Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 11-05-10

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

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT PRESS

[01] Eroglu alleged that the Greek Cypriots try to reduce the status of the Turkish Cypriots to a minority

[02] Cakici threatens to complain to every international institution if "citizenships" are given

[03] Reactions against Imam Hatip schools

[04] The population census in the occupied area will be conducted by the end of this year

[05] "From military fascism to Islamic fascism"

[06] "Kyprianou and Ozgurgun in Istanbul!"

[07] Flights between Baku ? illegal Tymvou airport to begin

[08] Destruction of the cultural heritage in the occupied area of Cyprus

[B] TURKISH PRESS

[09] "The last bend at the Cyprus negotiations"

[10] The UN Secretary-General's contacts in Turkey; He discussed the Cyprus problem with Erdogan, Gul and Davutoglu

[11] Barosso met with Erdogan and Gul; The Cyprus problem and Turkey's EU bid among the matters of discussion

[12] Turkey to hand over the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers to Ukraine

[13] Turkey to become member of CERN on December

[14] Erdogan to attend the inauguration ceremony of a modernized border gate between Turkey and Georgia

[15] A Turkish energy company to build the biggest power plant in Iraq

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT PRESS

[01] Eroglu alleged that the Greek Cypriots try to reduce the status of the Turkish Cypriots to a minority

Eroglu added that the Greek Cypriot side neither perceives them as a separate "state", nor as a separate "people".

Touching upon the Cyprus issue, Eroglu said that the Turkish Cypriots gained statehood and independence as a result of the "1974 Turkish peace operation" and expressed gratitude to the Turkish Armed Forces.

Noting that the goal was to achieve a lasting and sustainable settlement which will protect the rights of the Turkish Cypriots as well as of "motherland" Turkey, Eroglu stressed that a solution in Cyprus should be reached by deriving lessons from the past and acknowledging existing realities on the island. "Time will show us whether this is possible or not" he added.

Reminding that the Greek Cypriot side, to this day, had rejected all solution plans put on the negotiating table, Eroglu said the Greek Cypriot side, which had rejected the UN-sponsored Annan Plan in 2004 had higher expectations today.

Also touching upon bilateral relations with "motherland" Turkey, he emphasized that the Turkish Cypriots have always protected their Turkish identity.

[02] Cakici threatens to complain to every international institution if "citizenships" are given

Cakici referring to Halil Ibrahim Akca, so-called ambassador of Turkey in occupied Lefkosia, said that Akca has to implement the principle that relations with Turkey should take place at a "state" level and within respect. He also said that he or his party do not wish to clash with anyone, but if Akca continues to behave like a governor they will not fall back on their duties.

Furthermore, Cakici criticized the Religious Affairs chairman Talip Atalay's statement that a Religious Vocational School will open in Cyprus, saying that he does not have the authority to make such statements. Cakici argued that the "prime minister" should announce such decisions and that everyone should know his place.

[03] Reactions against Imam Hatip schools

The education trade unions' officials said that they don't need any imam (prayer leader), mosque or "religious officer" in the occupied area, adding that they are trying to impose on the Turkish Cypriots "imported meanings".

Tahir Gokcebel, chairman of the Cyprus Turkish Secondary Education Teachers' Union (KTOEOS), said that there is an effort to break off the Turkish Cypriots from their culture, adding that Atalay's statements show exactly this.

Sener Elcil, general secretary of the Cyprus Turkish Teachers' Union (KTOS), said that there is need for schools, teachers and infrastructure in the education field at the occupied area, and not mosques or imams, adding that these statements are a product of a mentality that tries to transform the retrograde religious centres into a political game.

On the same issue, Turkish Cypriot daily Gunes (10.05.11) reports that self-styled prime minister Irsen Kucuk, speaking at the so-called assembly, said that the announcement by the self-styled religious officer for establishing Imam Hatip schools in the occupied area is only his view, adding that the establishment of Imam Hatip secondary schools is not in the agenda.

[04] The population census in the occupied area will be conducted by the end of this year

On the same issue, Turkish Cypriot daily Vatan (10.05.11) reports that Sonay Adem, self-styled deputy of the Republican Turkish Party ? United Forces (CTP-BG), speaking also at the so-called assembly, said that the statements by Halil Ibrahim Akca, self-styled ambassador of Turkey to the occupied area regarding the population, only strengthen Cyprus President Christofias' position.

Noting that Akca's statements upset him, Adem said that "an ambassador of another country cannot make evaluations for the citizens of another country".

Noting that the so-called prime minister announced that 160.000 persons with their families have the right of becoming "citizens" of the breakaway regime, Adem said that if they also take into consideration the statements of some other so-called ministers, then this number will overpass 200.000. So, he added within the framework of these all, the population census should be immediately conducted under the supervision of the United Nations.

