Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 02-04-04

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

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Turkish professor admits that the interests of Turkey in Cyprus are more important than the interests and the prosperity of the Turkish Cypriots.

[02] Taner Etkin demands again the closure of PUM and EP.

[03] Greek and Turkish Cypriot Youth Organizations met in Budapest.

[04] High expectations of the so-called Tourism Centre of North Cyprus in London for tourists to the occupied areas.

[05] Ahmet Ozal joins ANAP.

[06] Turkish publisher on trial for journalist Jonathan Randal/s book.

[07] The Results of an opinion poll among Turkish Cypriots on the Cyprus problem and other issues.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Turkish professor admits that the interests of Turkey in Cyprus are more important than the interests and the prosperity of the Turkish Cypriots

Speaking in London at a panel under the title: "The Cyprus problem in the light of the Ataturk Cultural Project", professor Ozankaya claimed that the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots cannot live together in Cyprus and argued that the existence of the Turkish Cypriots is important for Turkey's independence.

"The issue in Cyprus is the interests of Turkey and not the interests and the prosperity of some hundred thousands of Turkish Cypriots", admitted the Turkish professor alleging that Turkey must not abandon Cyprus, in view of the fact that the petrol of Kazakhstan will reach the Mediterranean Sea.

Furthermore, Professor Ozankaya criticized Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister, Mesut Yilmaz, because of his views on Turkey's EU accession and the Cyprus problem.

Meanwhile Murat Vehbi, chairman of the Ataturk's Thought Association in England, which was the organizer of the panel, said that the Association strongly opposes Turkey's accession to the EU.

[02] Taner Etkin demands again the closure of PUM and EP

Speaking yesterday at a press conference Mr Etkin claimed that the fact that PUM described the Turkish army as "occupying power" in Cyprus and called on the Turkish Cypriots to revolt against the occupation violates the so-called "constitution" of the pseudostate. The same thing is valid for the EP as well, alleged Mr Etkin, who called on the pseudoassembly and the pseudogovernment "to take immediately the necessary legal measures against the organizations which speak about occupation and act like a fifth column".

Referring to the issue of the Passports of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Etkin alleged that they are not "Cypriot passports" but "Greek Cypriots Passports" and asked the pseudoassembly to approve without delay the so-called "draft law" providing for punishment of those who get hold of such passports.

[03] Greek and Turkish Cypriot Youth Organizations met in Budapest

The paper also reports that the youth organizations, which met in Budapest between 28-31 March, evaluated the latest developments in Cyprus' accession to the EU. The youth organizations of the Turkish Cypriot political parties of the Republican Turkish Party (RTP), the Communal Liberation Party (CLP) and the Patriotic Unity Movement (PUM) and the youth organizations of the Greek Cypriot political parties AKEL, DISY and Social Democrats participated in the forum.

In a joint statement, they said that they support urgently a just, viable, democratic and lasting solution to the Cyprus problem. The ideal would be to find a solution to the Cyprus problem simultaneously with the Cyprus accession to the EU, said the youth organizations in their statement.

[04] High expectations of the so-called Tourism Centre of North Cyprus in London for tourists to the occupied areas

The Director of the centre, Mr Yilmaz Kalfaloglu, said that while in 1999 they participated only in one tourism fair, in 2000 in three, in 2001 in four, in the beginning of 2002 they already took part in eight.

He stressed that he is hopeful that due to the plane trips from Glasgow and Dublin, many Irish and Scottish tourists will visit the occupied areas this year. Five thousand tourists are expected from Scotland. Due to their successful tourism campaign four thousand tourists from Ireland will arrive to the occupied areas and their main target is the market of Britain, where their expectations, as Kalfaloglu added, is to reach 70,000 tourists. He also said that the budget of 2002 for their Tourism centre in London is about 1.3 million pounds sterling and he pointed out that they are making the best use of it.

[05] Ahmet Ozal joins ANAP

Ozal, elected as an independent deputy in the 1999 elections, was not formally a member of any political party. His relations with ANAP leader Mesut Yilmaz had long been cold, but the two had a round of talks, and he has decided to join the ranks of ANAP. Main opposition True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller had previously asked Ozal to join her party.

Ozal entered the ANAP parliamentary group with Yilmaz on Wednesday. ANAP deputies and members greeted him with applause. Turgut Ozal's second son, Efe, was present in the crowd. During a ceremony, Yilmaz presented Ozal with his own party pin.

Ozal, in a speech at the group meeting, said that he had listened to his heart in deciding whether or not to join ANAP. "I believe that ANAP will come to power," he said.

Yilmaz praised Ozal in his speech and called his recent move a "return home." Yilmaz said that Ozal's decision to join ANAP was a message to those following in the footsteps of the late Turgut Ozal.

"This meeting marks the end of a longing. Here I once more want to say welcome back to your home," Yilmaz added.

[06] Turkish publisher on trial for journalist Jonathan Randal/s book

If convicted of using the press to engage in separatist propaganda in order to destroy the integrity of the Turkish Republic and nation, Keskin could be sentenced to prison for anywhere from six months to three years.

Randal, a world famous and well-respected journalist who has spent many years as a war correspondent for the Washington Post, arrived in Istanbul late Tuesday and attended the trial in support of his book and the publisher. Among other Keskin supporters at the hearing were Nadire Mater, Ragip Duran, Hugh Pope, Jessica Lutz and Nicole Pope.

Keskin pointed out that he believed Randal's book was the best book written on the topic of the Kurds and Middle East politics. He pointed out that before appearing in Turkey, the book had been published in the United States, Britain, Italy, Iran and a number of Arab countries without any problem. "We are being tried for his book, for trying to benefit from his experiences. I think that this book ought not be treated this way," he added.

