Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 13-02-18

Cyprus Press and Information Office: Turkish Cypriot Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Threats by Eroglu on the issue of natural gas and oil; Reference to the presidential elections

[02] Eroglu argues that they should watch out for Anastasiades

[03] How the Turkish Cypriot and Turkish press cover the first round of the presidential elections in the Republic of Cyprus

[04] Ozgurgun claims that nothing will change after Cyprus' presidential elections

[05] Patriarch Bartholomeos's interview to Milliyet

[06] Turkish Energy Minister says that political issues an obstacle between Turkey-Israel energy cooperation

[07] Shell's director: "Company abstain from exploring in conflict regions"

[08] Analysis in Turkish paper supports that Black Sea deal unlikely to solve energy import woes in Turkey

[09] Turkish ministers to illegally visit occupied Cyprus

[10] Davutoglu: "No power can break us off Europe"

[11] Turkey's first locally built research ship at sea

[12] The breakaway regime to participate in the International Tourism Exchange Fair in the in Milan

[13] A new luxury hotel of Merit Group to be built in occupied Keryneia

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Threats by Eroglu on the issue of natural gas and oil; Reference to the presidential elections

Eroglu evaluated also the presidential elections in the Republic of Cyprus noting that the most powerful candidate is the chairman of the Democratic Rally Party (DISY), Nikos Anastasiades. Eroglu alleged that the Turkish side wishes a "viable and lasting agreement", which "will emerge taking into consideration the existing realities".

Eroglu claimed that Anastasiades is no different than the previous Greek Cypriot leaders on the Cyprus problem and argued that now Anastasiades is strongly against the Annan Plan, in spite of the fact that that he had been on the side of those who were supporting the "yes" vote to the plan. Noting that Anastasiades said he is against Turkey's guarantees and he will not accept the existence of the illegal Turkish settlers in the occupied area of Cyprus, Eroglu added:

"Anastasiades says he is against Turkey's guarantees and he will not accept the existence of our brothers who have come from Turkey and became our citizens. It is seen that he will not be following a very conciliatory stance at the negotiating table. He shows that he is annoyed from Turkey's guarantees, and complains of the permanent existence of our citizens who had come from Turkey. It is not possible for us to accept these. We are waiting saying God willing he will come to the negotiating table after the elections. I will make an evaluation of the situation taking into consideration the proposals he will bring to the table".

Eroglu referred also to Turkey's EU accession course and described as an "unfair behavior" the fact that the Cyprus problem constitutes an obstacle in Turkey's negotiations with the EU. "If there is a problem today in Cyprus, the Greek Cypriot side is responsible for this", he alleged referring to a scenario to delay Turkey at the door of the EU.

(I/Ts.)

[02] Eroglu argues that they should watch out for Anastasiades

Noting that "Anastasiades will be a difficult leader", Eroglu claimed that "it is not enough if only we are optimistic for the solution, the important thing is for the other side also to be optimistic".

Eroglu said that instead of receiving Anastasiades with great hope they should receive him with "reservation and accordingly to be cautious at the negotiating table". Eroglu recalled that Anastasiades' DISY party is in coalition with DIKO, "the party of 'Mr No' Tassos Papadopoulos", as he argued. He noted that he had met three times with the leader of DISY in the past and that the DISY chairman had given him "mature messages", but his party "had been established by former EOKA members" and "it would be naivety to expect that he will follow a flexible policy".

Eroglu alleged that Anastasiades has some "hardline views", such as that Turkey should recognize the Republic of Cyprus, that the fenced city of Varosha should be returned to its legal owners and that Turkey's guarantees should be lifted. Eroglu reiterated the Turkish view that Varosha is a part of the comprehensive solution and added that the Turkish side had proposed its opening based on some preconditions, but the Greek Cypriot side rejected their proposal.

Eroglu argued that it would be difficult to reach an agreement, if Anastasiades keeps his promises that he will not accept time limit and arbitration in the negotiations and try to get rid of Turkey's guarantees. "Things which should not be said, might be said due to the enthusiasm of the elections. We should sit at the table by putting these aside", he added.

(I/Ts.)

