Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 13-07-11

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

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Atalay to illegally visit occupied Cyprus on July 19

[02] Opinion poll shows that CTP comes first with 38-40%

[03] Kucuk said this is the last time he is a candidate for "elections"

[04] Yorgancioglu said that he will end the problem with the "citizenships"

[05] Erdogan reportedly to visit occupied Cyprus in order to help UBP's election campaign

[06] Durduran: The fenced off town of Varosha should be returned to its legal owners

[07] KTOS protests against the Quran lessons for young children

[08] Gezi park: Thirteen people were arrested in third wave; Death toll rises to 5

[09] Egypt's coup strains ties between Ankara, Cairo

[10] ' directive banning headscarf in public service to be canceled

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Atalay to illegally visit occupied Cyprus on July 19

[02] Opinion poll shows that CTP comes first with 38-40%

The paper notes that 9-11% of the persons asked in the research stated that they have not decided yet which party will vote for.

The research's results were announced to a group of Turkish Cypriot journalists by the chairman of the CTP Ozkan Yorgancioglu who said that the opinion poll was conducted by the RED BORDER research firm with a sample of 1,200 persons, through personal interviews with the participants.

Yorgancioglu also said that according to the results, CTP comes first in all provinces in the occupied area of Cyprus, even in occupied Trikomo region which traditionally UBP is the main power.

[03] Kucuk said this is the last time he is a candidate for "elections"

During the press conference, the leader of UBP and "former prime minister" Irsen Kucuk announced that this is the last time that he is a candidate for "elections", adding that he believes that he has reached his goal creating a strong and prosperous future for younger generations.

Kucuk noted that in the UBP "election manifesto", there is nothing imaginary; it is an indication of what they can achieve. He stressed that in the new era of UBP, they will try to do politics based on the principles of the UBP and not to the persons of the UBP as they did in the past. He also said that they will adjust the breakaway regime with the realities of the world, adding that their connection to the world is through Turkey.

[04] Yorgancioglu said that he will end the problem with the "citizenships"

[05] Erdogan reportedly to visit occupied Cyprus in order to help UBP's election campaign

The paper, reporting on the issue under the title "AKP staff works for UBP", writes that the involvement of the ruling in Turkey Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the "elections" is very clear for all the other Turkish Cypriot parties except of UBO and notes that it was Izzet Izcan, the leader of the United Cyprus Party (BKP) who said that he has reliable information about Erdogan's visit to the breakaway regime.

[06] Durduran: The fenced off town of Varosha should be returned to its legal owners

Durduran explained that this statement is contradicted to the statement that the opening of the fenced off town of Varosha to its legal owners is part of a comprehensive solution and cannot even open under UN administration. He added that according to the agreement of 1979 between Denktas and Kyprianou, they were committed to the decision that the fenced off town of Varosha can be returned to its legal owners with an agreed formula in case they cannot reach a comprehensive solution.

[07] KTOS protests against the Quran lessons for young children

The paper reports that although some trades unions and NGOs have objections to this practice, the Quran lessons continue.

[08] Gezi park: Thirteen people were arrested in third wave; Death toll rises to 5

These people were taken into custody in operations carried out last Friday in Izmir, Ankara, Istanbul, Manisa, and Batman. The suspects, among them nine students from the Ege and Dokuz Eylul Universities, had been accused of being members of the DHKP-C [Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front], Turkish Communist Labor Party, and Marxist Leninist Armed Propaganda Forces.

The suspects were sent to the Court of Justice following their depositions at the police headquarters, and 13 of them were arrested. Police in Kocaeli yesterday conducted dawn raids into the houses of people who participated in rallies to support the Gezi Park resistance. Police took into custody 16 persons who are members of Student Unions and Community Centers. While no explanation was given as to why these persons were taken into custody, it was stated that they were being interrogated at the police headquarters. The police issued search warrants for 23 persons, and an additional seven persons are being sought, it has been stated.

In addition, Turkish daily Today's Zaman newspaper (10.07.13) reports that the death toll rose to five on Wednesday from the Gezi Park incidents, sparked by outrage over violent police action to oust a sit-in by environmentalists in Istanbul's Taksim Square on May 31 and which have spread to dozens of cities across Turkey.

Nineteen-year-old Ali 0
smail Korkmaz died on Wednesday at Osmangazi University Hospital in Eski
ehir. He suffered a brain hemorrhage after being attacked by a group of people as he was escaping police in Eski
ehir during a Gezi Park demonstration on June 2. Korkmaz was a student at Anadolu University.

