Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 06-07-12

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

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Statements by the Turkish Cypriot leaders spokesman; The joint policy of the Turkish side on the Cyprus problem will be discussed during Erdogans illegal visit to the occupied areas of Cyprus

[02] Statements by the Turkish Cypriot political party leaders after meeting with the Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat

[03] Soyer and Denktas will attend the opening ceremony of the Baku-Ceyhan-Tiflis pipeline

[04] Mathew Bryza is to visit Cyprus next week for contacts

[05] The EP votes in favor of Turkeys Progress Report delay

[06] Gerhard Schroder refers to the Cyprus problem from Turkey

[07] Joost Lagendijk refers to the Cyprus problem during a debate held in Ankara

[08] Member of the Senate of the Belgian Federal Parliament argues that the two communities on the Island cannot live together

[09] KIBRIS writes about forty families of settlers who live under terrible conditions in occupied Mia Milia village

[10] The 5th International Beach Handball Tournament is to take place in occupied Cyprus

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[11] Strategic Vision with United States being implemented

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Statements by the Turkish Cypriot leaders spokesman; The joint policy of the Turkish side on the Cyprus problem will be discussed during Erdogans illegal visit to the occupied areas of Cyprus

In statements during his weekly briefing yesterday, Mr Ercakica described the agreement as positive development and noted that the proposals of the Turkish side regarding the technical committees have been accepted without a change. He said that it is agreed that issues related to the substance of the Cyprus problems will be discussed in parallel to the day-to-day issues in the above-mentioned committees.

When the two leaders meet to discuss issues related to the substance, the position of the Turkish Cypriot side will, in general lines, be in the direction of the Annan Plan, he added.

Mr Ercakica alleged that the Greek Cypriot side had a negative stance during the first day of the visit of Mr Gambari and that the document conveyed to the Turkish side showed that the Greek Cypriots wanted a quarrel, not reconciliation. He said that the Turkish side did not regard as a proposal this document which brought onto the agenda issues like the property and the settlers from Turkey and that it did not evaluate it.

Mr Ercakica alleged that no progress will be made in the forthcoming procedure if the Greek Cypriot side has the attitude it showed during the first day of the visit of Mr Gamabri.

Mr Ercakica expressed the opinion that a time limit and arbitration would be useful during a possible future negotiation process, because arbitration will prevent the talks from being without a result and the time limit will increase the motivation.

Mr Ercakica stated also that serious talks, which will contribute to the formation of a common policy of the Turkish side, are planned during the visit of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the occupied areas of the Republic of Cyprus for the celebrations on the occasion of the Turkish invasion and occupation of the Island. He noted that Mr Erdogans program will not be only a celebration program.

(I/Ts.)

[02] Statements by the Turkish Cypriot political party leaders after meeting with the Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat

The meeting, which took place at the self-styled presidential palace, lasted nearly two and a half hours.

Attending yesterdays meeting were self-styled Prime Minister and Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader Ferdi Sabit Soyer, CTP General Secretary Omer Kalyoncu, Democrat Party (DP) leader and self-styled Foreign Minister Serdar Denktas, DP General Secretary Ertugrul Hasipoglu, DP Foreign Relations Chief Atay Ahmet Rasid, the leader of the main opposition National Unity Party (UBP) Huseyin Ozgurgun, UBP General Secretary Turgay Avci, Peace and Democracy Movement (BDH) General Secretary Mehmet Cakici and the Chairman of BDH in Lefkosia, Ozgun Kutalmis.

Also attending the meeting were Talats adviser Rasit Pertev, Talats self-styled Director of personnel Asim Kansoy and the self-styled government spokesman Hasan Ercakica.

Following the meeting, the self-styled Prime Minister, the self-styled deputy Prime Minister, the leader of UBP and the General Secretary of BDH made statements separately.

Mr Ferdi Sabit Soyer, said that Mr Talat and the political party leaders discussed how they can make the best use of opportunities emerging from the agreement between the two leaders during the UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambaris visit to Cyprus. He also added: All the political parties will submit their views in order to prepare a common line on the issue as it is the Turkish Cypriot side that voted yes to Annan plan and wants a settlement of the Cyprus problem based on a United Cyprus. And on this basis during the meetings they (political parties) will submit their opinions on matters of substance. We will carry out full discussions; we believe that we will benefit from this.

Mr Serdar Denktas said that with frequent meetings they can reach a point at which they can be affected less by foreign interventions in an issue that concerns the future of the Turkish Cypriots. He also added that with these frequent meetings they can form a stance which could be called Lefkosia´s decision.

