Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 12-01-18

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

[01] Erdogan says they will carry on Rauf Denktas struggle with the same determination

[02] Many Turkish and foreign guests participated in Denktas funeral

[03] Ozersay argues that the sides should enter into a real give and take at Greentree

[04] Unverdi due to Ankara

[05] Davutoglu to deliver a speech in Brussels to mark Turkey's 60 years in NATO

[06] Turkish court rejects Basbugs demand for top court trial

[07] Turkish court sentences suspect in Hrant Dink murder to life imprisonment

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

The funeral of the former Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktas, as well as Istanbul court ruling on the case of murdered Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, is the main issues covered today by the Turkish dailies. Hurriyet covers the funeral of Denktas in its front page under the title Farewell to a hero and reports that a crowded delegation of Turkish officials, including President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as well as other government members, participated in the ceremony.

[01] Erdogan says they will carry on Rauf Denktas struggle with the same determination

Kibris writes that a historic day was experienced yesterday in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus and argues that the messages of Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan marked the day.

In his message in the book of condolences opened at the presidential palace, Gul said Denktas death was a great loss for the entire Turkish world and added that the biggest heritage that a life dedicated to the just cause of the TRNC people leaves behind is undoubtedly the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Gul argued: By defending this invaluable heritage, the Turkish Cypriot people will lead their struggle for the establishment of just and lasting peace on the island to a successful end and keep his dear memory alive forever.

Expressing his feelings in the same book, Prime Minister Erdogan alleged that Denktas dedicated his whole life to the establishment of peace and stability in Cyprus and added that when it was necessary Denktas led the struggle of independence of the Turkish Cypriot people and when it was necessary he fearlessly defended the rights of his people for peace, dialogue and reconciliation. He noted: The death of late Denktas is undoubtedly a painful loss for Turkey as much it is for the TRNC people. However, the struggle launched and carried out with courage by late Denktas in Cyprus will be become struggle of the citizens of the TRNC and Turkey with the same sincerity and will be carried on with the same determination.

The paper writes that Gul and Erdogan departed early from the occupied area of Cyprus right after the noon prayer and the funeral prayer and did not participate in the funeral at the Republics Park.

According to Kibris, for the first time the municipality of the occupied part of Lefkosia offered hot soup to the public with soup fountains it had established.

The paper also writes that respect was expressed yesterday at the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) to Rauf Denktas. Addressing the TGNA, Bulent Arinc, vice president of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) argued that Denktas dedicated his whole life to the struggle of his people for freedom and equality and described him as symbol of struggling and being a man for a cause.

Kibris reports that a message for Denktas death was also issued by former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, who described Denktas as great value and leader of the Turkish Cypriots. He noted that even during the periods he was opposing Denktas in the hardest manner, he has always been criticizing him at his face and never talked behind his back. Therefore, he always said he trusted me, added Talat.

Moreover, Turkish Cypriot daily Haberdar (18.01.12) reports that Italian Senator Paolo Pietro Amato was among those who expressed their condolences in the book opened at the breakaway regimes representation office in Rome. Amato, who had been granted the citizenship of the breakaway regime, said that Denktas was an important player not only for Cyprus but for international politics as well. He argued that the TRNC is his valuable heritage.

(I/Ts.)

[02] Many Turkish and foreign guests participated in Denktas funeral

Except for President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan, the following Turkish officials attended the funeral: Speaker of the Grand National Assembly, Cemil Cicek, Chief of the General Staff, General Necdet Ozel, Commander of the Land Forces, General Hayiri Kivrikoglu, chairman of the Republican Peoples Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, former chairman of the CHP, Deniz Baykal, spouse of former Prime Minister Ecevit, Rahsan Ecevit, chairman of the Democratic Party (DP), Namik Kemal Zeybek, chairman of the Nationalist Action Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli, chairman of the Great Unity Party (BBP), Mustafa Destici, chairman of the Felicity Party (SP), Mustafa Kamalak and chairman of the Independent Turkey Party (BTP), Zeki Garacoglu.

Prime Minister Erdogan was accompanied by Deputy Prime Ministers Besir Atalay and Bekir Bozdag, the Minister of Family and Social Policies, Fatma Sahin, European Union Minister and Chief Negotiator, Egemen Bagis, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmet Davutoglu, Minister of Finance, Mehmet Simsek, Minister of National Defense, Ismet Yilmaz, deputy chairman of Justice and Development Party (AKP) Omer Celik and the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Mevlut Cavusoglu.

According to the paper, the foreigners who attended the funeral were the following: General Secretary of the Organization of Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the President of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Hadi Nezir, the President of Azerbaijan, Nazim Ibrahimov, the mufti of Xanthi Ahmet Mete, Pakistans Ambassador to Ankara, Haroon Sehkuat, Afghanistans Deputy Minister of Education, Muhammed Patman, Qatars State Minister responsible for Foreign Affairs Abdullah Al Jaber, Bulgarian MPs Remzi Osman and Rusen Riza Necmi Ali, as well as Kosovos MPs Eniz Kervan, Muferra Sinik and Rifat Krisnic.

Moreover, Turkish Cypriot daily Haberdar (18.01.12) reports that Chief Rabbi of Turkeys Jewish Community Isak Haleva and the chairman of Turkish Jewish Community Sami Herman also attended the funeral.

