Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 15-09-29

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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] Akinci will hold contacts with various foreign officials in New York

[02] Davutoglu discussed the Cyprus problem with UN's Ban Ki-moon

[03] Izcan calls Akinci to inform the public about the progress on the Cyprus negotiation talks

[04] Kibris: The obstacles regarding the Deryneia crossing point have not been overcome yet

[05] Self-styled deputy Caglar will attend PACE's plenary session

[06] CMP: "The remains of 20 Greek Cypriot missing persons were found so far in excavation works"

[07] Signature campaign by persons who live in occupied Yiallousa demanding not to lose the houses they live in case of a solution

[08] Data on the number of workers in the occupied area of Cyprus between 2008-2014

[09] Davutoglu: "No policy change regarding Assad"

[10] HDP's Demirtas signals coalition with CHP

[11] Akdogan stated that the Kurdish peace process is "unsustainable"

[12] "Will the HDP boycott the elections?"

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Akinci will hold contacts with various foreign officials in New York

Today (at 24.00 Cyprus time) Akinci will meet with Azerbaijan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mammadyarov and the Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (tomorrow morning at 04.00 Cyprus time).

Akinci will continue his contacts until 4 October and will meet with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom and representatives of the Turkish Cypriot Aid Community.

Akinci will also meet with the General Secretary of the Islamic Cooperation Organization (ICO) Iyad Medeni and the Foreign Ministers of New Zeeland and the USA Murray McCully and John Kerry respectively. His meeting with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will take place on 2 October.

Akinci is being accompanied by the Turkish Cypriot negotiator, Ozdil Nami, his spokesman, Baris Burcu, the adviser at the self-styled foreign ministry Erhan Ercin, the director of his office, Cenk Gurcag and the member of his negotiating team Sertac Guven.

The paper writes that the self-styled foreign minister of the breakaway regime, Emine Colak will depart for New York tomorrow in order to hold various contacts.

Meanwhile, Nami is also expected to hold separate contacts during the period of Akinci's stay in New York.

(I/Ts.)

[02] Davutoglu discussed the Cyprus problem with UN's Ban Ki-moon

Ban and Davutoglu met on the sidelines of the 70th UN General Assembly in New York, the UN spokesperson's office said in a statement.

"The Secretary-General and the Prime Minister agreed on the importance of the negotiations for a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus, as well as Turkey's role in supporting the process," the UN said.

Ban and Davutoglu "also discussed developments related to the Middle East Peace Process, especially the current need to keep tensions down in Jerusalem", the UN said.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Premier's intense diplomacy with world leaders continued yesterday on the margins of the General Assembly. He held bilateral meetings with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Lebanon's Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvil during the day.

[03] Izcan calls Akinci to inform the public about the progress on the Cyprus negotiation talks

Izcan stated that the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Ak?nc? needed to give more information to the public on the ongoing negotiations process. "The two leaders have achieved progress on governance and power sharing, migrants and population as well as EU matters. However, the property issue still remains to be on the negotiating table", added Izcan.

Pointing out that criteria pertaining to property are currently being discussed in the talks, Izcan said that the public was being misled by the rejectionist camps on both sides of the island.

"Property remains to be the key issue in the Cyprus problem" he added.

Stating that it was too early in the talks to set a date for a referendum, Izcan said that the UN Secretary General's Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide is currently seeking financing abroad for a settlement.

[04] Kibris: The obstacles regarding the Deryneia crossing point have not been overcome yet

The paper reports that because Akinci was in favor of the use of the existing route in the area, the issue has been discussed for long between Turkish Cypriot and Turkish officials. The source told Kibris the following: "We cannot say that the discussions on this issue have been completed and a definite result has been reached. The discussions are continuing and we assume that they will end up positively".

The paper recalls that in statements to Kibris last week, Akinci's spokesman, Baris Burcu had confirmed the information published in the press that the obstacles for opening the Deryneia crossing point were overcome.

(I/Ts.)

[05] Self-styled deputy Caglar will attend PACE's plenary session

(DPs)

[06] CMP: "The remains of 20 Greek Cypriot missing persons were found so far in excavation works"

The excavation works which began on the 17th of August completed the first half of the dig before the Bayram period. It is expected that the second phase of the excavation work to restart in the coming days.