Keskin's lawyer then requested that Randal be permitted to speak for the defense, but after a break in the hearing, the court refused the request. The case was postponed until June on the grounds that the dossier on the case was not complete.

After the hearing was over, Randal stated that he was quite happy at having come to the court to support Keskin and his book. He said: "I believe that a democratic result will come out of this court case in which freedom of thought is being tried."

Randal's book is based on the author's years of moving among the Kurds and inquiring into their affairs. He has written an account of diplomacy and politics in the Middle East and an adventure story about being a war reporter in the 1990s.

[07] The Results of an opinion poll among Turkish Cypriots on the Cyprus problem and other issues

The questions and the results of the polls are the following:

TABLE 1:

What is the best solution for the Turkish Cypriots?

                      1997(OCT) 1999(DEC) 2000(AUG)
                          %         %        %
Bi-zonal federation     47.6      28.2     31.7
An independent state    38.1      38.5     23.3
Integration with Turkey 11.5       8.2      7.7
Confederation           n.a*      14.5     27.2
One unitary state       n.a*       6.6      5.3
Other                   1.2        0.6      1.4
No answer               1.6        3.4      3.3

TABLE 2:

What should be the conditions for accession or not accession to the EU?

                                                            1999 2000
                                                              %    %
We must never enter                                          6.4  2.8
We must enter after the solution of the Cyprus problem      28.8 42.7
We must enter after the solution and after Turkey enters EU 15.9 30.0
We must enter immediately (even without the solution)        9.8 21.3
After the solution and after Turkey will be candidate       36.0   --
Other                                                        3.1  1.3
No                                                           --   2.0

TABLE 3:

What will be the most important benefits from the EU?

Higher income and standard of living 33.3 %
More employment opportunities        11.4 %
More foreign investments              9.3 %
Better and stable economy             8.0 %
More exports                          5.6 %
The Opportunities of working abroad   5.0 %
More security and peace               4.8 %
More democracy/freedom                3.7 %

TABLE 4:

What will be the most harmful effects from the EU?

Not being able to compete                                        20.5%
Weakening of the relations between the pseudostate and Turkey    13.5%
The Greek Cypriots will be able to buy our land                   5.6%
Price increases                                                   4.9%
The sale of our land to the foreigners                            4.5%
The sovereignty will be limited                                   3.2%

Will territorial concession assist the solution of the Cyprus problem?

The 38.8% answered that they do not want to return any territory to the Greek Cypriots. The 57% accept the concession of a part of territory to the Greek Cypriots.

The federation solution was preferable by the 47.6% in 1997 and decreased to 30.0% in 2001. This is explained by the fact that the main supporters of the federation solution were the opposition parties. If we follow the percentages of the opposition parties, we can observe a decrease. The total percentage of the opposition parties [Republican Turkish Party (RTP) 24.16%, Communal Liberation Party (CLP) 13.27%, Patriotic Unity Movement (PUM) 2%] was 39.43% in 1993; it fell to 31.4% in 1998 (RTP 13.4%, CLP 15.4%, PUM 2.5%).

The confederation solution, which is the "official" proposal of the occupation regime, was preferred by the 14.5% in 1999 and increased to 27.2% in 2001.

If we take into consideration the education background of the participants, we can see that the proportion of those who prefer a federal solution is increasing along with their education level. There were no serious changes regarding the confederation solution while on the preference of an independent state the percentage is decreasing as the education level is rising.

The majority of those who are against conceding territory to the Greek Cypriots are people who came to the occupied areas from Turkey after 1974. The 74.5% of the teachers accept the territorial concession.

On the question of whether they prefer to return to their properties which are in the free areas of Cyprus or to take a compensation, the 16.7% answered: "We prefer to return to our property", the 36% said that they prefer a compensation instead and the 44.7% said that they have not made up their mind yet.

The 86.8% of the Turkish Cypriots want to live in the area where the Turkish Cypriots will be the majority after the solution, and the 9.7% said that they can live in the area where the Greek Cypriots will be the majority. (research 2001)

In 1999, the opinion of the Turkish Cypriots was asked on the solution of the Cyprus problem and the results are the following:

- The 80% wants a continuation of the guarantees provided for by the Constitution of 1960.

- The 79% foresee that they will live in separate areas

- The 84% want the removal of the elements that worsen the hostility and the differences between the two communities in the education system.

- The 73% want the civil organizations of both communities to come together more often

- The 68% want the distance between the military positions to be widened

- The 53% want the opening of the Varoshia closed area for common use

- The 68% want establishment of working relations and joint investments

- The 62% believe that if the youth of both communities get to know each other, it will contribute to the solution of the Cyprus problem

The researcher came to the following conclusions:

a. A significant majority of the Turkish Cypriots wants a change of the status quo. This demand is increasing with the education level and the new generation. They are ready to make a territorial concession to the Greek Cypriots, if this assists the solution of the Cyprus problem.

b. On the issue of what is the more ideal solution for the Turkish Cypriots, it varies according to the political inclination. The left-wing parties adopt the federation, and the right-wing parties the confederation. As the education level is increasing, the preference to a federal solution is increasing. The integration with Turkey or the annexation by Turkey is not demanded.

c. The Turkish Cypriots support the speedy accession into the EU. The 66% says that they can enter into EU even before Turkey. Only the solution of the Cyprus problem is considered an important precondition for the accession to the EU.

d. The economic factors are considered as the most important reasons for the accession to the EU.

KV/SK

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