Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 05-10-13

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

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] The Spokesman of the Turkish Foreign Ministry denies that Turkey has taken a more lenient attitude towards Cyprus´ participation in NATO

[02] MILLIYET and NTV on a possible invitation of Mr Talat to Washington

[03] The leader of the Communal Liberation Party said the Turkish Cypriots should claim their rights from the 1960 Agreements

[04] Business circles in the occupied territories of the Republic of Cyprus demand separation of the two regulations for the Turkish Cypriots

[05] The self-styled Ministry of Economy and Tourism will take part in a Tourism Fair in Italy, member of ETTFA

[06] A deputy resigned from CHP

[07] Preparations have been made for the tender to construct a new power station

[08] Turkey's Babacan said Oguz Demiralp was appointed EU Affairs Secretary General

[09] President Sezer to Georgia for the first oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[10] Turkish Cypriot columnist argues that the important thing for the Turkish Cypriot leadership is the continuation of the current state of affairs

[11] Columnist in Radikal argues that the U.S. will have more influence on the EU since Poland is going more right

[12] Columnist in Cumhuriyet argues that President Bush is loosing popularity and thus a war against Iran and Syria is more likely

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] The Spokesman of the Turkish Foreign Ministry denies that Turkey has taken a more lenient attitude towards Cyprus´ participation in NATO

"Turkey has not softened its veto attitude after 3 October towards the `Greek Cypriot Administration´ (Republic of Cyprus) regarding the NATO-EU relations, as reported in the press during the past days. In the press it is reported that the idea was put forth for two informal meetings annually between the Foreign Ministers of NATO and the EU. The said idea was mentioned by the General Secretary during the April NATO-EU cooperation, but no such meeting took place yet. The NATO-EU Foreign Ministers´ Informal Meetings proposed by the General Secretary are intended for unofficial issues only and there is no question of operational and secret issues being discussed. Therefore, the NATO-EU Foreign Ministers´ Informal Meetings will not provide the `Greek Cypriot Administration´ the possibility of influencing NATO in any way".

And Mr Tan concluded:

"There has been no change at all in Turkey's overall position regarding its policy, towards the `Greek Cypriot Administration's setting up relations with NATO."

(KV)

[02] MILLIYET and NTV on a possible invitation of Mr Talat to Washington

Umit Enginsoy, reports that the invitation was extended to Talat in recent weeks through diplomatic channels in Lefkosia and that the definite date will be fixed during coming days. "It was learned that" reports the NTV, " Mr Talat was satisfied with this invitation".

NTV further reports that Mr Talat has conveyed his expectations to the US side that the USA should take the long contemplated steps, aimed at removing the so-called isolations imposed on the Turkish Cypriots, during this trip.

The NTV adds that last year Mr Talat had a meeting in New York at the UN with the then Secretary of State Colin Powel.

Moreover, Turkish daily MILLIYET newspaper (13.10.05), reports under banner headlines: "This invitation will make the Greek Cypriots angry" and says that the USA Secretary of State, Mrs Condoleezza Rice, will invite Talat to America for a solution in the island and will convey to the Greek Cypriots the message that they have to "reconcile".

MILLIYET further reports that the USA is getting ready to take steps for the solution of the Cyprus problem.

MILLIYET, in its report about the possibility of Mrs Rice´s inviting of Mr Talat to Washington, writes that the visit could take place towards the end of 2005. MILLIYET reports that Mr Talat will be received "as the elected leader of the Turkish Cypriots".

MILLIYET also reports that if Mr Talat´s visit to Washington is realized through an invitation from the Bush Administration, then this will mean "the USA is conveying messages to both sides in Cyprus", to the Greek Cypriot side it will remind that it is not the sole representative of the island and to the Turkish Cypriots that the US steps to end isolations will be continued. (MY)

[03] The leader of the Communal Liberation Party said the Turkish Cypriots should claim their rights from the 1960 Agreements

Noting that in the Cyprus problem an "East Germany type" settlement model is being advanced, Angolemli said that they are working to preclude this.

He further said that in order to stop this kind of solution, it is necessary that the domestic forces of the Turkish Cypriot community should be mobilized as well.

Stressing that Cyprus is not like East and West Germany, Angolemli said that "in Cyprus there are two peoples who speak different languages" that the solution which will be found should safeguard the rights of the Turkish Cypriot community acquired by the 1960 Treaties.

