Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 17-12-28

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

CONTENTS

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Erdogan: "Turkey wants good relations with EU member states"

[02] Turkey's Defence Minister: "S-400 deal with Russia done for $2.5 bln"

[03] Turkey mulls three-phase roadmap for Jerusalem

[04] Dozens of academics detained in FETO probe

[05] Two FETO suspects responsible for the "TRNC" organization were detained in Diyarbakir

[06] An UBP candidate distributes coffee

[07] Arikli promises to give pension to 14,500 housewives

[08] Citrus fruit producers in occupied Morfou are waiting for the water from Turkey

[09] A 7star hotel has opened its doors in the occupied town of Keryneia

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Erdogan: "Turkey wants good relations with EU member states"

Speaking to journalists aboard a plane travelling from Chad to Tunisia, Erdogan informed them also about his potential visits to France and the Vatican, signalling improvement in Turkish foreign policy. "I always say this: We are obliged to lessen the number of foes and increase the number of friends. We have no problems with Germany, the Netherlands or Belgium. To the contrary, those who are in the governments of these countries are my old friends", Erdogan said.

"We had problems, but our latest meetings have gone very well. I asked for their support on Jerusalem; we are all on the same page. I have called [German President Frank Walter] Steinmeier to thank him. [Dutch Prime Minister Mark] Rutte sent some signals to improve ties with us. These are satisfactory. We, of course, hope to have good ties with the EU and EU countries," Erdogan stressed.

Turkey's ties with Germany and the Netherlands were severely strained in early 2017 after Turkish government figures were disallowed from meeting the Turkish communities in the countries before a key referendum in April. A female Turkish minister was subject to physical intervention by the Dutch police in Rotterdam, which sparked a deep row between the two countries.

"Well, they did me wrong. Otherwise, I used to have good meetings with Rutte; Belgium in the same way. No need to mention Germany. My contacts with both Steinmeier and [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel have always been very good," he said.

Erdogan said further that his diplomatic efforts for the recognition of East Jerusalem as the occupied capital of Palestine will continue and that he plans to talk with prominent world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, about it. "I will talk to him over the phone. But I may also visit France. They have not left us alone on that [Jerusalem] issue. A visit to the Vatican is also possible. You know the Pope visited me. Now, if we can carry out a return visit, we can find an opportunity to discuss all of these issues with the Pope in person," Erdogan added.

Replying to a question, Erdogan said he would share his opinion that the US decision on Jerusalem was wrong with U.S. President Donald Trump if they have a phone conversation.

(…)

Responding to questions on recent developments in Turkish politics and especially about a controversial state of emergency decree, Erdogan criticized severely by opposition groups as well as by former President Abdullah Gul, which has provided legal immunity to civilians who were involved in thwarting the July 15, 2016, coup attempt.

Gul wanted a revision of the phrasing of the decree law to avoid problems emerging in the future stemming from the ambiguity of its content.

"It's saddening that our former President has unfortunately mentioned ambiguity. On what grounds are you talking about ambiguity? Which article are you referring to? This is saddening," Erdogan said.

"There is no uncertainty in the content of the decree law and the government is committed to implementing it", Erdogan stressed.

"Necessary intervention can be done in the future if this decree gets misinterpreted, as suggested. In such case, the parliament will do whatever is necessary," he added.

[02] Turkey's Defence Minister: "S-400 deal with Russia done for $2.5 bln"

Russia will supply Turkey with four batteries of S-400 surface-to-air missiles for $2.5 billion under a deal that is almost complete, Sergei Chemezov, head of Russian state conglomerate Rostec, told the Kommersant daily on Dec. 27.

Chemezov told Kommersant that Turkey was the first NATO member state to acquire the advanced S-400 missile system.

He added that the Russian and Turkish Finance Ministries had already completed talks on financing the deal and that the final documents just needed to be approved.

Canikli confirmed the report, noting that Ankara would purchase two S-400 systems and four batteries and that all agreements were made, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

He said further that the financial aspect of the contracts was the last hurdle that was needed to overcome in meetings between the two countries and all agreements were made.

"Do we use a loan? Or finance the deal by ourselves? In the end we have agreed on covering some part of the deal with credit after negotiations. Other than this, the deal was already finalized," he told reporters in Tunis.

