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Thursday, 15 August 2024
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Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot Press and Other Media, 99-08-10Cyprus Press and Information Office: Turkish Cypriot Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>TURKISH CYPRIOT PRESS AND OTHER MEDIANo. 141/99 -- 10.8.99[A] NEWS ITEMS
[B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS
[A] NEWS ITEMS[01] Denktash rejects `US Plan´The most realistic plan for Cyprus is a confederation, there is no other solution, Denktash declared according to illegal Bayrak radio (9.8.99). Denktash added that there is no need to confuse the situation or the people´s minds with the US plan, the British plan, the G-8 plan, or whatever. He said: ``We have received no such plan, nor can we receive such a plan. The current situation does not call for that. If a plan is going to be drawn up, we will do it ourselves here. The plan we propose is simple and realistic, it is a confederation. There is no other solution''.Denktash was commenting on information that the United States drew up a 10- point plan for the solution of the Cyprus problem. He asserted that these are speculations devised by the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo. The ``TRNC'', he noted, will not give up its course which is ``that the Greek Cypriot republic in the south and the Turkish Cypriot republic in the north reach an agreement and set up good neighbourly relations. Given 36 years of disaster and of a show of enmity against us, there is nothing else that can be done''. Denktash repeated his allegation that the only aim of the Greek Cypriots is to have the whole of Cyprus and to place the Turkish Cypriots in a position of minority, adding that south Cyprus is the richest area in the Mediterranean because, under a false name, it uses all the money it receives for the whole of Cyprus. Claiming once again that Turkey saved the Turkish Cypriots in 1974, Denktash added: ``Our existence, our state, and our rights must be recognized; the enmity must stop and the embargoes must be lifted. Greece must not be given bases, troops must not be brought from Greece, so much money must not be spent on weapons, and law suits based on lies must not be filed at the European Human rights Court. If they want cooperation and if they want good neighbourliness they must stop this hostility.'' The Greek, Cypriots, he said, must realize that the state in the north was established as a result of what they did. The said US plan, Denktash went on, is one desired by the Greek Cypriots. The Turkish Cypriots, he concluded, must uphold the ``TRNC'' and hold on tight to the motherland. They must announce on every occasion that they will never negotiate their sovereignty rights or Turkey´s guarantees. [02] Eroglu `US Plan´ unacceptable´According to illegal Bayrak radio (9.10.99) the so-called Prime Minister Dervis Eroglu also considered the 10-point US plan unacceptable.Eroglu said that the plan envisages the return of Varosha and Morphou which is unacceptable. [03] US Plan, `deliberate´ move - Serdar DenktashAny initiative not supported by the ``TRNC'' has no chance of succeeding in Cyprus, Serdar Denktash, Democratic Party leader declared. In a written statement, according to illegal Bayrak radio (9.8.99), Serdar Denktash said that in the US plan it is alleged that Varosha and Morphou regions will be returned. This may be a deliberate move with ulterior motives, he said.Those who think that the Turkish Cypriots can be forced to emigrate once again are very wrong, he said adding that any plan that takes the Turkish Cypriots back from their current position cannot contribute to the political solution of the Cyprus problem. [04] British MP visitsAccording to KIBRIS (10.8.99) the Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash met yesterday with British conservative MP David Amess, who is in the occupied area to discuss health issues. The so-called Health & Environment Minister Gulsen Bozkurt also attended the meeting.Before the meeting, the British MP stated that he will continue his efforts to obtain the necessary treatment for Thalassaemia patients. Amess added that the representative of the Turkish school of Eltham, (in England) Leyla Kemal and the Vice-President of the Turkish organization of the Conservative Party Mehmetali Salih collected 11,785 pounds sterling for the Thalassaemia association in the ``TRNC''. (DP) [05] Karpass to be revivedKIBRIS (10.8.99) reports that the so-called Education and Culture Ministry will undertake an important project to revive the Karpass area.The ``Education and Culture Minister'' Mehmet Altinay announced that a Hotel Management School will be established in Karpass. Moreover, seminars and festivals will be organized as well as an exhibition of delicacies from the Karpass cuisine. (DP) [06] Tourists in the occupied areaAccording to YENIDUZEN (10.8.99) in the first seven months of 1999 231,000 tourists arrived to ``TRNC''. Out of this figure 192,178 tourists came from Turkey and 39,696 are foreign tourists.An official from the so-called State Ministry Huseyin Gokboru stated that it is not known how many are tourists and how many are students. YENIDUZEN gives a different figure from KIBRIS about hotel occupancy in 1999. It reports that it is only 34%. (DP) [07] Fees paid, reduced on receiptsYENIDUZEN (10.8.99) criticizes the occupation authorities at Kayrenia port for collecting from travellers going to Turkey the amount of 7,500,000 TL as fees and issuing a receipt for only 2,700,000 TL.The question is, the paper says, where the surplus amount goes. Moreover, travellers returning from Turkey via Kyrenia port, pay 2,100,000 TL fee and are given a receipt for only 600,000 TL. In addition passengers who return from Alanya without a receipt are charged by the authorities a fee of 4,250,000 TL. The question remains, why the authorities do not give a receipt for the fees, the paper underlines. (DP) [08] Gymnastics