Speaking to KIBRIS TV, a private TV channel in the Turkish occupied part of the Republic of Cyprus, Angolemli claimed that the Turkish Cypriot community is face to face with the danger of losing its communal rights.

Angolemli further said that the bizonality agreed in the 1977-1979 high level agreement should be part of the new settlement.

The CLP chairman said that as party they never defended total returning to the 1960 Treaties. What they demand is to acquire the communal rights acquired by the 1960 Treaties.

(MY)

[04] Business circles in the occupied territories of the Republic of Cyprus demand separation of the two regulations for the Turkish Cypriots

According to the paper, although the possibility is real that the EU cheques could be lost because of the nearing deadline, the self-styled government in the occupied territories of the Republic of Cyprus continues to insist that the Financial Aid and Direct Trade regulations should be approved together.

The Chairman of the Business Association, Mr Ozalp Nailler said that with the 259 million euro, they would be able to join the EU system and legal mechanisms would be harmonised with the EU Acquis Communautaire.

The Chairman of the Turkish Cypriot Industrial Chamber Salih Tunar said that he supports securing the aforementioned funds by separating the two regulations.

The Chairman of the Turkish Cypriot Trade Chamber Ali Erel said that there is the possibility that part of the funds could be lost due to technical reasons. He added that the EU member-states do not see the possibility of connecting the two regulations.

(DP)

[05] The self-styled Ministry of Economy and Tourism will take part in a Tourism Fair in Italy, member of ETTFA

According to the paper, this tourism fair is part of the European Tourism Trade Fairs Association (ETTFA).

(DP)

[06] A deputy resigned from CHP

Below is the current distribution of the seats at the parliament:

AKP: 356

CHP: 155

ANAVATAN: 19

SHP: 4

DYP: 4

HYP: 1

Independent: 7

Vacant: 4

(AKP stands for ruling Justice and Development Party, Anavatan for Motherland party, SHP for Social Democrat People's Party, DYP for True Path Party and HYP for People's Ascendance Party.)

NTV (13/10/05) broadcast that Mr Ozcan joined ANAVATAN party.

[07] Preparations have been made for the tender to construct a new power station

"A study has been released outlining the building of two new 17.5MW power stations at Teknecik (near occupied Klepini) which will be built solely by the Cyprus electricity board (Kib Tek). A meeting was held at the (self-styled) Ministry of Finance for the bidding which was announced by the Central Tendering Commission (MIK) final applications will end on 18 October. The meeting was attended by the Central Tendering committee Members, KIB-TEK, foreign firms and the experts from Turkish Electricity Production Corporation from Turkey.

According to the information given by the 'Ministry of Finance', the meeting lasted two hours.

At the meeting information was given on the technicalities of the terms and conditions of the tendering. It was agreed to work with speed to close the tendering process in time on the 18.11.2005."

[08] Turkey's Babacan said Oguz Demiralp was appointed EU Affairs Secretary General

[09] President Sezer to Georgia for the first oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline

President Sezer will attend the first official celebration marking the transfer of oil to Georgia through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. He is expected to return to Turkey later in the day.

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[10] Turkish Cypriot columnist argues that the important thing for the Turkish Cypriot leadership is the continuation of the current state of affairs

Mrs Ozhan writes, inter alia, the following:

"...Actually the proposal was very good, but some among us, because they look at things with the motive of opposing to everything at all costs, have set up a howl shouting 'this is a new trick for getting rid of the Annan Plan'! However, in the package it was noted that the preference of the people in the south who rejected the plan with the high majority of 75 per cent must be respected. It was established that the guarantor powers cannot be a part of the solution, because they are a part of the problem. It was said that the sides should agree on a text that they will prepare by making the changes, arrangements and additions they want to the current constitution of the Republic of Cyprus and not by being forced to do it from outside. Even if its name is not Annan Plan, putting the rights which (it is alleged) that we gained in the plan can be ensured. That is, the will is the important thing, not the name! The people say: 'The Cyprus problem should be solved by the Cypriots'! Our European democrats shout: 'Oh, they are setting traps to do away with the Annan Plan! Why? Because it does not suit them, because the new leader ordered that no return to the Republic of Cyprus can take place, because the important thing for them is not the interests and the future of the community, but the continuation of this new state of affairs in which they began to feather their nests!"