[05] "From military fascism to Islamic fascism"

"Around 70 journalists have been thrown into jail and about two thousand journalists are being prosecuted in Turkey, which has passed from military fascism to the Shari'a [Tr. Note: Muslim law] fascism. According to the fascistic laws, a person could remain under custody for five years in Turkey without being sentenced. That is, it is such a law that gives the right to the government to put into jail whomever it wishes?

Actually, the regime in Turkey is much worse than the Gaddafi regime, the Assad regime and the overturned Mubarak regime?And what is the most funny of all? Erdogan tries to give a democracy lesson to the others. He lectured Gaddafi. He lectured Assad too. Who will lecture you sir? ?

We in Cyprus are also under the rule of Turkey's fascistic AKP administration. Military fascism existed before. Now Islamic fascism exists. There are some here who supported these. Our nationalists were in favor of the military fascism. Our leftists were in favor of the Islamic fascism. They complain about the mosques, the complexes of buildings adjacent to the mosques, the imams etc, but they behave as if it is not the Erdogan government the one who does all these. Read our writers who are known as leftists. You will see that everybody is fan of Erdogan. Very well, was not Erdogan the one who turned our Caglayan Park into Ankara Caglayan Park? Who exerted pressures for complexes of buildings adjacent to mosques, for the mosque at Thermia village, for the Koran lessons and now for religious vocational schools and theological faculty? Or who sends us this population? Are the devils and not Erdogan the one who does this? How could you complain about the population and be a fan of Erdogan? If you ask them they will tell you that 'he improved Turkey's economy'. Let us ask the following then: Did Hitler not developed Germany? Did he not turn it into the number one country in Europe? Did he not been elected with the people's vote, like Erdogan? Would you be fan of Hitler, you servants, if you lived in Hitler's period?"

(I/Ts.)

[06] "Kyprianou and Ozgurgun in Istanbul!"

[07] Flights between Baku ? illegal Tymvou airport to begin

The paper also reports that an agreement was signed for the Baku ? illegal Tymvou airport, between Tailwind Airlines and Northern Travel, with the second buying 30 thousand seats. Also, another agreement was signed between the two companies and the "TRNC tourism, environment and culture ministry" within the scope of the flight encouragement protocol. According to this, 70% of the economic stimulus will be paid by the Turkish Aid Delegation and 30% by the Tourism Fund.

[08] Destruction of the cultural heritage in the occupied area of Cyprus

According to an announcement by the "development and public works department" of the illegal municipality, the church will be named, "Dogankoy [occupied Thermia] Cultural and Arts House", and both Christian "citizens" and tourists will be able to have their marriage ceremonies there. So-called officials of the "municipality" have said that they already begun accepting marriage applications and voiced the hope that such applications will be increased through time.

The paper goes on and reports that a few days after the completion of the church's restoration, works for the construction of a mosque of 500-people-capacity, near to the church, have began. It is also noted that during the excavations some of the graves were destroyed. Moreover, it is added that the vehicles that were going there for excavation works, demolished partly the fencing wall that it was repaired during the restoration works of the church.

Speaking to the paper, Suleyman Inandim, member of the "village council", said that the land that they want to build the mosque belongs to Evkaf Religious Foundation. He, inter alia, added that they are not against the construction of a mosque in the village, but he disagrees with the choice of the specific area. As he noted, firstly, the area is beside the church and secondly, is near to tourist complexes.

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot daily Haberdar (10.05.11) reports that the Saint Panteleimon's monastery in occupied Myrtou, the aquaduct that is situated between occupied Myrtou and Karpasha villages and the architectural remains of the ancient open-air Temple of Pigades in Myrtou are being destroyed. According to the paper, the above-mentioned historical monuments lack of care, cleanliness and restoration.

Particularly, the Pigades Temple, just like other historical monuments, "has been left to its own fate", by lacking of the appropriate care and restoration. As it is noted, the area has been covered with very tall wild weeds. In addition, according to the paper, the monastery of Saint Panteleimon is being ruined due to negligence and it seems ready to be collapsed at any moment. Furthermore, the aquaduct situated between occupied Myrtou and Karpasha villages is facing the same problems due to carelessness.

As it is reported, these historical monuments need to be set under protection and as it is added, the protection and the restoration of such monuments will help the sector of tourism in the occupied area of Cyprus.

