Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 02-04-18

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

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Denktas talks about the freedom of movement of the Moslem religious leaders.

[02] Denktas/ statements prior and after the meeting with President Clerides.

[03] Brucellosis in the occupied village of Arsos, in the area of Larnaca

[04] Two new mosques in the occupied areas.

[B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS

[05] Mehmet Ali Birand: Turkey causes incidents to get what they want.

[A] NEWS ITEMS

[01] Denktas talks about the freedom of movement of the Moslem religious leaders

Talking during a lunch he gave to the participants in the 5th Eurasia Islamic Council, Mr Denktas expressed his sorrow because of the fact that Greece and Russia have allegedly prevented some religious leaders to participate in the Council.

Arguing that a struggle must be given on the issue of free movement, the Turkish Cypriot leader claimed the following: "Otherwise, there is no resistance against injustice in this country and the world. Our Moslem brothers, who have been convicted to being alone, will not be able to overcome this loneliness and their hopelessness cannot be turned into hope".

Furthermore, Mr Denktas asked the participants in the Council to convey to their countries, their governments and their peoples the message that the pseudostate has its "democratic institutions and its government". Describing his pseudostate as a "respected state", Mr Denktas referred once again to the so-called realities, which have to be accepted so that the Cyprus problem can be solved and claimed that the "sin of the Turkish Cypriots" is their being Turks and Moslems.

Mr Denktas concluded as follows: "We have accepted this sin a long time ago with pride and we have been living with this glory. We have gained our freedom, saved our land from the impotence and raised our own flag. Those who wish peace in Cyprus must see this reality".

[02] Denktas' statements prior and after the meeting with President Clerides

The Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktas made a short statement to the press prior the meeting. Referring to the Greek Cypriot press reports, he said: "You read the Greek Cypriot press. According to the Greek Cypriot press, our state does not exist; we should think of how to become a part of their own state; we should not object to their coming to the north because apparently this is their legitimate right; we should live very well and happily together, because, according to the Greek Cypriot press, the Greek Cypriots love us very much. It is not I who is saying all this; it is the Greek Cypriot press. You should assess well what they are saying."

After the meeting, reporters asked him if the Greek Cypriot side is continuing to present its views. Denktas replied: "No. We held a mutual discussion of issues at this meeting."

A Turkish Cypriot reporter recalled: "In their statements, the Greek Foreign Minister and the Greek Cypriot Assembly Speaker said that the talks are going well and calmly but that they must be speeded up." Denktas simply answered: "Well said."

Denktas announced that the next meeting will be held at 1000 on Friday, 19 April.

Today's meeting was attended by Alvaro de Soto, the UN Secretary-General's special envoy in Cyprus; Ergun Olgun, the so-called presidential undersecretary; Resat Caglar, the so-called undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Defense; and Professor Mumtaz Soysal, Denktas' legal and constitutional adviser.

[03] Brucellosis in the occupied village of Arsos, in the area of Larnaca

[04] Two new mosques in the occupied areas

The other mosque is located in Kaymakli at the occupied part of Nicosia.

[B] COMMENTS AND EDITORIALS

[05] Mehmet Ali Birand: Turkey causes incidents to get what they want

"Ismail Cem got what he wanted. He put on the EU agenda the need to give Turkey a date. However, just as he was leaving the room, the news of CNN Turk, NTV and TV 8's closure was received. And Turkish officials broke into a cold sweat

After all these years I have come across the same old scenario. Maybe a coincidence -- however hard it may be to describe it as an accident -- or maybe a planned, programmed script...Whatever it is, the scenario goes as follows: Whenever Turkey attends a major meeting abroad, an incident occurs to ruin the meeting and block a development which would give Turkey an advantage. It is as if an invisible hand creates an incident that would prevent Turkey's democratisation, Turkey taking its place among the modern countries, an incident that would cast a shadow on such a development.

I have growing suspicions to this effect though I do have the conviction that in our country, planned and programmed actions rarely happen except in the case of murders of the Susurluk type.

I am referring to an incident, which occurred during the Turkey-European Union Association Council meeting in Luxembourg. (16.4.02)

That was one of the most important meetings ever held between Turkey and the EU. And it had gone well beyond all expectations.

During the meeting, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, bombarded the EU officials with questions. He said that Turkey was doing all it could to comply with the Copenhagen criteria, especially in the freedom of expression area.

And he had demanded that at the Copenhagen summit scheduled to take place in December, EU should give Turkey a specific date for the start of the EU-Turkey access talks.

The meeting constitutes the highest-level decision-making mechanism in Turkey-EU relations. Hence the significance of Turkey officially demanding that a date be determined.

Here is a summary of the meeting I have prepared, using a certain formula I have developed:

'The EU has applauded Turkey's efforts to adapt to the EU, using the Copenhagen criteria. It has said that the glass is half full. It drew attention to the need to fill the other half as well.

And it issued a warning along the following line: Amending the laws would not suffice. These have to be implemented. However, the legal changes made have not been implemented yet.'

Despite the warning, at a press conference immediately after the meeting, the Spanish Foreign Minister, speaking in his capacity as the Council chairman, stressed for the first time the 'date-demanding' issue. Until now, the EU officials had tried to ignore Turkey's insistence on this issue. Pique said: "Turkey has demanded a date. We have taken note of that. Now, striking a balance between the EU rules and the Copenhagen criteria, we will take a decision."

This decision is very important. For example, though Verheugen had taken an "ending this quarrel for good" kind of attitude in the vein of, "First comply with the Copenhagen criteria. Then we would give you a date immediately," the Spanish Minister adopted a political approach to the issue, taking a step forward. The Turkish delegation was very happy with the situation until a news report gave everybody a shock.

The CNN Turk, NTV and TV 8 channels had been given a temporary -- 24 hours -- closure penalty.

Just when the press conference was drawing to an end, I heard the correspondent of an international news agency tell Verheugen:

"The CNN has just been closed. Last week, a driver was given a prison sentence in Diyarbakir for listening to a Kurdish cassette. And you are talking about freedom of expression in Turkey. Is not that a contradiction?" Verheugen faltered, tried to say something and he left the room before it could be clarified what he had said exactly.

In Luxembourg, Turkey found itself in a comic situation indeed. To put it more correctly, Turkey found itself in an embarrassing situation because of the Supreme Radio-TV Board (RTUK) Bill.

Turkey showed that in its present state it would not be able to pass even a regular human rights and basic freedoms test, let alone obtaining a specific date for the start of the accession talks. It became obvious that first their mentality must change.

Once again, Cyprus was on the agenda

Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said this last Monday during his talks in Brussels. The situation was further clarified in Luxembourg on Tuesday. If, in the Turkey-EU relations, the Copenhagen criteria constitute a key, Cyprus constitutes the other key.

And Rauf Denktas is being seen as the party that drags its feet on the Cyprus issue, putting forth one condition after another. Denktas is still being described as the person that 'prevents a solution.' Since we do not know what is happening behind closed doors and who says what, we cannot make an assessment.

However, this is the general scenery. We should well be aware of the fact that all the balances will be disrupted unless the Cyprus problem gets solved by the end of the year.

Unfortunately, there are so many people dealing with the Cyprus issue in Ankara, but not one would set the direction of the developments by taking the helm into his own hands. And the ship is slowly drifting towards a giant iceberg..."

KV/SK

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