In statements on the issue, the Turkish Cypriot member of the CMP, Murat Soysal told illegal TAK news agency that before the Bayram period, remains belonging to 20 missing persons had been found.

He added that the second phase of the excavation works is expected to start next week with the completion of the identification process next year.

[07] Signature campaign by persons who live in occupied Yiallousa demanding not to lose the houses they live in case of a solution

According to statements made by the so-called mayor of the occupied village, Ozay Oykun the persons living in Yiallousa have started the campaign in order to show that they are not willing to leave the village. Oykun said that many times it was reported in the Greek Cypriot press that the village will be among those to be under the Greek Cypriot administration in case of a solution. He also stated that so far 600 persons have signed the campaign. The village has 1,100 inhabitants.

The paper also writes that Yiallousa was among the villages that, as it was alleged, was visited by some Greek Cypriots who demanded to have their property returned by the persons who now use their properties.

(CS)

[08] Data on the number of workers in the occupied area of Cyprus between 2008-2014

According to a report on the "economic situation of North Cyprus in 2014" prepared by the illegal directorate of aid committee of the Turkish embassy in the occupied part of Nicosia, there is a serious increase of registered "foreign workers" in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus.

The paper publishes the following table with the number of the workers in the occupied area of Cyprus accordingly to their nationality:

Years "TRNC" Turkey Others Total-work permits General total

2008 40.552 29.740 2.650 32.390 72.942

2009 38.558 25.503 2.562 28.065 66.623

2010 39.622 27.792 2.917 30.709 70.331

2011 40.682 27.211 3.251 30.462 71.144

2012 42.663 27.996 4.210 32.206 74.869

2013 45.056 27.383 4.895 32.278 77.334

2014 46.715 27.987 5.753 33.740 80.455

(DPs)

[09] Davutoglu: "No policy change regarding Assad"

Turkey has been Assad's most outspoken critic since Syria descended into bloodshed in 2011, blaming him for violence that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions more, and insisting he had to be removed.

But last week, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan floated the idea that Assad could be part of a transitional period. He later said his comments did not represent a policy change.

Davutoglu, who is in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, said on Sunday that Turkey would accept whatever political solution Syrians choose, but it could not include Assad. "We have the conviction that with al-Assad in charge during the transition period, that transition period would no longer be transitory. We believe that this situation would turn into a permanent status quo. Our conviction on this matter hasn't changed," Davutoglu said. .

(?)

In comments reported by local media that appeared to signal a policy shift, Erdogan said last week: "Either a transition process without al-Assad, or with al-Assad, is possible."

But he also echoed Ankara's long-standing view, saying: "Nobody can foresee Syria's future with al-Assad. It's not possible to accept a person responsible for killing 300,000 to 350,000 people, a dictator."

(?)

[10] HDP's Demirtas signals coalition with CHP

"The CHP, HDP and forces, communities siding with peace, freedom and democracy, should be able to offer a democratic alternative power to Turkey's society," said Demirtas in the Hamburg province of Germany on September 27.

"There have been smear campaigns launched against our party during election terms. These efforts of disinformation would affect the positions following an accurate election as well. For instance, pro-governmental media has been carrying out a smear campaign recently, claiming I have given instructions for certain acts of the [Kurdistan Workers' Party] PKK. On the contrary, we have been a political party making a great effort to stop the war and clashes, which the public opinion also recognizes," Demirtas added.

According to Demirtas, "either the AKP should change itself or Turkey will have to get rid of the AKP" to resolve problems. In this regard, the statement of Demirtas urged an alternative and democratic authority, involving the cooperation of the CHP and HDP.

While saying the HDP gave great importance to overseas votes, Demirtas added that in this electoral term, a single vote or a minor change in the number of MPs could change the balances of the parliament's arithmetic.

Because of the significant number of electors of Turkish origin in Germany, the party has been carrying out an electoral campaign, with Germany in focus, said Demirtas.

(?)

