Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 13-08-05

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[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Ergenekon: Time for verdict arrives in Turkey's major coup plot trial

[02] Will the Ergenekon case close with a ruling?

[03] Erk alleges that UN Security Council's recent decision on Cyprus serves to the continuation of current situation

[04] Siber tenders the resignation of her "government" to Eroglu

[05] Talat: CTP should establish a "coalition government" with the UBP; "Votes" of people living abroad influenced the "elections"

[06] Serdar Denktas reportedly demands removal of the winning tender for illegal Tymvou airport

[07] CTP-BG's congress will be held in the end of the year

[08] Kazakhstan's Ambassador to Norway and Holland visits illegal YDU's founding rector

[09] All force commanders replaced as Turkey shapes new army echelon

[10] Turkish columnists say that Supreme Military Council promotions a break with standard operation procedure

[11] Turkish Police use water cannon against Gezi Park protesters in Istanbul

[12] Turkish Daily lists journalists who lost jobs since Gezi incidents

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Ergenekon: Time for verdict arrives in Turkey's major coup plot trial

The curtain is set to finally come down on Turkey's most-important trial in recent memory, as judges are expected to give their verdict against 275 suspects in the five-year-long Ergenekon case today at the Silivri Courthouse amid massive security precautions.

The case, which began in 2007 with the discovery of 27 hand grenades in a house in Istanbul, has seen some of the country's most prominent figures detained and arrested, including the likes of former Chief of General Staff Gen. 0
lker Ba
bu
, Republican People's Party (CHP) deputies Mehmet Haberal and Mustafa Balbay and journalists Tuncay ?zkan and 0
lhan Sel?uk. A series of high-ranking army personnel, including retired generals Veli K???k, Hasan I
s1
z, Hur
it Tolon and ^
ener Eruygur, have also been jailed.

The case began with the testimonies of the owners of the house where the explosives were discovered, and the initial indictment, running nearly 3,000 pages, accused the suspects of running a mafia-like terrorist organization that aimed to "push the country back to chaos, darkness and insecurity" in a bid to provoke a military coup against the Islamist-leaning Justice and Development Party (AKP). A second indictment was accepted in 2009, after which even more high-level public figures were detained, prompting authorities to construct a new courtroom in Istanbul's Silivri district because the original hall was too small to allow in the suspects, lawyers and members of the gallery.

One of the biggest moments of the trial period came with the detention of Ba
bu
, who was arrested on Jan. 6, 2012, after being interrogated and sent to court to face charges related to running a terrorist organization and attempting to "destroy the Turkish government or to attempt to partially or completely prevent its functioning."

Basbug's indictment called for the former army chief to be sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment. Basbug has so far attended eight hearings.

Currently 275 suspects, 66 of them under attest, are awaiting rulings. Some 33 indictments have been submitted in the course of the Ergenekon trials, which saw over 130 witnesses testify at hearings.

Despite the release of 66 suspects during the Ergenekon period, the country's fiercest judicial battle to date even outlived some of its suspects, with Selcuk, Engin Aydin and Muray Ozkan all passing away while still on trial. Academic Fatih Hilmioglu and Lt. Col. Mustafa Donmez lost their sons while in detention, while Haberal, Igs1
z and another former general, Hasan 0
smail Hakk1
, as well as retired Col. Dursun Cicek, all lost their mothers during the five-year legal process.

Businessman men Kuddisi Okk1
r was released at the final stage of his critical illness, and passed away soon after on July 6, 2008. Some of the indictments focus on a variety of attacks and supply of arms, including the bombing of daily Cumhuriyet, the 2007 Turkish Council of State shooting and supply of arms to the attack's convicted assailant, Alparslan Arslan, and a variety of assassination claims.

Some 31 of the 130 witnesses were secret witnesses, while several of them subsequently outed themselves, including former high-level Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) member Semdin Sakik, whose testimony caused a strong public backlash.

Around 52 suspects made their final defense on June 21, including Balbay, Haberal, Tolon, Igs1
z, Kucuk and Workers' Party (0
P) leader Dogu Perincek. The joining of several different sub-cases ultimately resulted in the case turning into a 650-hearing leviathan.

Today's hearing, however, will not be open to any public participation as Istanbul Gov. Huseyin Avni Mutlu announced Aug. 2 that no protests or demonstration would be permitted in front of the Silivri Courthose. Mutlu said only deputies, lawyers, suspects and members of the press would be allowed to follow the hearing inside the courtroom, adding that those seeking to gather outside the courthouse would be prevented from doing so.