[B] TURKISH PRESS

[09] "The last bend at the Cyprus negotiations"

"The end of the road comes in the solution negotiations which continue in Cyprus since 2008. After June, a give and take process will start and a five-party conference, which will put an end to the problem, is being targeted for December.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will declare the final date of the process, after the elections to be held in Turkey on 12 June, by inviting the Cypriot leaders to a meeting in New York. The Secretary-General anticipates ending the Cyprus solution process in December this year.

According to information obtained by NTVMSNBC from Turkish, Greek and United Nations sources, at the three party meeting in June, the Secretary ? General will ask from the leaders to start a give and take that will last 12 weeks. During the give and take process, the sides will conduct harsh bargaining on all the issues which constitute the Cyprus problem, and mainly the territory. A new map will come up in the end of the bargaining, which will be focused on the territory.

After the give and take process, which will last until autumn, the Secretary-General will invite the leaders to a three-party meeting again and announce his proposal for a five-party conference which provides for all parties coming together here. In case this is not accepted, he will submit some alternatives.

Accordingly:

1) The Secretary-General will propose a five-party conference in December for finding a final solution to the problem with the participation of the guarantor powers Turkey, Greece and Britain, in parallel to the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot side. The European Union will also be invited as an observer on technical issues to the five-party conference which will be held in a format determined by the Secretary-General himself.

2) Mainly the issue of security and guarantees as well as the new map, which will be arranging the sharing of the territory in Cyprus, will be approved at the five-party conference.

3) The Secretary-General, who knows that the Greek Cypriots are not positive for a five-party conference, will announce that he will end his good offices mission which he has undertaken on the solution of the Cyprus problem, in case his proposal for holding a conference is not accepted. The Secretary-General will say that 'personally I am ending my mission', noting that he sees no use in the continuation of the process.

4) As an alternative on the issue of withdrawing from the process, the Secretary-General will introduce Australian diplomat Alexander Downer, who is carrying out the negotiations. Ban Ki-moon will officially end the solution process by announcing that the process was unsuccessful, that Downer's mediation mission ended and that he withdrew from the negotiations.

By convening a five-party conference in which observers will also participate, the Secretary-General wants a meeting, in which all parties will take place, like it happened in Switzerland's city of Burgenstock during the Annan Plan period. The target here is to put an end to the problem and to submit the solution to the approval of the two peoples through a referendum. In case this does not happen, the United Nations are determined to end its mission which continues since 1968.

The Secretary-General will adopt a model which is not related with the Security Council, because he is well aware of the close relations of the Greek Cypriots with Russia, China and France, which are Permanent Members of the Security Council.

Subtitle: Last date the beginning of 2012

It is noted that in front of the possibility of the give and take process to prolong, the Secretary-General could extend for the first months of 2012 the date of the five-party conference which he determined in December 2011, but he would not show further flexibility.

It is noted that the Secretary?General will bring onto the agenda his proposal for a five-party conference with his report on Cyprus and he will submit it to the approval of the Security Council. It is said that at this point the Greek Cypriot "administration" will undertake initiatives to prevent the conference by using its close relations with Russia, China and France, which are Permanent Members of the Security Council, and that it has already launched backstage activities on this issue".

(I/Ts.)

[10] The UN Secretary-General's contacts in Turkey; He discussed the Cyprus problem with Erdogan, Gul and Davutoglu

Latest developments in Afghanistan, the Middle East and the Balkans, Turkey's contribution to regional development, the Nabucco project, neighbouring policies and Turkey-EU relations were on the agenda of Gul's talks with Ban.

On the sidelines of the gathering, the UN Secretary General met also on Monday with the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan with whom he discussed the Cyprus issue, said Turkish diplomatic sources.

Erdogan and Ban also exchanged views on the latest developments in Libya and Syria as well as on other regional and international issues, sources said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met the UN head as well. Turkey-UN relations, the situation in Libya, the Cyprus issue and Palestine were discussed during Davutoglu's meeting with the UN Secretary General.

Davutoglu and Mr Ban also discussed to keep momentum on the Cyprus talks between the Turkish Cypriot and the Greek Cypriot leaders. Mr Ban conveyed that a trilateral meeting under the shield of the U.N. head is set for June.

[11] Barosso met with Erdogan and Gul; The Cyprus problem and Turkey's EU bid among the matters of discussion

Erdogan promised Barroso he will accelerate the country's EU accession negotiations after the June 12 elections.

Speaking on the sidelines of the LDC-IV, Erdogan also said he will visit Brussels to hold talks on the issue.

The Turkish Prime Minister and the head of the European Commission have agreed to ramp up long-stalled EU accession talks following Turkey's June 12 general election.

Jose Manuel Barroso told Erdogan that they want to "immediately boost" negotiations for Turkey's membership in the EU after the election, the Hurriyet Daily News has learned.

