TCC Press Review 29 Sept 2019

Front Page Headlines

Yenidüzen

Politics shouldn’t be about who is best at squeezing more money from Turkey

Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader Tufan Erhürman said that politics in North Cyprus should stop being about who is better at squeezing more money from Turkey and should be about creating a sustainable economy that can stand on its own feet.

  • Turkish Foreign Minister Çavuşoğu announced in New York: “We proposed a 5+1 meeting, we shall be reaching a decision – Çavuşoğlu said that Ankara had proposed a 5+1 meeting which will include the two sides in Cyprus, the guarantor powers and the UN. “We shall unofficially discuss what we are going to negotiate, come to a decision before formulating the Terms of Reference document.

Kıbrıs Postası

Salamis road businesses close shop one by one

Rent prices of shops along Famagusta’s popular Salamis road have sky-rocketed. Kıbrıs Postası spoke with some of the shopkeepers. Many are closing their shops, which they have invested thousands of Lira in. Monthly rents for Salamis road shops range between £1000 to £3000.

  • Cyprus rally reunited Nicosia even if it’s only for one day
  • The church buildings in villages are an embarrassment
  • Ten refugees, who were snuck in the country in a container filled with salt, were hiding in the storeroom of a house.
  • Akıncı: “UN must protect its parameters.”
  • Özersay: “My father did not die for us to be governed by another country.”

Kıbrıs

Law on the source of assets is a must

While the debate in parliament rages on as to whether or not to lift all immunities of MPs except for that pertaining to speech, it is of equal importance to finalize the draft law on the sources of assets and to put it into force.

  • The biggest threat is permanent partition – MEP Niyazi Kızılyürek said both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots are dragging the island to a permanent partition. 
  • Akıncı: “We are going to meet with the UNSG with a constructive attitude” – President Mustafa Akıncı highlighted the need to solve the Cyprus problem. He added clarity is the biggest need in the process.
  • Çavuşoğlu: We have made our 5+1 proposal – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Turkey proposed a meeting of the two sides, three guarantor powers and the UN in an informal meeting to decide on what will be negotiated before formulating the Terms of Reference document.

Havadis

Russians like the north

The number of Russians who have purchased real estate in the north continues to grow by the day. Igor Korshunov, director of Leverage Investment Ltd, said he has sold more than three thousand houses to Russian nationals.

  • Turkey ready for 5+1 – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Turkey has made its proposal to hold an informal five-party meeting plus the United Nations to discuss and agree on what to negotiate before formulating the Terms of Reference document.
  • Guterres should ask Anastasiades to fulfil the promises made during his UNGA address – Republican Turkish Party leader Tufan Erhürman said during his party’s meeting in Kyrenia.

Diyalog

Ercan (Tymbou), Koopbank and Şeker Insurance under review

Diyalog asked the general secretaries of the National Unity Party (UBP), the Republican Turkish Party, the People’s Party (HP) and the Rebirth Party (YDP) about the files concerning corruption allegations.

Afrika

Maestro Çavuşoğlu

Çavuşoğlu: “We made our proposal for 5+1 meeting which will include the two sides in Cyprus, the guarantor powers and the UN. We shall unofficially discuss what we are going to negotiate, come to a decision and then form the terms of reference document.

  • Özersay against annexation with Turkey – “I’m the son of a martyr. My father didn’t die so that this country would be run by others. We shall neither be part of an administration that will be dominated by Greek Cypriots nor will we integrate with Turkey.

Main News

Akıncı: “Cyprob must not remain unresolved”

Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs Postası, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Afrika
Negotiations Process, Governance & Power Sharing, Energy, Property, Territory

OVERVIEW

All six dailies on Sunday gave room to the statement made by President Mustafa Akıncı ahead of his meeting with the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) Antonio Guterres on Monday.

Akıncı said the Cyprus problem must not remain unsolved, adding that he is approaching an upcoming meeting with Guterres in a constructive mood.

Speaking to Bayrak and TAK news agency in New York, Akıncı pointed out clarity was the most important thing needed to open the way for a solution to the Cyprus Problem.

He said the Turkish Cypriot side had been in New York this week to promote peace and stability, not for confrontation.

“We are here to contribute to peace and stability and not to increase tension,” Akıncı said, pointing out he will be reminding the UNSG on the Turkish Cypriot side’s July 13-dated hydrocarbon co-management proposal when he meets with him on Monday.

Akıncı urged the United Nations to protect its parameters, which the Turkish Cypriot side has been defending from the beginning.

“It is vital to prevent the Greek Cypriot side to deviate from these parameters,” Akıncı stressed.

“Actions must follow words,” Akıncı said in criticism of the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades. “The contradictions between attitudes and what’s being said to the public do not help the solution of the Cyprus problem,” he noted.

