Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 02-09-06

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From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Turkey/s expectations from the Paris meeting.

[02] "Peace and Democracy gathering" organized in occupied Nicosia.

[03] The Turkish Minister of Internal Affairs to visit the occupied areas of Cyprus.

[04] Opinion polls show that only JDP and RPP will pass the threshold.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Turkey/s expectations from the Paris meeting

Diplomatic sources said on Thursday that the Turkish side, which is insistent on adoption of sovereignty and equal status of the occupation regime, did not expect any surprise from the Paris talks.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will firstly have separate meetings with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktas and Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides on Friday. Annan is also expected to have a working lunch with the two leaders.

The talks will be held to accelerate the negotiation process in Cyprus. The Turkish side does not expect a new opening or a document from the talks while it takes the Swiss model as a basis in internal dimensions and the Belgian model as a basis in foreign dimensions. These two models had been prepared by the Turkish side to find a permanent solution to the question and presented to both the Cyprus Government and the U.N.

Diplomatic sources stressed that the European Union (EU) membership of Cyprus should not be accepted as intercommunal talks continued. The diplomatic sources stated that such a decision of the EU would be considered a direct intervention in the negotiation process.

There is a difficult period before not only Turkey and Denktas, but also Greece and the Cyprus government during which hard diplomatic bargaining will occur as the talks process continued in Cyprus.

Work on the Progress Report which will be announced on October 16 prior to the Copenhagen Summit in December, when a decision about the membership of Cyprus is expected to be taken, will start almost ten days later.

After the progress reports of all candidate countries including Turkey and Cyprus are announced, an enlargement summit is expected to take place on October 24 and the results of this summit are foreseen to affect the Copenhagen Summit.

As the results of the negotiations and bargaining are being discussed, diplomatic sources stress that Turkey and Denktas will not accept an EU decision about announcement of Cyprus as a full member.

[02] "Peace and Democracy gathering" organized in occupied Nicosia

The paper writes that some 3.000 persons participated in the meeting, where two party leaders, Mehmet Ali Talat of Republican Turkish Party and Huseyin Angolemli of the Communal Liberation Party were also present.

The gathering has been described as "a good opportunityh to inform world public opinion and the parties concerned about the demand for peace on the eve of the Paris meeting".

According to KIBRIS, some of the slogans chanted by the participants in the gathering were: "Peace in Cyprus cannot be prevented", "This country is ours, we are going to rule it", "We say no to integration, yes to peace", "peace instead of war, war against the exploitation" etc.

[03] The Turkish Minister of Internal Affairs to visit the occupied areas of Cyprus

Mr Ecemis and the six-member delegation, which will be accompanying him, are expected to leave the occupied areas on Tuesday.

[04] Opinion polls show that only JDP and RPP will pass the threshold

According to the results of the poll, the Justice and Development Party (JDP) and the Republican People's Party (RPP) would be the winners of the polls.

The survey, conducted in seven regions of Turkey and made for the Deutsche Bank, revealed that the JDP has increased its vote capacity to 24.6 percent in August from July's 19 percent. It marks the victory of collecting the votes of right-wing parties.

Meanwhile, the RPP with a 14.3 percent vote capacity, is the only social democratic party that would be able to pass the 10 percent national threshold needed for a political party to enter Parliament.

According to the polls, the RPP had a 6.9 percent vote capacity in July.

Former Economy Minister and the architect of the economic program, Kemal Dervis's decision to join the RPP ranks increased the vote capacity of the party.

Dervis showed the RPP as the address of social democratic and leftist votes. His respectful name in the business circles also helped the party to gain a popularity among artisans and tradesmen.

The poll revealed that apart from the JDP and the RPP none of the parties would be able to enter Parliament if elections were held today.

During August, the vote capacity of the Tansu Ciller led True Path Party (TPP) decreased to 8.8 percent from 9.5 percent. Meanwhile, the Nationalist Action Party's (NAP) vote capacity dropped to 6.1 percent in August from 10 percent. NAP leader Devlet Bahceli noted on Thursday that the public opinion polls were not giving his party a chance before the 1999 elections as well, but his party succeeded in becoming the second biggest party of Parliament after the polls.

"They would be surprised after the November 3 elections as they were surprised after the 1999 polls," Bahceli said.

The survey revealed that the number of undecided decreased to 20 percent, hinting that the TPP would be the third party that would be able to pass the threshold.

Being aware of this panorama, various parties are seeking alliances with other parties in order to increase their chances in the polls.

Main coalition partner Democratic Left Party/s vote capacity in August dropped to 1.1 percent, hinting it has no chance to have a seat in Parliament after the polls.

/SK

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