In the meeting, Barroso also told Erdogan that the European Union was following the Prime Minister's remarks in his election rallies. "We appreciate that you give importance to Turkey's relations with the EU," Barroso told Erdogan.

The European official also asked the Prime Minister about the preparation of Turkey's new constitution and said the Commission is waiting to hear about the steps in the process.

Erdogan responded positively to Barroso's proposal to accelerate the EU membership process and said he wanted to visit Brussels after the June polls, a trip he has postponed due to his election campaign. The Cyprus problem and the Nabucco pipeline project were also discussed at the meeting on Monday.

The slowdown in Turkey's EU membership negotiations was also on the agenda of Turkish President Abdullah Gul during his meeting with Barroso on Monday. Diplomatic sources said Gul criticized the vacillation of some EU countries over Turkey's accession. "There are private opinions" among some members of the 27-nation bloc that negatively affect Turkey's relations with the European Union", Gul said.

[12] Turkey to hand over the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers to Ukraine

A statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Turkey would hand over the chairmanship to Ukraine at a ceremony to be held on the sidelines of the 121st Ministerial Session of the Council of Europe that is set to take place at Ciragan Palace Hotel in Istanbul on May 10-11, 2011.

Turkey assumed the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on November 10, 2010.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will host the ministerial meeting to be attended by Foreign Ministers of 47 member and 5 observer states of the Council of Europe.

At the end of the meeting, the "Istanbul Declaration" on the future of the organization and the role of the Council of Europe in maintaining the democratic stability in Europe as well as the principles, binding commitments and efficient monitoring mechanisms it has been representing in this regard, is to be adopted.

In the margin of the ministerial meeting, the ceremony for the signature of the "Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence" will take place at Ciragan Palace.

[13] Turkey to become member of CERN on December

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, approved applications of five countries including Turkey to become full members in December.

The facility will contribute to research in areas such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, laser, health, communications, security, environment and genetics. The long-term goal of the project is to set up three more facilities to create the Turkish Facilitator Centre.

CERN said in a written statement last year that the delegates adopted the launching of candidacy processes for Turkey, the Republic of Cyprus, Israel, Serbia and Slovenia.

All candidate countries are foreseen to become full members of CERN after concluding formal talks that would last for three years.

CERN, the world's largest particle physics laboratory, was established by 12 European states in 1954 and currently has 20 members. It is the workplace of approximately 2.600 full-time employees, as well as some 7.931 scientists and engineers representing 580 universities and research facilities and 80 nationalities.

[14] Erdogan to attend the inauguration ceremony of a modernized border gate between Turkey and Georgia

In his statements on Monday during a meeting he held with his Georgian counterpart within the scope of the 4th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV) in Istanbul, Erdogan stated that he would participate in the inauguration ceremony which would take place in the Georgian part of the border on May 31 to inaugurate Sarp Border Gate.

Erdogan also expressed pleasure over the release of 13 Turkish citizens who had been kept in prisons in Georgia due to various crimes they committed.

The two Premiers also discussed the mutual restoration of cultural assets.

[15] A Turkish energy company to build the biggest power plant in Iraq

The foundation of the biggest natural gas combined cycle power plant of Iraq was laid by a ceremony on Sunday. Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Husayn Ibrahim Salih al-Shahristani attended the ceremony.

"There is a serious electricity shortage in Iraq, and we will be in an intensive effort to increase our electricity generating capacity," al-Shahristani said.

Al-Shahristani said Iraq and Calik Holding had agreed on two power projects, and the Al-Khairat natural gas combined cycle power plant, would start generating electricity by the summer of 2012.

Also speaking in the ceremony, Calik Holding's Executive Board President Ahmet Calik said they would also construct another natural gas combined cycle power plant near Mosul. Calik said the two power plants would meet a great deal of the electricity need of Iraq.

To be built near Karbala, Al-Khairat natural gas combined cycle power plant will cost 445.5 million USD, and will have 10 gas turbines. The power plant with an installed capacity of 1.240 MW will be put into operation two years later and increase Iraq's power generating capacity 20%.

The second natural gas combined cycle power plant of Iraq will be constructed in Nainawa, south of Mosul. The 750 MW power plant will cost about 388.5 million USD and is expected to be completed in 20 months.

The two power plants will employ about 2.000 people.

Moreover, GAP Construction, one of the subsidiaries of Calik Holding, will carry out a 195 million USD project comprising the rehabilitation of a 19-kilometer expressway between Baghdad International Airport and the city centre as well as landscaping works on a plot with a total area of 1.6 million square meters. Thus, the Calik Holding has undertaken three projects in Iraq worth 1.027 billion USD. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION http://www.moi.gov.cy/pio

EG/

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