(ITs)

[11] Columnist in Radikal argues that the U.S. will have more influence on the EU since Poland is going more right

"After the "Ankara's Backstage" program that we produced for the CNN Turk on Sunday, Ninth President Suleyman Demirel said: "The truth is that we will experience the most difficult problems regarding the Cyprus issue. If we overcome these problems, we can overcome all the other problems. We should not spoil anyone's morale, but the Cyprus issue will constitute the most difficult problem."

It is also true that all those who ponder a little over the relations between Turkey and the EU share Demirel's views.

The Cyprus issue was not raised during the meeting that Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Ali Babacan, EU negotiator and treasury minister, held with the experts of the State Planning Organization. Reportedly they mainly focused on technical issues. Nonetheless, the Cyprus issue was reportedly raised during the Council of Ministers meeting yesterday and during the briefing that Gul and Babacan gave President Ahmet Necdet Sezer after the Council of Ministers' meeting.

This is very natural. After all, the additional protocol that will include the Greek Cypriot Republic as well as the nine new EU members in the 1963 Ankara Agreement will soon be submitted to the TBMM [Turkish Grand National Assembly] for approval by the government. How soon? Olli Rehn, EU official in charge of expansion, who held intensive contacts in Turkey last week, wants the additional protocol to be approved as soon as possible. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on the other hand, is saying that [the additional protocol will be approved] "whenever they feel the need." CHP [Republican People's Party] Chairman Deniz Baykal, in turn, wants the government to put to vote the additional protocol as well as the declaration entitled "We Do Not Recognize the Sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus over the TRNC" (this title is known by the public as "We Do Not Recognize the Republic of Cyprus) on 29 July. No one knows whether or not this will have a legal result in terms of the relations with the EU, but there is no doubt that it will cause political difficulties for the government.

If the reports that are published by the Cypriot press reflect reality, Nicosia (it is more appropriate to use the word that the Greek Cypriots use in order to define the Greek Cypriot half of Lefkosia [Nicosia]) may send its ships to one of Turkey's ports just for the sake of bringing about a crisis and causing a confrontation between Ankara and Brussels. Or it may direct a passenger plane -- let us say for an emergency landing -- to a Turkish airport in order to create even a more urgent problem.

The truth is that Ankara does not adopt a firm stand with regard to this issue. In other words, it does not request -- for example -- political recognition for opening its ports to Greek Cypriot vessels and planes. Nevertheless it first wants the embargo imposed on the Turkish Cypriots to be removed. Furthermore it wants the EU to implement, albeit at a symbolical level, its decision to end the economic isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. However, the political atmosphere has changed in the EU. Gerhard Schroeder who heads the Social Democrat-Greens coalition extended support to Turkey's EU membership when he was in power. He supported Turkey's membership in spite of the firm criticism levelled by the Christian Democratic Unity (CDU)/Christian Social Unity (CSU) alliance that was in the opposition and in spite of their demand to grant Turkey a "special membership." However, the 18 September elections have destroyed the balances. It is true that CDU Chairman Angela Merkel was not able to win a victory due to various reasons, among them her anti-Turkey views, but the CDU became the first party in the elections. Following the agreement that was reached between Merkel and Schroeder yesterday, a broad based coalition will apparently be established between the CDU/CSU and the SPD [Social Democratic Party] in Germany. The fact that the social democrats are in control of the Foreign Ministry may console Turkey a little, but the assessments that were made by high-level officials in the capital of the United States prior to the elections were evidently correct (Radikal 15 September 2005). As of now, a government that is closer to the United States and that is farther away from Turkey will be established in Berlin. Given that the government in Poland also adopts more rightist views and given that it is closer to the United States, this means that the United States will be more influential in the relations with the EU. In other words, if the relations with the United States deteriorate, this may have an impact on the relations with the EU.

There is one more thing. As of January the EU term presidency will be assumed by Austria, which is not in very good terms with Turkey. It is true that term presidency requires balance and London will probably remind Austria of the suffering it caused to Britain during its term presidency. Still however, it is possible to say that Austria may not be very tolerant toward Turkey regarding the Cyprus issue or the opening of the negotiations titles. There is no doubt that things will become more difficult. It is time to make the necessary preparations and to be cool, calm, and collected."

