Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 16-05-20

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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] AKP names Yildirim as new chairman

[02] How the press views Yildirim's nomination as AKP President and Prime Minister

[03] Milliyet refers to a "new guarantees system" proposal by Akinci if Turkish Cypriot "sensitivities" are taken into consideration

[04] Turkey and the occupation regime signed the "water protocol"

[05] The "economic protocol" between Turkey and the occupation regime will be reportedly be signed within the next 48 hours

[06] The "Turkish Cypriot farmers' union" participated in the World Farmers' Organization General Assembly in Zambia

[07] Retirement age in the breakaway regime to be prolonged as the "economic protocol" envisages

[08] The occupied Galateia "municipality" became member of the international Cittaslow organization

[09] Erdogan will appoint Yildirim as the new Prime Minister on Sunday

[10] Erdogan approved law on Turkey-EU readmission deal

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] AKP names Yildirim as new chairman

"Our dear friend; Izmir Deputy and Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Binali Yildirim has been designated with great consensus as the candidate for the chairmanship," deputy AKP leader and spokesperson Omer Celik announced after a party meeting on May 19.

Celik recalled that Yildirim was selected as the party's nominee following a comprehensive in-house survey and consultations within relevant bodies of the AKP. It has been stressed that around 80% of the party executives had agreed on Yildirim.

The party will convene an extraordinary convention on May 22 to elect Yildirim to the leadership of the AKP as current leader Ahmet Davutoglu will step down on the same day.

"To be deemed worthy to the leadership of the AKP is the highest honour and at the same time a very big responsibility for me," Yildirim said. "I want to thank all my party's organization and all the members of the AKP for choosing me as the candidate for the party leadership," he said in his address to AKP officials after he was announced as the candidate on May 19.

In a short statement, Y?ld?r?m issued brief but important messages. The convention to be held on May 22 will be the venue where all members of the party will strengthen ties, Yildirim said. "Rather than disintegration, this convention of ours will indicate determination to continue in our blessed march."

His second message was that his leadership will seek full harmony, particularly with Erdogan as the real leader of the AKP. "We will exert all efforts to reach our objective for a Great Turkey by working in full harmony with all our friends in different ranks of the party, particularly with our founding President and leader", he said. "No one should have any doubt about this."

Third, he said the terror problem was the biggest concern in the country and vowed: "My people should not worry. We will remove this terror issue from Turkey's agenda".

Immediately after his candidacy was announced, Yildirim went to Diyarbak?r to meet with the families of the victims of a May 13 terror attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that killed 16 villagers just outside the city centre.

"The meaning of this visit is this: Nobody will be able to harm our brotherhood," Yildirim told reporters in Diyarbak?r, saying he had chosen to come to the south-eastern province immediately after he was selected as the new AKP chairman. Reiterating his statement in Ankara to remove terrorism from the country's agenda, he said his government "will do whatever is required to this end".

In the meantime, Davutoglu phoned Y?ld?r?m to congratulate him and wish him success in his new position. Y?ld?r?m thanked Davutoglu for his successful premiership after the leadership flag was handed to him by Erdogan in the summer of 2014. "I thank Mr Davutoglu for the services he made on behalf of my party and my people," Y?ld?r?m said.

Davutoglu paid a farewell visit to Erdogan late in the afternoon on May 19, with the two men discussing the timing of the resignation of the Prime Minister. Davutoglu is expected to resign from the premiership on May 22 after the AKP's convention. Erdogan will likely give the mandate to form the new government to Y?ld?r?m again on May 22 as he will be very busy with a U.N. Humanitarian Summit on May 23 and 24.

Yildirim is expected to introduce his government to Erdogan on either late May 24 or May 25 and read his government's program in the upcoming days before it is submitted for a vote of confidence in Parliament.

Meanwhile, the HDN reports that Yildirim is presented by the AKP as a man of roads, bridges, speed trains, airports; a man of multi-billion dollar projects like the Marmara Tunnel, Istanbul's third Bosporus Bridge, and its under-construction third international airport.

Y?ld?r?m's long spell as transportation and communication minister has given him a reputation as one of the AKP's "doers" since it first came to power in 2002. However, one feature that stands above all others in facilitating his new position as the AKP chairman is the fact that he is one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's closest confidants.

He is set to become the third chairman of the AKP and the 27th Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, but still has to wait a couple of days to officially confirm his new title.

Born in the eastern town of Erzincan in 1955, Y?ld?r?m graduated from the Ship Building and Maritime Sciences Department of Istanbul Technical University and earned his masters' degree from the same department. He went on to work in a number of different executive positions at the Ship Industry General Directorate and the Camialt? Shipyard between 1978 and 1993. In 1990 and 1991 he attended specialization courses at the Sweden-based World Maritime University of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

Y?ld?r?m then moved back to Turkey to work as the head of the Istanbul Sea Buses Company (IDO) of the Istanbul Municipality between 1994 and 2000, during Erdogan's time as mayor of Turkey's largest and most populous metropolis.

