister Robert M. Hill said that all three nations had suffered heavy losses on this hallowed soil, adding that the harrowing experience had brought the peoples of these countries closer to each other. Canakkale Deputy Governor Mustafa Guler was also present at the ceremony. /All papers/[11] TURKEY SCORES THREE GOLD MEDALS IN EUROPEAN WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPSTurkish wrestlers Tevfik Odabasi, Gokhan Yavaser, and Aydin Polatci yesterday won three gold medals during the 47th European Freestyle Wrestling Championships hosted by Ankara, while Omer Cubukcu scored a bronze. Over 100 wrestlers from 23 countries participated in the competition. /All papers/[12] TURKEY WINS 16 GOLDS IN EUROPEAN WEIGHTLIFTING CHAMPIONSHIPSTurkey scored big in the weekend men’s and women’s European weightlifting championships in Kiev, Ukraine with 16 gold medals, 11 silver and six bronze. Turkey came in first as a team with 33 medals in total. /Milliyet/[13] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS[14] THE FUTURE OF CYPRUS BY DERYA SAZAK (MILLIYET)Columnist Derya Sazak comments on the historic weekend referendums in Cyprus. A summary of his column is as follows:“The plan aimed at solving the Cyprus issue and admitting a united island into the European Union ended with a ‘yes’ vote from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and a rejection from the southern part of the island. Thus, the road to EU membership has opened for the Greek Cypriots. This process actually began at the December 1999 Luxembourg summit and was confirmed by then Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and our government at the Helsinki summit where Turkey was also declared an EU candidate country. In response to Ecevit’s objections to Nicosia’s candidacy, an official appendix was added, saying, ‘While the negotiations on the paragraph on Cyprus continue, it is not aimed at admitting Cyprus to the EU; the aim is that the EU will review the conditions at that time.’ It’s been four years since the Helsinki summit. Southern Cyprus will become EU member on May 1. After a 65% ‘yes’ vote, the Turks in the North are watching this with sadness. For despite TRNC President Rauf Denktas’s advocates saying, ‘The EU won’t admit the Greeks alone in any case, and even if they do, this would work to the TRNC’s favor,’ we can see that victories can also be won through diplomacy. If Denktas and his group had accepted a solution at the 2002 Copenhagen summit and negotiations at The Hague, then the Greek Cypriots wouldn’t have been able to exclude the TRNC. The assumption that Cyprus could be taken from the Turks via the UN plan proved baseless. To the contrary, as a result of the Greek’s ‘no’ vote, the TRNC has been left to the Turks forever! But what if this situation, which seems to be advantageous, brings about a solution pulling Turkish Cypriots, who will carry EU passports, into the south? Also, income inequality within the TRNC will grow once the embargo is lifted. Will Cyprus then lose? A new political settlement on the island seems inevitable. The TRNC could also be pulled into an early election after Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat’s pressure, which says that there’s no place for Denktas in the process after these events. But Denktas won’t quit now. Denktas believed that the EU would find a solution for Cyprus by May 1, but this didn’t happen. The Greeks who rejected the plan will become EU members and the Turkish Cypriots, which accepted it, are being left outside. We have to be cool-headed in discussing the future of the island.” [15] DISADVANTAGES OF FANCY BY TUFAN TURENC (MILLIYET)Columnist Tufan Turenc comments on the results of the historic weekend referendums on Cyprus. A summary of his column is as follows:“Four years both Greek Cypriots and Greeks have argued that it’s the Turks who have blocked solution of the Cyprus issue. What will they say now? When walls are collapsing all over the world, Greek Cypriots and Greeks accused Turks of dividing Cyprus into two with a wall. So they opposed this by saying ‘no’ to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s plan? How will they continue the ‘wall’ lie from now on? They’ve been saying for years, ‘The invading Turkish soldiers came and seized our property and gave it to Turks. I want my property. Since Turks have been using them for 30 years, Ankara should pay compensation.’ So how will they apply to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) now? How will the ECHR tell Greek Cypriots that they’re right and make Turkey pay compensation? How will Greek Cypriots and Greeks now say that the state established by Turks is illegal and that the embargo should continue? Now how will the West continue the embargo on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)? No country which respects modern world values, human rights and international law even a bit can answer such questions. In other words, nobody can defend the years-long oppression of Turkish Cypriots. The US should take steps to end this unfair situation as soon as possible. If it does so, the entire world would follow suit. However, I believe that neither the US, nor Europe nor other countries will do what’s necessary. Nobody should be optimistic. They will praise Turks for a short while but then they will favor the Greek Cypriots, and Turkey will have to foot the bill. I don’t doubt it because I’ve been seeing this since I first became a journalist. Both Washington and the EU are deeply disappointed by the Greek Cypriots’ rejection of the UN plan, but better they should help the Turks. But they won’t. These are all tricks. We’ll see very shortly how their words will change. They will gild the Greek Cypriots’ conditions and bring them to the table again and force Turkish Cypriots to swallow this. At this point Ankara should stand firm. It should say to the US and the EU that there will be no retreats. Ankara should understand that there are to be no concessions from now on. The most interesting result of the referendums is that both Denktas’s and theGreek Cyriots’ wishes came true with the rejection of Annan’s plan. However, no one should doubt that there will be always plans.” ARCHIVE <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="http:/_www.byegm.gov.tr_statistic/countcode.js"> </script> Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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