A day after the announcement, police launched raids at several locations in Istanbul and Ankara, including NGOs and media bureaus ahead of today's hearing, detaining at least 20 people. Police squads set out in the early hours of Aug. 3 and raided the home addresses of 0
P officials both in Istanbul and in Ankara, as well as workers at the Ulusal Kanal TV station and members of the Turkish Youth Union (TGB), which had previously issued a call for a massive rally outside the courthouse.

[02] Will the Ergenekon case close with a ruling?

"One of Turkish history's most important political court cases is expected to come to an end today.

[?]

When the prosecutors submitted their indictment in July 2008, as a result of a police operation the year before, it was understood that the name "Ergenekon" as an illegal formation had been first mentioned in a National Intelligence Organization (M0
T) document back in June 2002, before the election that brought the AK Parti to power.

Nevertheless, after five years, a total of 23 cases were also combined with the Ergenekon trial, including the killing of a Council of State Judge in Ankara in May 2006 and a number of fatal attacks against Christian minorities in Turkey, allegedly to agitate domestic and foreign public opinion against the "Islamist" government in Turkey.

The person which created the most controversy in the trial is Ilker Basbug, the retired general who served among the top brass of Erdogan first as the Land Forces commander and then the chief of General Staff between 2006 and 2010. He was arrested in the first days of 2012 on charges of being an executive member of Ergenekon to overthrow the government.

Rejecting the whole Ergenekon case as a scenario to endorse AK Parti rule over the country, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) recruited two of the accused, prominent journalist Mustafa Balbay and internationally renowned surgeon Mehmet Haberal, getting them elected to Parliament in the 2011 elections. But the court refused to let them out to take their oath to initiate their deputyship, while the AK Parti refused to make the necessary legal adjustment to allow them to do so.

Long and extended detention periods have caused international and domestic action, such as by President Abdullah Gul or Constitutional Court Chairman Hasim Kilic, but yielded no result so far.

The court ruled days ago that they would allow only defense lawyers and a limited number of reporters into the courtroom today; no relatives or friends of the accused will be let in in an effort to prevent protests. Actually, the Interior Ministry forces have already sealed off the Silivri court facilities, some 50 kilometers west of Istanbul, in order to prevent demonstrations outside as well.

The government sees Ergenekon as an exemplary case to deter any anti-democratic attempts to overthrow an elected government; whether it is democratic to limit the right to peaceful assembly is another question.

The decision by the court, on the other hand, is likely to lead to a number of new cases in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against the government because of complaints of violations of rights, including the right to defense and fair trial.

The case is also likely to have echoes in Turkish political life for many years."

[03] Erk alleges that UN Security Council's recent decision on Cyprus serves to the continuation of current situation

In a written statement evaluating the above-mentioned resolution, Erk said that the Turkish Cypriot side expects from the UN to "encourage" the Greek Cypriot side on the issue of the commencement of "meaningful and leading to a result negotiations" in October "in the light of the existing realities on the island". He alleged that the Greek Cypriot side took no concrete step from the very first day of the negotiating process.

He claimed that the resolution was contented with making "minimum changes" to previous reports and did not reflect the "realities" that exist on the island. He expressed his sorrow because the resolution has allegedly not reflected objectively the "realities" that are expressed in the UN Secretary-General's report of the 5th of July, 2013 as regards the work of the Committee on the Missing Persons, noting that the above-mentioned report says that the excavations in the occupied area of Cyprus are progressing positively and access is granted to all excavation areas.

Erk described as "very serious deficiency" the lack of reference to the joint statements issued by the community leaders on 23 May and 1 July 2008 and alleged that this does not encourage the Greek Cypriot side on the issue of the commencement of productive talks.

Erk said that the reference to a timetable regarding the recommencement of the negotiations was a positive element of the resolution from the Turkish Cypriot side's point of view. He said that the Turkish Cypriot side expects the recommencement of the negotiations from the point they had been left, the beginning of a give and take process, the holding of a high level conference with the participation of the guarantor powers after more convergence is reached in the give and take process, the solution of all issues and the submission of the agreement to separate simultaneous referenda.

(I/Ts.)

[04] Siber tenders the resignation of her "government" to Eroglu

Meanwhile, under the title "The process started", Kibris (03.08.13) reports also that the final results of the "elections" were published in the "official gazette" of the regime on Friday. Today (05.08.13) the "election" of the "MPs" will be declared in the areas they had been "elected". They will take their oath in the "assembly" on 12 August, that is, ten days after the final results were published.

Eroglu is expected to assign the chairman of a "parliamentary group" or an "MP" with the duty of establishing a "government". This person must succeed to do so within 15 days or else he must return this duty, which will be given to another "MP".