[03] How the Turkish Cypriot and Turkish press cover the first round of the presidential elections in the Republic of Cyprus

Kibris: "The expected result" and "Anastasiades, who could not win in the first round, will compete with Malas in the second round".

Havadis: "The second round on 24 February". On its front page, the paper refers to the percentages secured by the three main candidates in the elections.

Star Kibris: "Fatal day for Cyprus". The paper uses this title referring to both the presidential elections in the Republic of Cyprus and the second round for the election of the leader of the National Unity Party (UBP), which will be held on the same day.

Haberdar: "Critical Sunday". The paper also refers to the two above-mentioned events that will happen on the same day.

Ortam: "Second round". The paper writes that the elections will significantly influence the Cyprus problem during the forthcoming period.

Vatan: "A second round came out of the ballot box". The paper publishes on its front page the percentages received by all eleven candidates and the pictures of the two candidates who will compete in the second round.

Volkan: "The second round on 24 February".

Kibrisli: "The neighbors remained to the second round". The paper refers also to UBP's congress, which it said, will prevail in the agenda in the occupied area of Cyprus.

Halkin Sesi: "They remained to the second round".

Afrika: "Anastasiades and Malas remained to the second round". The paper argues that "Anastasiades could not achieve the result he was hoping in the first round".

Gunes and Bakis do not refer to the elections.

Turkish press:

Hurriyet: "What has Merkel said to him". The paper publishes reportage by journalist Omer Bilge who writes that the Greek Cypriots who suffer from economic crisis went yesterday to elections. Bilge underlines that the leader of the main opposition party DISI Nikos Anastasiades who is also supported by the German Counsellor Angela Merkel, was the side who laugh first gaining 45.46% of the votes with Stavros Malas, who is backed by AKEL to come second with 27% and points out that country's policy is turning from the leftist to the rightist.

Zaman: "The election of the president at the Greek Cypriot side remained for the second round". Underlining that none of the candidates achieved to receive 50.01% in order to win the elections from the first round, the paper points out that for the first time in history, the Cyprus problem was not the priority issue during the election campaign of the candidates, and this, because of the economic crisis.

Cumhuriyet: "The election of the president in south Cyprus remained to be held in the second round"

Milliyet: "We should be careful with Anastasiades". The paper's correspondent in occupied Cyprus Sefa Karahasan publishes statements by the Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu who commented on yesterday's elections in the free areas of the Republic of Cyprus and said, inter alia, that it is not matter who will be the winner of the elections but what matters is the policy he would follow. However, Eroglu described Anastasiades to be a difficult leader if he would win the elections.

Radikal: "A call for 'unity' by Anastasiades". The paper writes that the two candidates who will run for the election of the president of the "Greek Cypriot administration" at the second round of the elections in February 24, made a calling for unity.

Sabah: "Again elections in south Cyprus"

Hurriyet Daily News (English): "Anastasiades, Malas to contest Greek Cyprus runoff: Results"

[04] Ozgurgun claims that nothing will change after Cyprus' presidential elections

Ozgurgun alleged that "it would be absurd to expect the EU not to use Cyprus issue as a barrier for Turkey's accession".

He went on and claimed that although DYSI Chairman Nikos Anastasiades was favored; the results were still expected to be clear in the second round, adding that the alliances at that round would be important.

Anastasiades's victory would not bring a positive result according to Ozgurgun who alleged that there were serious questions over how the talks on Cyprus problem would proceed.

He claimed that the EU uses small countries as a "leverage" and it was the reason Cyprus became a member.

On the natural gas agreements Cyprus made with Israeli and French companies, Ozgurgun alleged that "France wants to have a base in Cyprus via those agreements".

Regarding the water supply project, Ozgurgun said: "We would give water to Greek Cypriots as we gave electricity before." He said Greek Cypriots did not have an alternative water supply and added that breakaway regime would like such supply agreements with Greek Cypriot side would set a basis for resolution of the Cyprus problem.

[05] Patriarch Bartholomeos's interview to Milliyet

The Fener Rum Patriarch spoke to the Milliyet daily in an interview published on Sunday. Bartholomeos commented on developments regarding the Halki Seminary, which was established in 1844 on the island of Heybeliada [Xalki]. The seminary was closed in 1971 under a law that put religious and military training under state control. It was the only school where Turkey's Greek minority educated clergy. The theological school once trained generations of Greek Orthodox leaders, including Patriarch Bartholomew, who is one of its 900 graduates.