Saying that you accept political equality but not effectively participating in the decision-making and rotating presidency means that you do not accept political equality as outlined in UN resolutions and previous conventions, he said.

Akıncı pointed out that the Turkish Cypriot side has been underlining since 2017 three important points regarding efforts to draft the Terms of Reference.

“These are the 11 February 2014 Joint Declaration, past convergences and the Guterres framework dated June 30, 2017,” Akıncı noted.

He also pointed out that Anastasiades’ attempts to distort the Guterres framework by inventing a new one will not assist the sides in any way to resume the talks.

“We are not after open-ended negotiations carried out for the sake of negotiations,” Akıncı warned.

He added the Turkish Cypriot side, on the contrary, wants a results-oriented process with the goal of a strategic agreement.

“We want the new process to start with clarity, to end it successfully. It needs to be well planned, well structured, results-oriented and subject to a time frame,” Akıncı said.

He said he was positive about a three or five-way meeting as long as they were well prepared.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Saturday that Turkey had proposed an unofficial five-party meeting with the participation of the UN to discuss what to negotiate before formulating the Terms of Reference (ToR) document.  

Speaking to Turkish reporters in New York, Çavuşoğlu pointed out that past and present negotiations in Cyprus had failed because of the Greek Cypriot side’s refusal to share power and wealth.

He said there was no meaning in holding talks for the sake of holding talks.

“Any new negotiations must be results-oriented. I have said in the past and I repeat we cannot enter a new process that will fail. That would be an adventure and raising the hopes of the Turkish Cypriot people for nothing,” he said.

Çavuşoğlu also stated that what was important was to determine what was to be negotiated.

“The most important issue is political equality,” he said, adding that it was out of the question to resume talks where they left off in Crans Montana in 2017 because that process was a total failure.

On the issue of hydrocarbons, Çavuşoğlu said that Ankara supported the Turkish Cypriot side’s proposal to form a joint committee to co-manage the island’s hydrocarbon resources.

He claimed that the proposal had received support from international actors as well even though this was not openly stated.

The leader of the main opposition Republican Turkish Party Tufan Erhürman expressed his view that Guterres will play a key role in restarting talks on the Cyprus Problem.

He said that by Anastasiades refusing to accept a results-oriented negotiations process subject to a time frame he was also rejecting what the UN Secretary-General and the UN Security Council (UNSC) were saying.

In an interview published in Yenidüzen on Sunday, Erhürman repeated his views expressed earlier in the week.

“Putting aside everything that has been said and done after the collapse of the talks in 2017, we stated clearly after Crans Montana that any new process needed to be results-oriented and that it could not be open-ended as in the past. We also made it clear that political equality was a sine qua non for Turkish Cypriots and that this issue was not subject to debate,” he said.

Erhürman said that any counter-arguments raised against these conditions were invalid as all issues on a federal settlement have been discussed to date. 

“All areas where convergences and divergences exist are well known. There is no point in opening these issues to discussion again.

The CTP leader also argued the coalition government’s position in favour of a two-state solution under the EU umbrella was unrealistic.

“How can you expect a political leader that doesn’t even accept political equality to accept a two-state solution under the EU umbrella?” he asked

On the issue of Maraş (Varosha), Erhürman said his party never supported the issue being discussed separately from ongoing efforts to solve the Cyprus Problem.

He, however, added that his party did support confidence-building measures at times when efforts to solve the Cyprus Problem entered a period of stagnation.

“We have supported re-opening Maraş (Varosha) as a confidence-building measure during such times just as we supported the Ghali Set of Ideas in the past,” he said.

Erhürman said that the CTP supported moves on Maraş (Varosha) in line with UNSC resolutions should efforts to restart result-oriented talks fail.

“Any moves must be taken in consultation with the UN and negotiated if necessary. If there is no movement on the negotiations, then the international community cannot wait for the Turkish Cypriot side to do nothing on the issue of Maraş (Varosha) as there are more and more applications being made to the Immovable Property Commission (IPC),” he said

Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Kudret Özersay on Saturday said that Turkish Cypriots will never accept being governed by Greek Cypriots nor will they accept integrating with Turkey.

In an interview with Euronews, Turkey, Özersay said that it was high time things changed in Cyprus.

He pointed out that decades of failed negotiations resulted in the preservation of the status quo which Turkish Cypriots were victims of.

“We, as the Turkish Cypriot side decided to end the uncertainty over Maraş (Varosha) and to break the status quo. Thus we are taking steps towards reopening the fenced-off town,” Özersay said.

He added that the inventory study is already underway for the town and that nothing, not even the Greek Cypriot side, could deter the Turkish Cypriot side from going ahead and opening the fenced-off city.