(I/Ts.)

[05] Talat: CTP should establish a "coalition government" with the UBP; "Votes" of people living abroad influenced the "elections"

In statements to Ada television, Talat evaluated the results of the "elections" held on 28 July in the occupied area of Cyprus and said that many people, who live in Turkey or elsewhere, come to the occupied area of Cyprus and "vote" in the "elections". He added: "In big countries people who live abroad may vote. This does not influence big populations, but it could have important influence on communities with a small population like ours".

Noting that the "people" expressed the will of seeing the establishment of a "coalition government" after the "elections", Talat argued that the most reasonable and correct model is a "coalition" between CTP and UBP, because the UBP has changed, it is not the old UBP and has a more "homogenous structure" than the DP, which is under Eroglu's control. "Eroglu is a focus of guardianship for the DP", he noted.

(I/Ts.)

[06] Serdar Denktas reportedly demands removal of the winning tender for illegal

Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (05.08.13) reports that the 650 million-euro privatization of illegal Tymbou airport may face cancelation due to "opposition" from Serdar Denktas, who is likely to play a key role in any "coalition government" in the breakaway regime.

Denktas said on August 3 that Tasyapi, the construction company which led the consortium that won the tender, would either abandon the tender through negotiations with the "government" or through "legal proceedings".

But Emrullah Turanli, the head of the company, said they won the tender in transparent conditions.

The tender included the investment of 650 million euro in illegal Tymvou Airport and includes the construction of a new terminal building, a hotel, a commercial area, 62 check-in desks, 24 passport control points, a basement car park, a 756-lot open-air car park and other amenities. Denktas made promises to cancel the airport tender during the "election period" claiming that the privatization tender was corrupt.

"The company will go either of their own will or via lawful enforcement. It is that clear? We'll seek a coalition partner who thinks in line with us about the airport tender. If our potential coalition partner refuses to take action against the company, we'll resign," Denkta
said.

Turanli said they could not understand why such discussions had now emerged: "[& ] we won the tender by giving the best price with our two partners. If the courts want to cancel the tender by paying our money and compensating for our losses, that's OK for us", he said.

The tender for the privatization of illegal Tymvou airport was seen as the biggest in the breakaway regime, according to the paper which writes that the winning consortium, which includes the Terminal Group and Kaner, as well as Tasyapi, promises to make direct investments of 350 million euro and to give the 300 million euro for the 25-year lease.

[07] CTP-BG's congress will be held in the end of the year

In statements to Havadis, Yorgancioglu noted that everyone could ran as candidate in this congress but he warned that no one has the right to cause to the CTP-BG problems similar to the ones experienced in the National Unity Party (UBP).

Referring to the information that problems existed in CTP after the "elections", Yorgancioglu argued that it was normal for their colleagues who lost the "elections" to be "uneasy", but no problem exists within the party.

Responding to a question, Yorgancioglu said that his party insisted on revising the so-called economic cooperation protocol for 2013-15 signed between Turkey and the breakaway regime. He noted that they had carried out a survey and 70% of the respondents said they wanted such a revision. "This must be examined by everyone, including Turkey", he added.

(I/Ts.)

[08] Kazakhstan's ambassador to Norway and Holland visited illegal YDU's founding rector

According to a statement issued by the illegal university, Ambassador Marzamadiyeva invited "YDU" to the Expo Fair 2017 as regards the field of energy and especially the oil and gas engineering. She said that they would be glad to host Gunsel as state guest of Kazakhstan and raised issues which concern the development of their bilateral relations.

Referring to the academic forum, which will be established by the "YDU" and universities from her country, she expressed their satisfaction from cooperating with "YDU". She said that during her tour in the "YDU's" premises she felt as if she was at an American university and expressed her views on the issue of transferring patients from Kazakhstan to "YDU's" hospital and of establishing an insurance agreement.

(I/Ts.)

[09] All force commanders replaced as Turkey shapes new army echelon

According to Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) tradition, if Kalyoncu had been appointed as the new head of the Land Forces Command during the YAS meeting, he would be appointed the new chief of the General Staff in 2015, replacing Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Ozel.

The results of the three-day YA^
meeting were made public after the decisions were presented to President Abdullah Gul on Saturday. According to the decisions, Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar has been appointed as the new Land Forces commander while Kalyoncu was forced to retire. Akar is expected to replace Ozel in 2015.

Air Training Commander Lt. Gen. Ak1
n Ozturk replaced Gen. Mehmet Erten as the new Air Forces commander. Head of the Education and Doctrine Command (EDOK) Servet Yoruk replaced Gen. Kalyoncu while new Naval Forces Commander will be Vice Adm. Bulent Bostano
lu.