tournamentHALKIN SESI (10.8.99) reports that the ``TRNC National Gymnastic Team'', which will participate the 14th International Gymnastics tournament in Istanbul between 14-19th of September, went to Izmir on 8th August for camping. (DP)[09] Veteran athletesAccording to HALKIN SESI (10.8.99), the Turkish Cypriot veteran athletes, Temel Erberk, Huseyin Altinor, who took part in the world Veteran Athletic championship in New Castle, England between the 29th July and 5th August returned to the occupied areas.The paper says that 5,900 athletes participated in this meeting. After the competition, the Turkish Cypriot athletes started to take initiatives to join the organization officially. The athletes have started to prepare for the Balkan Championship, which will be held on 11th of September. (DP) [10] Honorary representativesAccording to HALKIN SESI (10.8.99) the ``Council of Ministers'' approved the appointment of John Mc. Gough as ``honorary Representative'' of the ``TRNC'' in Hungary.Furthermore the so-called Council of Ministers decided to cover all expenses of the ``honorary representative'' in China Dr. David Yi Zhong´s visit to occupied area to meet ``State officials''. (DP) [11] Legal action against Star newspaperKIBRIS, (10.8.99) under banner headline ``Rude Writer'' says that the Editor-in-Chief of the Turkish daily ``STAR'' Engin Ardic in an article on the students of the so-called East Mediterranean University in the occupied area strongly criticizes these students and their intellectual level.In his article Ardis uses unbecoming words and language for a serious paper, contrary to the journalists´ ethics, in describing the students attending the university. KIBRIS reports that score of protest messages by the University administration and students reached the STAR´s office stating that they will take legal action against the author. (MY) [B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS[12] US reaction to Turkish policy on CyprusIn her ``Column in Instanbul MILLIYET (26.9.99) Yasemin Congar analyses US position on the Turkish policy on Cyprus: ``Every time UN resolutions proposing a `bi-communal, bi-zonal federation´ in Cyprus come onto the agenda, Ismail Cem quotes the following verse from Mevlana: `Yesterday has gone, all words belong to yesterday, now it is time to say new things´. This bewitching verse has a way of reflecting the Turkish policy on Cyprus. Ever since Cyprus embarked on a process of EU membership with only Greek Cypriot participation a move that was countered by the Turkish side, Turkey has been arguing that the federation thesis, that is the UN resolutions, are no longer realistic.In its place, Ankara is using the `confederation´ thesis and does not hide its `pleasure over the continuation of the status quo´. Even as it says `maybe one day there can be confederation after the TRNC is recognized´, nothing is being done about starting a campaign for the recognition of the Turkish Cypriot state. Turkey just waits hoping that after many years this will actually be unavoidable or even that the Greek Cypriot administration will give up the north for the sake of the EU membership. This is briefly how US officials perceive the Turkish position on Cyprus. In Washington´s view, recent statements from Ankara and Rauf Denktash have solidly confirmed the Turkish side´s desire to maintain the status quo. (…) The second component of the Turkish position is, according to US perception, Turkey´s conviction that `whatever happens they cannot pressure us, and we can resist the calls for negotiations´. The `they cannot pressure us´ idea is not basically wrong. The US officials themselves say that at most they will continue advising Turkey on the Cyprus problem because their interests as well as their regional policy do not allow them to pressure Turkey. Nevertheless, the United States is questioning these two components of the Turkish policy with questions such as: [50] Why is the continuation of the status quo, which denies the Turkish Cypriots `first class world citizenship´ and reduces the economic outlook ofthe TRNC, being so eagerly endorsed?[55] Is it not clear that the situation on the island is continuously heightening tension in the region and that a real Turkish-Greekrapprochement cannot be established without a lasting solution in the island?[60] Would a solution in Cyprus not relieve Turkey of pressure in its foreign relations? It is clear that the EU will not say `agree to a solution inCyprus and you can become a member´ but, would it not be good not to encounter a Cyprus obstacle at possible new crossroads where Turkey and the EU may meet in the unpredictable but fast-developing dynamism of the 21st century?[68] Instead of showing a `let the rich not issue orders´ reaction to the G- 8 call, would it not be possible to use the negotiation process to explainbetter the Turkish thesis to the world?Contrary to the Turkish view, the claim of the United States, which is a signatory to the G-8 call, regarding this last point is that `the scope of the negotiations has not been reduced; rather it has been kept broad enough to bring any alternative to the table´. When Washington officials are reminded that the UN resolutions mentioned by the G-8 call for a `federation´, a fifth point is raised by the US officials: [80] Why does the Turkish side not demand a negotiating process in which neither the UN resolutions nor the confederation are put forward aspreconditions and in which the interlocutors sit at the table equally as leaders of the two communities? Instead of campaigning to show that the UN resolutions do not meet the demands of the day, why is there a preference to appear as the intransigent side challenging the world with the statement `there is no such thing as Cyprus problem?´.'' FD/SK -----------------------From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/Cyprus Press and Information Office: Turkish Cypriot Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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