Mr Ozgurgun, on his part, said: Talat briefed us on his meetings that will begin on July. We exchanged views. We have serious doubts on the intentions of Mr Papadopoulos and the Greek Cypriot side. We informed Mr Talat on this.

Mr Cakici said that they listened to Mr Talat views and conveyed to him their own views. He also expressed the hope that they will always be able to decide together at such meetings, so they make steps according to these decisions.

(DPs)

[03] Soyer and Denktas will attend the opening ceremony of the Baku-Ceyhan-Tiflis pipeline

According to the paper, President Papadopoulos has not been invited, while the non-participation of the Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat to the ceremony is a big political gaffe, since his appearance could provide an important message to the world.

KIBRISLI reports that nearly 50 Foreign and Energy Ministers, 30 Prime Ministers and 15 Head of States will attend the opening ceremony. The US President Bush, the Russian President Putin, the Azeri President Aliyev and the British Prime Minister Tony Blair will be among the participants in the ceremony.

It is estimated that 3-3.5 million dollars will be spend for the pipelines opening.

(M/L)

[04] Mathew Bryza is to visit Cyprus next week for contacts

Mr Bryza who is currently on a visit to Turkey has described as positive the meeting between the Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and President Tassos Papadopoulos.

He said that the United States was working hard for the removal of the international isolation of the Turkish Cypriots.

[05] The EP votes in favor of Turkeys Progress Report delay

Taking the floor in the meeting of EP, Eurlings said that they needed more time to combine proposals that were earlier made regarding the report, noting that it deserved to be examined in detail.

After Eurlings's statement, EP Foreign Affairs Committee decided to debate and vote the progress report on Turkey in the first week of September. The report will be discussed at the EP General Assembly at the end of September 2006.

Diplomatic sources said that the draft report asks Turkish government to speed up the reform process, as reflected in persistent shortcomings or insufficient progress in particular in the areas of freedom of expression, religious and minority rights, civil-military relations, law enforcement on the ground, women's rights, trade union rights, cultural rights and the independence of the judiciary.

Stating that the draft report welcomes the Turkish government's initiative to resume the process of legislative change by submitting to the Turkish Parliament the ninth package of legislative reforms, sources indicated that it also asks that new anti-terrorism law should not include any restrictions to basic rights and freedoms.

The report reiterates its call for the electoral system to be reformed by reducing the threshold of ten per cent, thereby ensuring wider representation of political forces in the parliament.

PKK was condemned in the draft report which underlined that the activities of PKK constitute a serious threat to peace, stability and democracy in Turkey.

It also condemns the armed attack in May 2006 against the Council of State in Ankara.

On the other hand, the report expresses concern over the Semdinli affair, which involved the bombing of a bookshop, and the subsequent dismissal of the prosecutor Ferhat Sarikaya.

[06] Gerhard Schroder refers to the Cyprus problem from Turkey

(MHY)

[07] Joost Lagendijk refers to the Cyprus problem during a debate held in Ankara

In a brief conversation with Turkish Daily News following the debate, Mr. Lagendijk was asked: How can you expect the EU to be flexible on Cyprus when there is no progress on the other two of the top three problems -the Kurdish issue and freedom of speech?

He replied: There, we want to make a compromise. It would be very useful for the Cyprus issue if there is visible progress on important other issues, offering up the idea that clear progress on the Kurdish issue and freedom of speech would make things easier for the EU side as well as for the Turkish side.

When asked whether parliamentary ratification of the rest of the package could help things to get easier for Turkey, Mr Lagendijk replied no and continued: Those would be the same sort of reforms that we have seen. They are all important but the point is that these are not issues that concern EU citizens or politicians.

Please adopt the package, that's fine, but at the same time come up with ideas for resolving key issues; I'm desperately making this plea here, he added.

[08] Member of the Senate of the Belgian Federal Parliament argues that the two communities on the Island cannot live together

In statements to KIBRIS Mrs Pehlivan said, inter alia, the following: There is a reality which exists and this is that there are two communities living on the Island. Returning again to a mixed situation is not possible. So, we must look forward, to the future.

Mrs Pehlivan expressed also the opinion that the Cyprus problem can be solved only within the framework of the Annan Plan. She noted that after the 2004 referendum, there was a change in the way of how the Turkish Cypriots are seen in the Belgian Parliament. She added that it has been understood that the ball is now in the Greek Cypriots´ court.

(I/Ts.)

[09] KIBRIS writes about forty families of settlers who live under terrible conditions in occupied Mia Milia village

The paper writes that one of the forty families is TRNC citizen. In addition, it was found out that six more families live in sheepfolds at the occupied Mantres village.