Incumbent Chief of General Staff Gen. Ozel, who is known for respecting civilian supremacy, will remain in his post until his retirement in 2015.

There has been speculation that the civilian wing of the council was opposed to Kalyoncu's appointment as the Land Forces commander due to critical remarks he made about Turkey's settlement process with the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), launched by the Turkish government in October last year, and his anti-government stance during a security summit in 2006.

The possible candidates to be appointed as the new gendarmerie commander are EDOK Head Gen. Yoruk, Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Akar and 1st Army Commander Gen. Ataman. However, as Gen. Yoruk faced charges in an indictment regarding the Feb. 28, 1997 postmodern coup, the government doesn't allegedly support the promotion of Yoruk.

YAS meets twice a year, in August and December, under the chairmanship of the prime minister, whose presence was symbolic until 2010, when the civilian government began, to a certain extent, exerting its legal powers over YAS decisions concerning the promotion and retirement of generals.

During the August meetings, YAS decides on promotions and retirements of generals and service commanders as well as the promotion of colonels to the rank of general. In December, the council makes decisions about 10-year arms-procurement plans, which are revised every two years. In both meetings, YAS also discusses the general security situation in and around Turkey.

The Turkish General Staff said in a statement released on Saturday that 34 admirals and generals were promoted to a higher rank, 50 colonels were appointed to ranks of general and admiral and terms of 33 generals and admirals were extended during this year's YAS meeting.

In addition, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (04.08.13) reports that the commanders of the occupation army in Cyprus were promoted at the YAS meeting.

The paper writes that the divisional commander major general Ilhan Talu and 14th armored brigade commander major general Avni Angun are among the generals promoted. Talu became lieutenant general while Angun became major general.

Turkish Cypriot daily Vatan newspaper (03.08.13) reports that Mehmet Soganaci assistant brigadier general was forced to retire.

[10] Turkish columnists say that Supreme Military Council promotions a break with standard operation procedure

Under the title "TSK With no SOP", Deniz Zeyrek wrote the following in Radikal (04.08.13):

"[?] There is no rule in the TSK Personnel Law that states which seat a four-star general should be appointed to. It only writes how many years that can stay at what rank and command and by how long they can be given extensions. In contrast to this, there are localized customs [standard operating procedures] such as Commander 1st Army (Commander Gendarmerie since 2002) will become Commander Land Forces and that Commander Land Forces will become Chief of the General Staff.

In the light of these SOPs (standard operation procedure) all of us commented ahead of the YAS meeting that was scheduled for 1-3 Aug 13 saying: "Commander Gendarmerie Gen Bekir Kalyoncu will be made Commander Land Forces this year and he will be expected to become Chief of the General Staff in 2015." [?]

When the YAS decisions were officially announced on 3 August we saw that SOP had not been adhered to for Kalyoncu or for the person who was to replace him. [?]. The new staff on the YAS was determined, not by SOP but by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's and President of the Republic Abdullah Gul's initiative.

Commander Naval Forces Adm Murat Bilgel retired this year. He was replaced by Bulent Bostanoglu, who took part in the YAS meeting as a Rear Admiral and left as a Full Admiral. Under normal conditions Bostanoglu can stay at this post for two or a maximum of three years. As he is the only full admiral there is, Commander Navy will again be occupied by a Rear Admiral. This year Hasan Usakoglu and Serdar Dulger were promoted to Rear Admiral in Naval Forces Command. Two more names have to stay on as Rear Admiral for four more years and unless the law changes Adm Bostanoglu will have to retire in 2016. As the two rear admirals will not be able to be full admirals on that date Naval Forces Command will be without any full admirals.

A controversial figure because a. he is not a pilot and b. he is implicated in the Uludere scandal, Commander Air Forces ACM Mehmet Erten was removed from office but instead of being pensioned off he was kept on as a YAS member due to the shortage of four-stars in Air Forces Command. This year Akin Ozturk was promoted from Air Marshal to Air Chief Marshal and made Commander Air Forces. Air Marshal Abidin Unal was given a one year extension. When he becomes an Air Chief Marshal himself Mehmet Erten will retire and thus the four-star problem in the Air Force will be fixed.

With Gen Kalyoncu being pensioned off Commander 2nd Army Gen Servet Yoruk was made Commander Gendarmerie as expected.

[?]