The death toll from the Gezi Park incidents has risen to five with Korkmaz's death. Other people who died in connection to the incidents are demonstrators Ethem Sar1
s?l?k, Abdullah C?mert, Mehmet Ayval1
ta
and police officer Mustafa Sar1
.

The protests, fuelled by anger over the government's plan to create a replica of an Ottoman-era military barracks in place of the Gezi Park in Istanbul's Taksim quarter, have become a general condemnation of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who many consider to have grown authoritarian in his 10 years in power and many accuse of trying to introduce his religious and conservative mores in a country governed by secular laws.

[09] Egypt's coup strains ties between Ankara, Cairo

"In an indication of the strain in diplomatic ties between Egypt and Turkey, which strongly condemns a recent coup that ousted Cairo's first democratically elected president, Egypt has summoned the Turkish ambassador to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

Egypt called Turkey's ambassador, Huseyin Avni Botsal1
, to Cairo on Tuesday to protest what it views as Ankara's interference in Egyptian affairs after Turkey described the Egyptian army's ousting of elected President Mohammed Morsi as an "unacceptable coup," Egyptian state news agency MENA reported.

Cairo officials have asked Ankara "not to take sides" in the ongoing power vacuum after the military takeover in the country, the Turkish ambassador to Egypt said after being summoned to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, according to a Hurriyet report.

"[Egyptian Foreign Ministry officials] expressed their wishes that Turkish dignitaries make their statements without taking sides and in a way that embraces all Egyptians," Botsal1
told Hurriyet.

"In other words, they said that they expected Turkish dignitaries [to make] benevolent, tolerant and sincere statements without taking sides in the problems between Egyptians," he further explained.

A senior Turkish diplomat, who spoke to Today's Zaman on the condition of anonymity on Wednesday, stated that there has been no information on whether or not Turkey is planning to summon its Egyptian ambassador to Ankara.

Turkey's response to last week's military intervention in Cairo was seen by Egyptians as one of the strongest reactions against the coup, even though the two enjoyed close ties during the year-long presidency of Morsi.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu himself last week described the ousting of Morsi as unacceptable, branding the intervention of the army as a "military coup" -- a contrast to the US and some European bodies, which have refrained from using the word "coup." Ankara has found itself alone in its strong condemnation of the Egyptian army's ousting of Morsi and in calling on the Egyptian military to restore the democratically elected government.

Davutoglu and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan have asked for the release of Morsi, who is being held in custody in an undisclosed location, and have also harshly criticized the US and Europe for not calling the takeover a "coup."

[?]

Touching upon the stances of the EU and the US over the coup in Egypt, Davutoglu stated that the international community have not shown desired sensitivity on the matter.

[?]

Turkey has strongly criticized Western nations and the European Union in particular for turning a blind eye to the army intervention in Egypt.

[?]

One of the prime minister's reasons for leveling criticism against Western nations for not terming the army intervention in Egypt a "military coup" was that he believes that doesn't fit into Western values. He said all coups, no matter where or against whom they take place, are "bad, inhumane and the enemy of democracy."

Erdogan dismissed claims that Turkey is positioning itself against the current revolution because his government was an ally of Morsi. He said that they would have held the same position if the coup had been staged against those demanding Morsi's resignation.

[10] ' directive banning headscarf in public service to be canceled

The directive, which stipulates public servants should not cover their head, was prepared by the National Security Council (MGK) after the 1980 coup. It was adopted on Oct. 25, 1982. The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has recently taken steps to completely remove the directive. AK Party Deputy Chairman Mehmet Ali Sahin said work to abolish the directive was nearing completion.

Turkey's ban on headscarves dates back to the 1980s. After the 1980 coup d'?tat, a regulation clearly defined the permissible clothing and appearance of staff working in state offices, including the stipulation that the hair of civil servants must be uncovered. Women who wear headscarves were then denied the right to be employed by the state.

The ban was significantly tightened after Feb. 28, 1997, when the military ousted a government it deemed too religious. Currently, state offices do not hire women who wear a headscarf. Covered women are also denied employment at most private companies despite the fact that there is no law that prohibits the wearing of a headscarf in private businesses. Headscarved women are not allowed to be elected in Parliament. A ban on headscarves imposed for many years on university campuses was only removed in 2010.

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