The new Prime Minister's reputation as a "man of projects" was first developed in Istanbul, as he turned the IDO into one of the largest companies of its kind by enhancing its capacity with new vessels and routes.

Y?ld?r?m entered politics in the early 2000s as one of the founders of the AKP along with Erdogan, Abdullah Gul, and Bulent Arinc. He joined the cabinet as the Minister of Transportation and Communications when the AKP rose to power in 2002 and served in three consecutive governments.

Although seen by many as the architect of many such projects, it was Y?ld?r?m who controversially shut down YouTube and Twitter in early 2014, drawing national and international condemnation.

Time will tell how Yildirim's Prime Ministry differs from his predecessors; almost everyone agrees that his term marks a new era for Turkish politics.

[02] How the press views Yildirim's nomination as AKP President and Prime Minister

Pointing out that the "presidential system is undoubtedly the final target in President Erdogan's mind", Cevikcan notes that the radical constitutional change needed for the presidential system is difficult in Turkey's current conditions.

Writing also in Milliyet (20.05.16), columnist Mehmet Tezkan reports "not only the Prime Minister is changing" in Turkey, but the change will be "deeper, more radical and more structural". "Not only a Prime Minister is changing, but the administration system is also changing", he says adding that Erdogan "has tried a model by making Davutoglu Prime Minister". "He must not have taken the result he wanted and this is why he said to Davutoglu 'enough is enough'", notes the columnist adding that Davutoglu went away the way he had come [to power]. Tezkan argues:

"With Binali Yildirim, the President will try another model. Mr Binali will not be like the Master. At least he will not talk at length day and night like the Master. He will not attempt to draw a vision. He will not make political analyses. He will not develop formulas in his mind and try to implement them. He will not go around pretending to be a political genius. He will not say three times a day that 'I gave instructions'.

The change in the ruling party is not a simple change. It is like entering into a party president model. It is like a preparation for one man's administration. [?]

Erdogan has not cut off from the everyday politics [?] since he became President. He replied to the opposition parties as if he was leading the AKP. [?] The policy he followed was a preparation for today. It was the infrastructure for the party president model. [?]

Erdogan will not be different in the new period. [?] The one who will behave differently will be the Prime Minister. He will downshift; he will not be very visible. He will not give the impression of competing. [?]"

Columnist Murat Yetkin, writing in Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News newspaper (online, 20.05.16), under the title "Yildirim as an executor of Erdogan's projects", argues that unlike the general belief in the Turkish media, Yildirim has not been among the "yes men" in the close circuit around President Erdogan. On the contrary, he is among the very few left around Erdogan who can still make an objection on issues that he is not fully convinced upon, which doesn't make Y?ld?r?m a decision-maker, but more a perfect adviser or colleague.

Yetkin further writes: "It was Yildirim, as a loyal and reliable colleague who was put forward by Erdogan to balance his successor (whom he also hand-picked), Ahmet Davutoglu, for the AKP executive committee. When the 'necessity' occurred, as Davutoglu put it, it was that party committee which forced Davutoglu to step down by showing their lack of trust in his decisions. On May 19, while announcing Yildirim's name, Omer Celik, the AKP spokesman, said there was 'not a millimetre of difference between the President and the party'. Y?ld?r?m, during his speech of gratitude, made it clear that the leader of the party was still Erdogan even though it would be him who will most probably be elected as the chairman on Sunday.

Because of the close relations between Erdogan and Y?ld?r?m, and given that Y?ld?r?m is a contributor to Erdogan's decisions, it would not be 100% correct to say that Erdogan will make the decisions and Y?ld?r?m will implement them. It would be more correct to say that Erdogan will be the originator of all the decisions from now and that Y?ld?r?m will continue to be the executor of all the projects ? ones that will now go far beyond the scope of transportation and communications.

(?)

The move is definitely another and an important step toward Erdogan's target of concentrating the executive power in the presidency."

(I/Ts.)

[03] Milliyet refers to a "new guarantees system" proposal by Akinci if Turkish Cypriot "sensitivities" are taken into consideration

According to the paper, the Turkish Cypriot side has started working on views for a system of guarantees which the Greek Cypriots will not perceive as a threat. To the Greek Cypriot position that any guarantees are unacceptable, the Turkish Cypriot side replies that "any agreement which does not include Turkey's guarantees will not be accepted" by the Turkish Cypriot community.

According to Akinci's proposal, "if the Greek Cypriots take into consideration the sensitivities of the Turkish Cypriot side on the issues of the legal residence and the property, the system of guarantees will be implemented only in the northern part of Cyprus and not in the entire island". Recalling that in the past "the two peoples had been scattered in the island", Akinci said that all Turkish Cypriots are now living in the occupied northern part of Cyprus and this is why Turkey's guarantees for "south Cyprus" might be unnecessary.