Finally, Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen (18.01.12) reports that no Greek Cypriot politician attended the funeral. The paper writes that only former President Glafkos Clerides and the MP of the Maronites Antonis Mavrantonis sent a wreath.

(I/Ts.)

[03] Ozersay argues that the sides should enter into a real give and take at Greentree

Ozersay argued that prior to the Greentree summit both sides know what the other side could accept on specific issues and added: This food has been cooked well enough. What will be done from now on should be to enter into a give a take in a real sense at the Greentree meeting.

He said that after the first summit at Greentree many meetings have been held and added that during these negotiations the issues of property, the election of the federal government and the international agreements which could be made by the constituent states were discussed. He further noted that some debates were also made with UN officials on the issue of the citizenship.

Ozersay argued that even though not much progress was achieved at the talks held after the first Greentree summit, the preparation which was made could constitute the ground of a give and take during the summit to be held between 22 and 24 January, 2012 at Greentree.

Ozersay said the fact that both sides submitted a document to the UN, which could constitute the basis of a give and take, and some other developments indicate that the procedure has come to a critical point. He recalled that before the Annan Plan the UN had also asked the sides to submit similar documents.

Noting that it is possible for the process to collapse, Ozersay alleged that President Christofias does not want to use the word give and take because he sees the give and take process as a point of giving concessions. Referring to the accusation against the Turkish Cypriot side that it carries out the negotiations upon Turkeys directions, Ozersay argued that the Turkish Cypriots are those carrying out the negotiating process in all six chapters except for the security, the international dimensions of the guarantees, the withdrawal of army and its details. We take no ones permission, he alleged.

(I/Ts.)

[04] Unverdi due to Ankara

According to a press release by the self-styled ministry, Unverdi will meet with Turkish Deputy Prime Minister responsible for Cyprus Besir Atalay, Turkish Minister of Labour and Social Security Faruk Celik and Turkish Minister of Family and Social Policy Fatma Sahin.

[05] Davutoglu to deliver a speech in Brussels to mark Turkey's 60 years in NATO

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that Davutoglu will meet with the Secretary General of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen and discuss issues on NATO's agenda.

Davutoglu is also expected to meet with the new Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders, in Brussels.

[06] Turkish court rejects Basbugs demand for top court trial

Basbug, military chief of staff from 2008 to 2010, was sent to a high-security prison outside Istanbul on January 6, after a court ordered him remanded in custody while prosecutors complete their investigation and prepare formal charges.

The court also rejected a request by Basbug's lawyer for him to be tried in the Supreme Court. Other broadcasters carried similar reports and said the court committee had reached its decisions unanimously.

His lawyer was not immediately available for comment.

Basbug is the most senior officer to be caught up in court cases involving accusations of plots against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's Government. He has denied the charges, which include forming and leading a "terrorist organization".

Military chiefs were once regarded as the most powerful men in Turkey after decades of coups before Erdogan's Government took charge in 2002 and reduced the influence of the generals.

The case against Basbug, linked to an alleged ultra-nationalist network called "Ergenekon", centres on websites that spread propaganda against Erdogan's Government that the military was accused of running until 2008.

During questioning, Basbug had told prosecutors and the court that the websites at the centre of the case were created by the previous head of the armed forces, namely General Yasar Buyukanit who was in charge between 2006 and 2008. "I should actually be thanked because I was the person who closed them down when I took up the post," Basbug is reported as saying in his statement to prosecutors.

Media reports at the weekend said prosecutors had begun to analyze evidence connected with other individuals in connection with the case, including General Buyukanit.

[07] Turkish court sentences suspect in Hrant Dink murder to life imprisonment

The Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court issued its ruling in the 25th hearing of the case. Both Hayal and Tuncel were cleared of charges of membership in a terrorist organization. Tuncel was given 10 years, six months for his role in a McDonalds bombing in 2004.

Dink family's lawyer, Fethiye Cetin, slammed the ruling, saying it meant that a "state tradition of political murders" was deliberately left intact because it did not deal with accusations of state involvement in the 2007 murder. "They made fun of us throughout the five-year trial process. We did not know they saved the biggest joke to the very end," she told reporters soon after the verdict was read out. "This ruling means a tradition was left untouched. The state tradition of political murders. The tradition of state discriminating against some of its citizens and turning them into enemies," she said.

Cetin also vowed to pursue all available legal remedies against the ruling, asserting that the verdict marked the end of only an initial phase of the case, which consisted of the trial of hit men in the murder.

The late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, Dink was shot dead on January 19, 2007 by an ultranationalist teenager outside the offices of his newspaper in Istanbul in broad daylight. The investigation into his murder has stalled; the suspected perpetrator and his accomplices were put on trial, but those who masterminded the plot to kill him have yet to be exposed and punished.

A group called Hrant's Friends, who hold demonstrations before each trial demanding justice, also held a demonstration in front of the courthouse on Tuesday. Hundreds of people held placards that read "This case won't end this way" outside the courthouse in Istanbul.

The prosecutor had demanded life imprisonment for seven men accused of involvement in the killing of Dink. "It's been five years. All the evidence clearly shows we can't be satisfied with the punishment of two or three people who committed the murder. Those who pointed to Dink, who said, 'Kill him,' who waited for him to be killed are all about to come out of this clean," Hrant's Friends said in a statement on Monday. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION http://www.moi.gov.cy/pio

/EG

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