Civil society groups have long been arguing that it was closed unlawfully and that its reopening will require political will to bypass obstacles from anti-EU groups in Turkey, but steps in that direction have so far been slow.

Bartholomeos said: "We are very sorry about this. It is not easy to understand how a house of knowledge can remain shut for 42 years in a modern Turkey." He said the Patriarchate had been given false hopes many times about a possible re-opening of the school. "Recently, we read in the Hurriyet daily that a new commission was established, but we are learning about this from the media. There is no representative of the Patriarchate on this commission. It is as if we are not a party relevant to this issue."

He said of the Halki Seminary: "[Mustafa Kemal] Ataturk didn't shut it down, nor did [0
smet] 0
nunu or [Adnan] Menderes. It was shut down in 1971 [the year of the March 12 military coup] when there was a politically extraordinary situation in Ankara. And we have been given false hopes so many times since that day. We have been waiting for our school to reopen for 42 years. Where is our school? Where is our freedom of religion? Where is our freedom of education? Where are human rights? Where is [the Treaty of] Lausanne?" The Patriarch said that the Lausanne Treaty clearly states that non-Muslim minorities in Turkey can open schools providing religious education using their own funds. He also noted: "We don't want a new school; we just want our school to start operating again."

The patriarch also commented on preparations to open a new Greek School on Gokceada (Imbros), an island in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Canakkale province [Dardanelle]. The Ministry of Education last month gave permission to the Greek community of the island to open a primary school on Gokceada. He also said it was good news that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered Turkish citizenship to a number of archbishops in 2009, allowing all these individuals to participate in patriarchal elections. "We are grateful to our prime minister. But the other issues that I have talked about are wearing us out, saddening us. This is also creating an impression that we are second-class citizens. For example, ambassadors, foreign prime ministers and presidents come to visit [the Patriarchate] and they enquire about our situation. When we explain to them the facts, they find it hard to understand. I don't want to put Turkey down, I tell them the facts just like I am telling them now."

He also said that there was a time when the Foreign Ministry tried to block visits from foreign delegations to the Patriarchate.

Also, according to Turkish daily Milliyet (18.02.13) asked to reply to the question: "The Patriarchate plays a significant role to the Turkish-Greek ties. How this role will continue? For example what will happen in the Cyprus problem?", the Patriarch replied as follows: "We want the solution of the Cyprus problem as soon as possible. For many years our country is divided. As Patriarchate, we wish for the establishment of a dialogue. Now there are elections, maybe, after the elections we will enter into a positive era.

Asked to comment to the possibility of the opening of Agia Sophia as a mosque, Patriarch Bartholomeos said that they want to protect the present status of Agia Sophia adding that the if Agia Sophia is to be opened for prayer, it should open as a church and not a mosque, since one thousand years ago it served as a Christian church, and in that way it should be served again. "Because, it was established as a church, and not as a mosque. If it would open for prayer, it should open as a Christian church. We want to continue to be a museum", the Patriarch said.

[06] Turkish Energy Minister says that political issues an obstacle between Turkey-Israel energy cooperation

Yildiz gave an interview to CNBC-e TV channel where he stated that from time to time politics was a burden on energy and from time to time energy was a burden on politics.

Yildiz said: "Our aim is to be in cooperation with all of our neighbors and make use of the advantage of our geography. Israel is aware of our sensitivities. It is a risk to begin such projects without maturing the political relations. They know about this risk as well."

Asked who would build the second nuclear power plant in Turkey, Yildiz stated that nuclear negotiations could take a few more months.

Yildiz also stated that Turkey imported 6 million dollars worth of oil from Iran last year.

Stating that Turkey was the only neighboring country to Iran in the OECD, Yildiz said, "Some European countries import 2 percent of their oil need from Iran but they say they don't anymore. Turkey imports 40-50 percent of oil and one fifth of gas need from Iran and we can't stop it. Our priority is our citizens."