According to both SOP and the TSK Personnel Law, any soldier in custody whose file goes to the YAS cannot be promoted or pensioned off. The government continued with the practice it began last year and pensioned off 22 suspect officers whose files had gone to the YAS. Among those who were pensioned off are YAS member and ACM Bilgin Balanli, who is in custody, and Gen Nusret Tasdeler. Balanli will be transferred from the military prison to Silivri and Tasdeler will be transferred to a civilian prison if his treatment at GATA [Gulhane School of Military Medicine] ends. A total of 43 generals and admirals whose time for promotion ran out or who passed the upper age limit were retired this year."

Reporting on the same issue Emre Uslu writes the following in Today's Zaman (04.08.13) under the title "Secrets of the YA^
meetings":

The Supreme Military Council (YAS) has re-structured the military hierarchy. The most critical decision of the three-day YAS meeting was the appointment of Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar as the new Land Forces commander while forcing Gendarmerie Commander Bekir Kalyoncu to retire. Akar is expected to replace Necdet Ozel in 2015.

[?]

The question now is, why did Gen. Kalyoncu retire and who made the decision?

First, there is no doubt that Kalyoncu's record of proximity to those generals who were arrested in the Ergenekon investigation was a negative. In addition, his name first appeared in 2005 when three noncommissioned officers placed a bomb in a bookstore in Semdinli, Hakkari province. People of that town caught the officers while they were placing the bombs and handed them over to the prosecutor. Kalyoncu was the top commander of the region at that time.

At that time a prosecutor, Ferhat Sarikaya, wanted to investigate whether those officers who placed the bombs had received an order from the top. However, Mr. Sarikaya was fired from his post and the investigation ended there.

Considering that it is unthinkable for three noncommissioned officers to place bombs in a bookstore without orders from the top, and because the investigation was halted, rumors surrounding the incident created big questions for Gen. Kalyoncu. Thus, this was the most critical decision of the YA^
meeting this year. Had he been promoted to Land Forces commander, he would have been the next chief of General Staff within two years.

So who decided that Gen. Kalyoncu should retire? There are three figures who could have made the decision: Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Ozel, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo
an or President Abdullah G?l.

On investigating the decision, I found some interesting information. First, on July 25 President Abdullah Gul, Gen. Necdet Ozel and Prime Minister Erdogan met to discuss the YA^
meetings. Previously President Gul was expected to be in 0
stanbul in the first week of August while the YA^
meetings were taking place in Ankara.

However, the military side proposed Mr. Kalyoncu as the Land Forces commander at the last minute. Prime Minister Erdogan did not immediately reject Gen. Kalyoncu's name, instead throwing the ball to President Gul and expecting him to make the final decision.

Because of this proposal on July 31, the president immediately went to Ankara and had unplanned meetings with the related parties. This was unexpected, as he had only met these parties a few days before. In these meetings President Gul stated once more what he wanted to see in the YA^
decisions.

Yet, the military proposed Gen. Kalyoncu's name again, and Prime Minister Erdogan threw the ball to the president. This time Gul made it clear that he would not sign the YA^
decisions if they included Gen. Kalyoncu's name on the lists. Because of President Gul's clear-cut decision, the parties did not place Gen. Kalyoncu on the promotion lists.

Now there is speculation that the president chose Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar as the Land Forces commander because he is from the same province as President Gul. I don't know how close Gen. Akar is to President Gul, but the issue was not about who would be the next Land Forces commander but rather whether Gen. Kalyoncu would have a new post."

[11] Turkish Police use water cannon against Gezi Park protesters in Istanbul

Police took security measures in central Taksim Square early in the evening, after calls for anti-government protests were made on social media. Protesters ran into side streets after police intervention and after a while gathered again.

Several people were detained during the protest.

[12] Turkish Daily lists journalists who lost jobs since Gezi incidents

The paper writes that Can Dundar had not written in his column in Milliyet for approximately three weeks. It goes on and says: "The support that Dundar extended to the Gezi incidents and the series of articles that he wrote on the developments in Egypt have led to the reaction of the AKP [Justice and Development Party] government. Just when debates were being held on whether or not Dundar will remain at Milliyet, it was revealed that he was fired by the Milliyet administration. "First Derya (Sazak) went and now I am going and Fikret (Bila) has taken over the ruins", said Dundar in his personal blog and talked about his dismissal. "Everyone knows the reason, anyway, I am not the first and I will not be the last," asserted Dundar and continued as follows: "What is important is that we are on the eve of losing not only our jobs, but a profession. We will have many casualties until we unite. And there it is written that no unjust pressure is capable of silencing a just voice. We will meet again through new channels. We will once again write and talk. Of course, until we build a free country and its free media.", Dundar stated.

The Turkish Journalists Union has recently released the list of the journalists who have been fired or who have resigned since 27 May, when the Gezi incidents started. The number of the unemployed journalists has reached 80".

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