Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 16-03-22

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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] Turkey and the occupation regime will reportedly sign a protocol for the transferring of electricity to the occupation regime via underwater cables

[02] Erdogan accused the EU of not keeping its promises

[03] CTP's Foreign Relations Secretary criticizes Akinci's statements on the Cyprus problem; it is not correct to give a timetable

[04] Sennaroglu resigned from CTP

[05] Self-styled deputies participated in PACE meeting in Tbilisi

[06] Data on employment in the occupied area of Cyprus

[07] Eleven TIR of Turkish Cypriot potatoes have been turned back from Mersin Port

[08] A tomb of 2.500 years was found in occupied Potamos tou Kampou village

[09] Limassol's Cultural Vakif Foundation announced the restoration of the Limassol cemetery

[10] Turkish tourism sector expects $12 bln loss in revenue

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] Turkey and the occupation regime will reportedly sign a protocol for the transferring of electricity to the occupation regime via underwater cables

According to the "official website" of the "foreign ministry", in the aspect: "Ties with Turkey", it is said that "cables are planned to be laid in the sea from Anamour [Mersin] to Keryneia], within the framework of the implementation of a project called "electricity transferring project".

The paper writes the following: "In the framework of the electricity project which envisages the transferring of electricity from Turkey to the TRNC, Turkey and the TRNC will sign a protocol. The Cyprus Electricity Authority (KIB-TEK) on behalf of the TRNC and Turkish Electricity Transmission Company (TEIAS) will undertake the task to carry out the project. Within the framework of the project, cables will be laid in the sea from Mersin/Anamour to Keryneia, TEIAS will open international tenders for the underwater cables construction works and companies from Turkey, Italy, the UK and France could participate in the tender. The electrical energy to be produced will be transferred to the TRNC".

(AK)

[02] Erdogan accused the EU of not keeping its promises

"When I responded to Mr Annan that next time the Turks will be one step ahead of the Greeks he agreed to this and therefore we took steps", the Turkish President argued.

Claiming that during their workings the Greek and the Greek Cypriots weren't sincere and therefore when the time had come to put their signatures on the agreement they had refrained from doing this, Erdogan said that Annan did not accept this outcome therefore the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo had signed the agreement and took it to a referenda. "65% of Turkish Cypriots in the TRNC (editor's note: the breakaway regime in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus) voted yes while 75% of Greek Cypriots in the South of Cyprus (editor's note: the government controlled area of the Republic of Cyprus) voted no", said Erdogan.

"What happened? None of the promises made were kept and despite this the Greek Cypriot side entered the EU unilaterally. They made South Cyprus a part of the EU but not North Cyprus. I always say this, they are not sincere. We are sincere but they are not", Erdogan said. He added that the payments that needed to be made by the EU were also not made.

"The EU themselves failed to comply with the EU acquis communautaire and since that day we are continuing on our own path. When we look at the past we see that they have never kept their promises and they never will we are aware of this fact", the Turkish President argued.

[03] CTP's Foreign Relations Secretary criticizes Akinci's statements on the Cyprus problem; it is not correct to give a timetable

In statements to a television station yesterday, he said: "Mustafa Akinci is a great disappointment. I am watching him with a great disappointment. In the past Mustafa Akinci had statements which could be considered conservative. Now it is as if he is heading towards this. Reference has always been made to Confidence Building Measures. Mustafa Akinci failed in this as well. He is not seeing positively the opening of new gates as well as the issue of fenced off Varosha. I wonder, what did he do regarding the fenced off Varosha area? While he was saying this during the election period, why should we delay it, if this will happen with the solution? I am not saying let Varosha open. A feasibility study could be conducted. Today the area of Mesarya is not connected with the south. If you are going towards a solution, the people should have social, trade relations. What could be the fear for this? The opening of new gates will deepen the status quo. This is correct. There is a drawback. However, these people have needs".

Ozsaglam said that it is not correct to give a timetable for the solution of the Cyprus problem. Noting that there is no agreed text or constitution in the current situation, he argued: "The paperwork for this will not be finished. If everything goes positively, I see [it in] June 2017".

Replying to a question regarding the guarantees, Ozsaglam said that according to a survey, the percentage of those who insist on Turkey's guarantees has been decreased to 48% comparing to last year. He added: "The guarantees should be discussed in the very end. Surveys show that a big change has happened. There is a survey conducted by Mr. Ahmet Sozen. The percentage of those insisting on Turkey's guarantees decreased to 48%. I relate this to the insecure situation in Turkey. A multi-sided, a five-party conference should be convened regarding the Treaty of Guarantees and the issue should be discussed [?]"

(I/Ts.)

[04] Sennaroglu resigned from CTP

Speaking to the "BRT" about his resignation, Sennaroglu said that his relationship with his party had been hampered for some time now and therefore he has decided to resign from the party.