Karahasan argues that Akinci's proposal "had a positive influence on the UN" and had topped the agenda of the US Assistant of State Victoria Nuland's recent visit to the island. "Anastasiades, who exhibits a hard stance as regards the guarantees, asked for Nuland's help on this issue", claims Karahasan alleging that Nuland, who also met with Akinci, "exhibited a stance against the guarantees" and said that "the presence of the Turkish army in the island is unnecessary". She noted, however, that some things may be needed for the Turkish Cypriots to vote "yes" in a possible referendum. "Let us not call it 'guarantees', let us call is assurance", she allegedly said. According to Karahasan, Akinci replied that "whichever change is made, it should ensure that the security of the Turkish Cypriots will be assured by Turkey".

Nuland has reportedly insisted on the full withdrawal of the Turkish occupation troops from Cyprus and wondered whether a time table should be prepared for this. She said that the Turkish military presence should be evaluated again in five or ten years. Akinci, however, alleged that Turkey's military presence in Cyprus should continue until Turkey joins the EU. Nuland replied that Turkey will not be able to join the EU, that the presence of the army should not be correlated to the Turkish-EU relations and that the US does not see positively the formula of "security by the EU".

On his part, Akinci opposed to guarantees by the UN and the EU. He also rejected Nuland's suggestion that instead of the presence of the Turkish army, a "contingency force" should be based on the island. He argued that the Turkish Cypriot community needs Turkey's guarantees, reiterating the view that the system of guarantees could be agreed in a conference with the participation of the guarantor powers.

According to Karahasan, Nuland said that they could undertake the training of the police officers who will participate in the federal police force and asked for the names of these officers to be determined so that they are sent to Hungary for training. Akinci was reportedly positive to this suggestion, but President Anastasiades was not.

Karahasan refers also to a statement allegedly made by the US Secretary of State, John Kerry during a meeting with Turkish Cypriot "officials". Kerry had allegedly described as "submission and not a solution" an arrangement in which "the Greek Cypriots will possess the majority in both sides of the island".

(I/Ts.)

[04] Turkey and the occupation regime signed the "water protocol"

According to the paper, the two "ministers", after reaching to an agreement on the "protocol", invited to Istanbul the delegations of the State Water Affairs' Department (DSI) and the "consultation council", in order to discuss the last shape and the details of the "protocol".

The so-called ministry of agriculture and natural resources said in a statement that as soon the "municipalities" complete the works for the supply pipes and the "subscription agreement" is signed, the water will be ready to be supplied to the people.

(AK)

[05] The "economic protocol" between Turkey and the occupation regime will be reportedly be signed within the next 48 hours

According to the paper, even though the context of the "protocol" was not published, there are allegations that the "protocol" envisages among others the privatization of the so-called Turkish Cypriot electricity authorities, ("KIB-TEK") and of the telecommunications "authorities".

The paper adds that "El-Sen" and Tel-Sen" trade unions are expected to express their reactions on the provisions of the "protocol".

(AK)

[06] The "Turkish Cypriot farmers' union" participated in the World Farmers' Organization General Assembly in Zambia

The paper notes that the chairman of the World Farmers' Organization Dr. Nguleka and the general secretary of the organization Dr Marinis were invited to the occupied area of Cyprus and said that they will visit the breakaway regime next November.

The Turkish Cypriot delegation has a right to vote at the General Assembly of the World Farmers' Organization, writes Kibris Postasi.

(CS)

[07] Retirement age in the breakaway regime to be prolonged as the "economic protocol" envisages

Felek stated that the retirement age in the breakaway regime will be prolonged from 60-year old to 65 and said that this is not acceptable. He stated that the retirement rights of the Turkish Cypriots are taken away from the workers' hands.

He also repeated that there is a need for establishing "courts for workers" in the breakaway regime.

(CS)

[08] The occupied Galateia "municipality" became member of the international Cittaslow organization

After Agios Sergios and Lefka occupied municipalities, Galateia is the third "municipality" to become a Cittaslow member.

Cittaslow is a movement founded in Italy and inspired by the Slow Food organization. Cittaslow's goals include improving the quality of life in towns by slowing down its overall pace, especially in a city's use of spaces and the flow of life and traffic through them.

(CS)

[09] Erdogan will appoint Yildirim as the new Prime Minister on Sunday

Erdogan's remarks came during an interview aired lived on A Haber television network Thursday night. "It appears that the AK Party is going to have one candidate at the extraordinary congress [to be held on Sunday.] This shows a consensus of 81 to 82%", Erdogan said, adding that the new Prime Minister "of our party" would be known by Sunday evening. "I can say our party because I was the founding chairman," Erdogan said.

As for the appointment of a new Prime Minister, Erdogan said he did not want to delay the process following Ahmet Davutoglu's resignation, "which I assume he will submit the very same day". "My plan is then to appoint the new Prime Minister right away and give him the chance to form his cabinet as soon as possible," he added.

[10] Erdogan approved law on Turkey-EU readmission deal

Erdogan's approval of the law was announced by his press office late on May 18, along with a note saying it was sent directly to the Prime Ministry to go into force. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION

http://www.moi.gov.cy/pio

(DPs / AM)

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