According to KIBRIS, the families who came from Turkey looking for job, food and a better future in the occupied areas, live under terrible conditions having no electricity, no running water, no toilets and similar basic needs. The paper writes that the self-styled Lefkosia District Office is continuing its efforts to secure that these families, which can legally stay in TRNC, will continue their lives under normal living conditions

According to KIBRIS, around 300 people live now in the occupied Mia Milia village.

(C/S)

[10] The 5th International Beach Handball Tournament is to take place in occupied Cyprus

The tournament is scheduled to take place between 19-21 of July, within the framework of the anniversary celebrations on the occasion of the 20th July 1974, Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus.

(M/L)

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS

[11] Strategic Vision with United States being implemented

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in the same week that she signed the "Strategic Vision Document" with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, has sent Deputy Assistant Secretary Matt Bryza to Turkey. Bryza had talks in Ankara yesterday in the context of the document. The contacts involved a great many different topics, ranging from energy to Cyprus and from the PKK to Iraq, Iran, and the Palestine-Israel crisis.

Bryza is getting two birds with one stone. For one thing, he will take part in the official inauguration of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) petroleum pipeline, in the realization of which he was personally involved. (Bryza, in the early years of his career, before working in the National Security Council and the White House, had served as the assistant to US President Clinton's Caspian Energy Basin coordinators Richard Morningstar and John Wolf.) Additionally, exploiting the opportunity of this ceremony, he conducted talks, and is continuing to do so.

Included among his contacts yesterday were Energy Minister Hilmi Guler, Turkey's Iraq Coordinator Ambassador Oguz Celikkol, Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan, who will shortly become the Undersecretary of the Foreign Minister (and is probably one of the world's most knowledgeable experts on the Cyprus problem), Deputy Undersecretary responsible for Middle East political matters Ambassador Ahmet Uzumcu, Deputy Undersecretary in charge of security affairs Ambassador Rafet Akgunay, and Ambassador Hayati Guven, the chief of the Foreign Ministry's intelligence section.

Bryza reportedly asked for these appointments while Gul was still in Washington.

Well, before even a week has passed, what are the new developments in these issues, which were already discussed between Gul and Rice? Is Bryza conveying a certain message on a given topic?

According to the Foreign Ministry, there is no such message. More frequent visits are useful, but there is no special message on this visit.

There is none according to Bryza as well. In our conversation yesterday, he said "I will be here every two or three months from now on within the framework of the document." Turkish diplomats are also expected to be in Washington with the same frequency.

The things that Bryza said were as follows:

"The vision document showed that the relationship is getting stronger over a broad spectrum, and summed up in one place the relations at the day-to-day working level. Now, mechanisms will be established in four areas, as written in the document. These include the intensification of inter-parliamentary relations, structural cooperation, and policy planning.

"Energy is one of our basic areas of cooperation. Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan is a success. We support the further strengthening of the East-West [energy] Corridor. We support the transport of Azerbaijani natural gas to Greece and Italy via the Shahdeniz project. The North-South Line is also important. The Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline, for instance, should serve multilateral interests. We want competition, not enmity, in cooperation with Russia.

"In Iraq, we share the same approach as Turkey in terms of the country's integrity, and on Kirkuk. On the PKK issue, there are things we are doing together not just in Europe, but in Iraq as well. There could be developments in this regard in the coming months.

"The problem we had regarding ties with HAMAS [Islamic Resistance Movement] has been overcome. The most recent visit that Ahmet Davutoglu made to Damascus was not done in coordination with us, but Prime Minister [Recep] Tayyip Erdogn spoke with President George Bush and we think that the results were positive. It was an initiative that strengthened the message of the international community in the Israel-Palestine issue.

"We share the same approach regarding Iran as well. We are looking together for a way out. We know that Turkey, with its secular structure, has a unique characteristic in the region.

"We are aware of the political difficulties and obstacles in the Cyprus issue. Turkey has to fulfill its commitments to the European Union. Including opening its ports. When can Turkey do this? The EU and Turkey can decide on this together. I hope that, within the framework of the current political realities in Turkey, the EU as well will be helpful to Turkey in speeding up this decision. New formulas could be generated."

Let us now look between the lines. What comes to the fore on Bryza's agenda in Turkey is energy and new efforts on Cyprus. On the energy issue, Russia's gas projects, particularly in connection with Israel, are causing a certain unease in the United States. Bryza, following the BTC ceremony, will go first to Cyprus and from there to Greece. His agenda in Greece as well is energy and Cyprus. Just as the Samsun-Ceyhan line is being discussed in Turkey, there the Burgaz-Aleksandropolis (Dedeagac) line is being discussed.

Those who seek to understand, or to explain, Turkey's relations with the United States and the EU without taking the energy dimension into account are unable to see the full picture.

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