An official memorandum regarding Sennaroglu, self-styled deputy Hasan Tacoy and self-styled deputy Mentes Gunduz's resignations were read during the plenary session at "parliament" on Monday informing other "deputies" regarding the resignations.

With the latest resignations, the Democrat Party-National Forces (DP-UG) has 5 "MP's" at "parliament" and the CTP-BG has 20 "MP's. The UBP has "18 MP's", the TDP has 3 and there are currently 4 "independent MP's.

[05] Self-styled deputies participated in PACE meeting in Tbilisi

Mehmet Caglar, "deputy" of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) and Ozdemir Berova, "deputy" with the Democrat Party National Forces (DP-UG), are representing the "TRNC" at the meetings to be held on 21-22 of March. They will return to the occupied area of Cyprus on Wednesday after completing their contacts in Tbilisi.

[06] Data on employment in the occupied area of Cyprus

The paper publishes the following table, which shows the distribution of employment per sectors and in occupied town or villages, as well as the registered and non-employees:

Total Social

Insurance

Department Pension

Fund Not

registered Others

Total

[01] Total 103,149 83,056 12,973 6,845 275

b) Industry 9,981 8,764 449 768 0

c) Construction 8,096 7,152 57 859 28

d) Services 81,055 64,880 12,350 3,578 247

Centre

[01] Total 56,812 46,749 6,283 3,568 211

b) Industry 5,107 4,581 135 391 0

c) Construction 4,578 4,206 27 345 0

d) Services 45,851 37,381 6,121 2,137 211

District/Villages

[01] Total 46,337 36,307 6,690 3,277 64

b) Industry 4,874 4,183 314 377 0

c) Construction 3,518 2,946 30 514 28

d) Services 35,204 27,499 6,228 1,440 36

(DPs)

[07] Eleven TIR of Turkish Cypriot potatoes have been turned back from Mersin Port

A producer named Kemal Karadayi said that the self-styled minister of agriculture had stated that Mersin is open for the Turkish Cypriots, but this is not so. He noted that during the past couple of days eleven tons of Turkish Cypriot potatoes were returned from Mersin with the pretext that these suffered from a disease named "Lida".

(I/Ts.)

[08] A tomb of 2.500 years was found in occupied Potamos tou Kampou village

It is estimated that the tomb, which is located at the hills opposite the "Swan of Soli Fish Restaurant", belonged to a noble family and is the biggest tomb found until now in the occupied area of Lefka.

(I/Ts.)

[09] Limassol's Cultural Vakif Foundation announced the restoration of the Limassol cemetery

According to a written statement issued by the chairman of the board of trustees of the Limassol Cultural Vakif Foundation, Yucem Rasimoglu, the works for the restoration of the Limassol cemetery are already launched. The restoration works are supported by the Cyprus Vakif Foundation and the Limassol Municipality.

(AK)

[10] Turkish tourism sector expects $12 bln loss in revenue

The current problems, which have risen amid escalating security concerns and a significant decrease in the number of Russian tourists, will likely impact other sectors, including the agriculture sector, and push up the unemployment rate across the country, according to sector representatives.

The head of the Antalya Chamber of Trade and Industry (ATSO), Davut Cetin, said that the number of Russian tourists has almost zeroed over this year and they expected a significant drop in the number of arrivals from Europe, mainly from Germany, after a series of terror attacks which recently hit Turkey.

He noted that the organization submitted various scenarios to the government after the Russian crisis erupted, but only optimistic scenarios were shared with the public.

"We are at a point which is much worse than what we had earlier predicted in our worst case scenario," he noted at a meeting late March 18.

The vice president of the organization and the head of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers' Association (AKTOB), Yusuf Hacisuleyman, said that they predicted a loss of $8 billion in revenue in their previous scenario upon the predicted loss of around 4 million tourists following the jet crisis with Russia, by presuming the spending per capita at $1,000 plus the multiplier effect at 1.87.

"With the addition of the expected losses from the European market, we have now revised our potential revenue losses to $12 billion," he said one day before another terror attack in Istanbul, which killed at least four foreign nationals in central Istanbul on March 19.

Hacisuleyman said that the rising number of security warnings for Turkey by Western countries has spurred further losses in the sector, noting that the German Travel Association (DRV) cancelled a four-day meeting scheduled in April in the Aegean resort of Kusadasi.

"When travel agencies cancelled their meetings over security concerns, we cannot wait for arrivals from Germany to Turkey," he added.

He noted that the number of European tourists may decline by almost half over this year, adding that the number of Iranian tourists is expected to decrease to 30,000 over this year from around 45,000 last year.

Spain will lure much more tourists than it did earlier this year, and may reach around 80 million tourists, according to sector representatives. Another popular destination will be Greece, they added.

Cetin noted many hoteliers would not open their hotels this year, and around 80,000-100,000 job losses are expected in Antalya alone.

He said that the problems in the tourism sector have already started to spill over to other sectors, mainly the agricultural sector, and the losses will become more visible by May and the following months. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION

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(DPs/AM)

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