[11] Akdogan stated that the Kurdish peace process is "unsustainable"

"These operations weren't launched for pleasure," Akdogan said, adding that some people asked why the government didn't restart the process aimed at ending the three-decade long conflict between Turkey's security forces and PKK militants, as they have already launched military operations.

"We cannot just say 'What were we talking about? Let's go back to the beginning.' Here, a security vacuum has emerged. The organization [the PKK] has exploited the process and betrayed it. Here is what I'm telling them: 'You cannot resume even if you want to resume.' Because with these actions, the process has become unsustainable," Akdogan said.

(?)

Last week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested the process could restart when positive momentum is captured.

"The 'democratic initiative' [process] has been left behind, the national unity and fraternity [project] has been left behind. As I said earlier, the resolution process is frozen at the moment. Why wouldn't it resume when we capture positive developments? There is no obstacle for this but this process has unfortunately been torpedoed by the political party in parliament which is backed by the separatist terrorist organization," Erdogan said.

[12] "Will the HDP boycott the elections?"

"With about a month left to Turkey's existentially important early polls, the Justice and Development Party's (AKP) game plan seems to be intensifying on the Kurdish vote in the 15 provinces in the southeastern region, where a number of ballot boxes are declared to be removed from many districts due to the violent conflict spreading across the settlements and escalating into a serious crisis.

What's more worrisome, the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) -- whose 80-seat-strong presence in Parliament delivered a severe blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's plans to 'legalize' a shift to an executive presidential system -- started delivering signals that if the ballot boxes are transferred to other locations, it will consider boycotting the elections entirely.

The debate about the legitimacy and possible outcome of the early election had so far brought to the fore the possibility of the AKP eventually postponing it for a year, by quoting the "state of war" as a pretext, as mentioned in the Constitution, if it sees that plans for a single-party rule do not seem likely.

But, as events unfold, the spotlight is on whether or not the election will be fair and free in the mainly Kurdish provinces. In the past week, the opposition raised the question of whether the declaration of some 150 areas there as 'forbidden security zones' may be part of a plan to push the HDP vote below the 10% barrier, so that it falls out of Parliament.

The case of whether or not the removal of the ballot boxes elsewhere is now a burden for the Supreme Electoral Board (YSK), which has to decide on a request by its Cizre branch to do so. If a decision is made, it will set a precedent, depending on the ruling. If the YSK refuses to take the matter on, chaos will ensue.

(?)

The extraordinary circumstances due to the widespread escalating violence have already led to more than 150,000 people being displaced -- according to the CHP figures -- and a related removal of ballot boxes in all declared 'security zones,' in 15 provinces, will reportedly affect 400,000 people. (Independent pollsters such as KONDA claim that for the AKP to achieve the status of ruling once more as a single majority party, the loss of approximately 500,000 votes that had gone to the HDP would be sufficient.)

As I mentioned earlier in this column, the upcoming election faces two threats. One is the option of a postponement, and the other is that either the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) calls for an overall boycott or the HDP declares it as a contesting party.

Now, as feared by many observers, the latter is surfacing as a counter-move by the AKP to tinker with the voting routines in its apparent favor.

Commenting on the pending case of ballot boxes with the YSK, HDP spokesman Ayhan Bilgen said: "When there is only a month left to the polls, a decision to remove ballot boxes will mean blocking the right to participate in voting. We expect the YSK to act soundly and cancel this application. This is a systematic move of oppression."

Bilgen added that, otherwise, "the party's central committee would take up the issue of boycotting the elections," adding that "this discourse should not be seen as a threat but a warning."

In a country that has experienced one constitutional breach after another in the past one-and-a-half years, the pressure is mounting for an "autonomous board" almost doomed to be instrumentalized.

The danger is imminent: A boycott by the Kurdish political movement at this stage is certainly what the AKP wants and is pushing it to its realization. It would mean that roughly 6 million votes that had gone to the HDP would be wasted and this would set the stage for a three-party Parliament, with the AKP possibly gaining the majority to rule and even enough for a constitutional change to establish a presidential system.

The question, therefore, is whether or not the HDP will take that poisonous bite". TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION

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(AK/ AM)

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