[07] Shell's director: "Company abstain from exploring in conflict regions"

Speaking to the Anatolian News Agency on Friday, Brown said: "We generally abstain from exploring in conflict regions. When this issue is clarified, of course we will conduct a study in regards to exploration of oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean"

He said 'we believe that coming to an agreement on sovereignty rights is a matter to be decided by governments. At the moment we do not consider to be a part of the search."

Brown also touched on the shale exploration works in cooperation with Turkish Petroleum Cooperation (TPAO) in Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakir and stated that the search and production works were ongoing and it was too early to say anything in regards to the reserve levels.

[08] Analysis in Turkish paper supports that Black Sea deal unlikely to solve energy import woes in Turkey

The paper, which reports about the deal signed between the state owned Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) with Shell, on for an estimated $200 million drilling contract which will last three years, writes, that this a move that will make Shell the third major international oil firm to try its hand at finding extractable reserves in Turkey's Black Sea waters.

"Ankara's frustrated search for oil in the region has continued for years, with government promises of tens of billions of barrels of oil offered as a way out of Turkey's biggest economic weakness -- its need to import around 90 percent of its oil from abroad. "But now and in the future, it will be difficult to know how close Turkey or private companies are to discovering oil in the region, and even more difficult to say what kind of reserves it might discover there," oil analyst and Turkish Association for Energy Economics (TRAEE) President G?rkan Kumbaro
lu told Sunday's Zaman.

"Similar exploration has been going on for years, and there's only one clear result -- there is probably no easy oil or gas in the Black Sea."

[?]

TPAO has invested around $12 billion for oil exploration and drilling projects in the Black Sea since it began work there in the mid-1970s. And while it is a sign of the government's need to limit its dependence on oil and gas from abroad -- of which it bought just over $60 billion in 2012 -- it is also a sign that the infrastructure for independence is not easy to develop.

"The question being asked right now is if Turkey's energy mix can include domestic sources in the near future. The more important question is where that will come from," said energy analyst and Turkey World Energy Council Committee board member O
uz T?rky1
lmaz. "Turkey needs to diversify its search and see what kind of infrastructure will be needed to tap those other sources of energy, including shale gas and possible oil in the Southeast."

Aside from sounding quite similar to previous government suggestions that the Black Sea would cover oil and gas needs by the country's centennial in 2023, it also underlines another critical point in the hype about domestic energy -- readily available, exploitable sources will probably not be ready within the next decade. That in turn means that Turkey's energy dependence will widen as the country continues to build an appetite for more energy. [?]

Ankara has also said that it will rely on nuclear, coal and renewables for its future electricity mix. The only problem is that nuclear is controversial, coal is also mostly imported and renewables require subsidies so far lacking in Turkey, say both Kumbaroglu and T?rky1
lmaz.

[& ]

Exploiting domestic fossil fuel reserves has been billed by Ankara as a key step in securing a more stable economic future, but chronic Turkish import dependence is unlikely to change in the coming decade even if a new agreement between oil giant Shell and the country's state oil firm strikes it big in the Black Sea. [?]

To be sure, there is indeed oil and gas. A TPAO exploratory well found natural gas it said might be exploitable in a well near Bulgarian waters last year, and says it found oil in a third of the 57 wells it drilled in 2012. But the one well it hailed as a sign of the Black Sea's promise suggests that the opposite may be true -- the other wells where oil and gas were found had low output potential, the government stated. TPAO has invested around $12 billion for oil exploration and drilling projects in the Black Sea since it began work there in the mid-1970s. And while it is a sign of the government's need to limit its dependence on oil and gas from abroad -- of which it bought just over $60 billion in 2012 -- it is also a sign that the infrastructure for independence is not easy to develop.

"The question being asked right now is if Turkey's energy mix can include domestic sources in the near future. The more important question is where that will come from," said energy analyst and Turkey World Energy Council Committee board member Oguz T?rky1
lmaz. "Turkey needs to diversify its search and see what kind of infrastructure will be needed to tap those other sources of energy, including shale gas and possible oil in the Southeast."

"It seems likely that Turkey can create some major form of domestic energy production. But it will take years," said Kumbaroglu. "In the meantime, Turkey is stuck."

[09] Turkish ministers to illegally visit occupied Cyprus