"Moscow expects to begin the first deliveries in March 2020", he also said.

(…)

[03] Turkey mulls three-phase roadmap for Jerusalem

According to Turkish officials, Turkey's roadmap consists of the following steps:

- Turkey will launch fresh diplomatic initiatives to increase the number of countries that recognize Palestine as a state and East Jerusalem as its capital. Currently, 137 countries recognize it as a state, and the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) declared East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine.

- Efforts for the protection of the status of the Haram al-Sharif, one of the most sacred holy sites in Islam, will be put forth.

- Financial funds, particularly from the Islamic Development Bank, will be gathered to strengthen the economy of Jerusalem and the Palestinians. A close cooperation with Jordan will be provided to this end.

An emergency summit of the OIC, presided by the term president Turkey, was held on Dec. 13 in Istanbul to recognize East Jerusalem as the occupied capital of the State of Palestine in reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump's unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel.

Immediately after the Istanbul summit, the U.N. General Assembly convened and voted by a majority of 128 votes to denounce Trump's move and to focus on a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Turkey's expectation from the U.S. is to withdraw its Jerusalem decision and cancel plans to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Turkish officials have said.

(…)

In the meantime, Ankara is also awaiting a political climate to re-launch a peace process between Israel and Palestine to settle a two-state solution, daily Milliyet reported.

One of the options Turkey is now considering is cooperation between the OIC and the European Union, as Palestine declared that it rejects having the U.S. involved in any kind of peace process. But Ankara is aware that a peace process without the U.S. cannot be conducted as it is the only country able to exert pressure on Israel.

[04] Dozens of academics detained in FETO probe

Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office earlier issued arrest warrants for 171 suspects, who are former academics or personnel at the FETO-affiliated Fatih University in Istanbul, closed with an emergency decree after the botched coup attempt. The suspects were all users of the notorious ByLock app, an encrypted smartphone messaging app used by FETO members before and during last year's defeated coup attempt.

During the raids conducted in 29 provinces, police rounded up 54 of the 171 suspects, according to the source who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Twenty-six of the arrested were women.

"Police are continuing the hunt for the remaining suspects," the source added.

[05] Two FETO suspects responsible for the "TRNC" organization were detained in Diyarbakir

According to the paper, seven suspects were detained in the operations, including two of them reportedly responsible for the organization in the "TRNC" (occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus).

(DPs)

[06] An UBP candidate distributes coffee

Afrika's editor-in-chief, Sener Levent recalls in his column today that Akacan is son in law of the well-known Turkish businessman Vakkas Altinbas, who is closely connected to President Erdogan and is considered as "an emperor of gold, oil, banks and constructions" in the occupied area of Cyprus.

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot daily Star Kibris (28.12.17) newspaper publishes statements by Akacan, who alleged that the occupied area of Cyprus will take a place among Singapore and Monte Carlo in the world. He claimed that these are not exaggerations and added that no one believed that the number of students in the occupied area of Cyprus would reach 100 thousands. He recalled that then he was referring to 150 thousand students and claimed that now they are heading towards achieving this target.

(I/Ts.)

[07] Arikli promises to give pension to 14,500 housewives

Arikli argued that one month after the YDP comes to "power", it will be able to give pension to these housewives, who are around 14,500, according to the party's calculations. He said that they will achieve this by securing resources from Ziraat Bank with a low interest rate.

(I/Ts.)

[08] Citrus fruit producers in occupied Morfou are waiting for the water from Turkey

In statements to the paper, Alioglu noted that if the water from Turkey reaches occupied Morfou "early", the harvest might be doubled or tripled climbing to 250-300 thousand tones. He argued that this might bring back the good old days to the economy of the area. According to Alioglu, citrus fruit gardens cover an area of 33 thousand donums [Translator's note: A land measure of about 1000 square meters] and need 30 million cubic meters of water annually.

(I/Ts.)

[09] A 7star hotel has opened its doors in the occupied town of Keryneia

According to the paper, the Les Ambassadeurs group continues its works aiming to become a 1,000-room capacity quality chain with the "Famagusta Ambassadeurs Park hotel", which is planned to open in 2019.

(DPs)

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