[12] Columnist in Cumhuriyet argues that President Bush is loosing popularity and thus a war against Iran and Syria is more likely

"I tried to show that Bush's social and political base was starting to crack, and that in such situations as this, leaders embark on foreign adventures in order to regain the initiative. The speech he gave at the National Endowment for Democracy last week made people think he was choosing the second option.

After stressing that Bush's speech was "frighteningly out of touch with today's realities" the New York Times accused Bush of "still living in the world of 2001," and said that Bush's speech was built solely on the fight against terrorism. In fact, Bush's speech went further. This speech, which Fred Kaplan of Newsweek said was "pathetic and demoralizing," exaggerated the target, and formed parallels between the war on terrorism and the war against communism and fascism. This time we are talking about "A war of freedom against Islamo-fascism".

Bush said, "The war will continue until victory has been won." He did not say what "victory" meant, but he did give some clues as to the direction the war would go in. For example, once it was a case of not letting any country fall into the hands of terrorists, yet now in the Middle East we are at the point of, "Democracy is not happening so we might as well obstruct Islamo-fascism." Syria and Iran cropped up in his speech. Bush calls them "outlaw" countries. "No distinction will be made between terrorists and the countries that help terrorists," he maintained. Thus Bush has started to use language that repeats the accusations he made of Iraq before the war while at the same time is accusing the United Kingdom's Prime Minister Blair of helping the resistance in Iraq.

When you look at the speech in the light of developments in post-war Iraq it is possible to draw a few conclusions. The veneer on the Greater Middle East Initiative has started to flake off. Its real content is the formation of "lebensraum" for the United States incorporating Southwest Asia. The notion of "The cracks are papered over with force when necessary" of Prof Bennet's thesis "Crack and Core" has become apparent: The war on terrorism is nothing more than a metaphor (in memory of Susan Sontag) used to disguise the plan for the destruction not just of "Islamo-fascism" but of all "outlaw" states and nationalist initiatives.

Subtitle: Syria And Iran

Bush's speech shows that the United States is gearing up to annex by force Syria and Iran as "lebensraum," the question being, "Which one first?"

Syria is economically and militarily weak: an easy target. The Daily Telegraph, which is close to US circles, wrote that the Bush administration had given the go-ahead for a regime change. (03 October). Stratfor writes that Bush's National Security Council spoke about bombing several Syrian villages that make up an access route into Iraq. (05 October). Haaretz (Israel) writes that the Bush administration asked Israel for suggestions as to who could replace Bashir al-Assad. (03 October). The Financial Times published the same rumor a week later. There is not much chance of Syria surviving a US attack from the front. However, by way of response it could strike at Israel. Using the lessons it has learned from Iraq the Baath Party could put up a more effective resistance. Furthermore, an attack on Syria would draw the Hezballah in Lebanon into the fighting.

Iran, which has steadily been increasing its influence in Iraq's Shiite region over the past two years, is a much tougher target. Furthermore, it has got friends like Russia, China and Germany. Therefore, the United States needs to make far more comprehensive military and diplomatic preparations, and should try using the IAEA meeting to get a resolution against Iran out of the UN. Rumsfeld's visits to Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan, the announcement afterwards by the Commander of NATO's European Forces Gen James Jones that they planned establishing bases on Azerbaijan's coast with the Caspian Sea (ideal for an attack against Iran)(The Asia Times), plus the Pentagon's request to SAC for the use of nuclear weapons, are all significant in this respect. I wonder if we should see the visits to Turkey made the representatives of EUCOM and CENTCOM plus the commentary called "Turkey Should Allow NATO To Undertake Black Sea Security" (07 October) placed on the website of the Intelligence Summit, which boasts such names on its international advisory council as former CIA directors James Woolsey and John Deutch, MOSSAD officers like Yoram Hessel, and the former head of Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee Pauline Neville-Jones plus retired US air force generals, in this light?

However, in response to an attack Iran would, in addition to putting up resistance, use its influence in Iraq, and could use its missiles to hit giant oil tankers at sea. In fact, it could seal off the entire gulf and throw the international oil markets plus the world economy into turmoil.

In my column on Monday I had thought of all this and recalled the saying from Greek mythology, "The gods make the people they are going to damn do crazy things first." In his commentary in the LA Times on Monday Brzezinski said this about the Bush administration in reference to Arnold Toynbee: "A state machine with suicidal tendencies.""

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