He also dismissed claims that the Maraş (Varosha) initiative was being imposed by Turkey.

“These allegations are baseless and part of the repeated Greek Cypriot attempts to blame everything on Turkey,” he said.

Özersay said that despite rejecting all of the Turkish Cypriot side’s positions and demands, the Greek Cypriot side still blamed Turkey for the deadlock in the talks.

“The reasons for the failure of the process in Crans Montana are the very same reasons why the talks don’t continue. They [Greek Cypriots] do not want to share power with us,” Özersay argued.

He said that any new negotiations could not start from the point it had been left off in Crans Montana and that the Turkish Cypriot side did not want to be caught up in yet another open-ended and uncertain process.”

KEY ACTORS
Akıncı
>> Cyprus problem must not remain unsolved.
>> Clarity the most important thing needed to open the way for a solution.
>> TC side has been in NY to promote peace & stability, not for confrontation.
>> TC side does not want open-ended talks carried out for the sake of negotiations.
>> TC side wants a well-planned, well structured, results-oriented process subject to a time frame.
>> A three or five-way meeting is possible as long as it is well prepared.

Çavuşoğlu (Turkey)
>> No meaning to hold talks for the sake of holding talks.
>> Any new negotiations must be results-oriented. Entering a new process which will fail would only be an adventure and raising false hopes.
>> Important to determine what is to be negotiated. The most important issue is political equality.
>> Out of the question to resume talks where they left off in Crans Montana.
>> Ankara supports TC side’s proposal to form a joint committee to co-manage the island’s hydrocarbon resources.

Erhürman (CTP)
>> Any new process needs to be results-oriented and cannot be open-ended as in the past.
>> Political equality is a sine qua non for TCs.
>> All areas where convergences & divergences exist are well known. No point in opening these issues to discussion again.
>> The coalition government’s position in favour of a two-state solution under the EU umbrella is unrealistic.
>> CTP has never supported Maraş (Varosha) being discussed separately from ongoing efforts to solve the Cyprob.
>> CTP supports CBMs at times when efforts to solve the Cyprob enter a period of stagnation.
>> CTP supports re-opening Maraş (Varosha) as a CBM.
>> CTP supports moves on Maraş (Varosha) in line with UNSC resolutions should efforts to restart result-oriented talks fail.
>> Any move on Maraş (Varosha) must be taken in consultation with the UN and negotiated if necessary.
>> International community cannot expect TC side to do nothing on Maraş (Varosha) in the absence of a settlement given the growing number of property cases at the IPC.

Özersay (HP)
>> TCs will not accept being governed by GCs nor will they be integrated with Turkey.
>> TCs are the primary victims of the status quo.
>> TC side decided to end the uncertainty over Maraş (Varosha) & break the status quo by taking steps towards its reopening.
>> Nothing will deter the TC side from going ahead with the Maraş (Varosha) initiative.
>> Negotiations cannot start from the point they had been left off.
>> TC side does not want to be caught up in yet another open-ended & uncertain process.


Ankara brands regional tripartite statement as ‘fictional allegations’

Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs Postası, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog
Energy, Regional/ International Relations

OVERVIEW

The Turkish foreign ministry branded statements made after a joint meeting of the foreign ministers of Cyprus, Greece and Egypt in New York as “fictional allegations”.

In a statement on Saturday, the Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said that Ankara completely rejected the fictional allegations against Turkey in the joint declaration which was given at the end of the joint meeting between the foreign ministers of Greece, Egypt and the Greek Cypriot administration on September 27 in New York.

The recent efforts of Greece and Cyprus “to involve countries of the EU and the region for their maximalist national purposes, contrary to international law, do not serve peace and stability in the eastern Mediterranean,” he continued.

The countries of the region do not have responsibilities for or the right to comment on problems in the Aegean and in Cyprus, the spokesman said. “Movements aimed at neglecting and isolating Turkey and Turkish Cypriots have no chance of success”.

“Also, while Greece, on the one hand, sends messages of co-operation, on the other, it demonstrates its dishonesty with the unsubstantiated allegations against our country,” Aksoy said.

The Turkish foreign ministry called on Greece, South Cyprus and Egypt to “confront the political, economic and geographic realities of the region and to follow policies that relate to these realities”.

“There is no other road for stability and a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem,” he said. “In this area, there will never be effective projects that do not include Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots. We will continue to defend the rights of our country and the Turkish Cypriots to the end.”

KEY ACTORS
Turkish MFA
>> Ankara completely rejects fictional allegations against Turkey in trilateral statement.
>> Greek-GC efforts do not serve peace & stability in East Med.
>> Countries of the region do not have the right to comment on problems concerning the Aegean or Cyprus.
>> Movements aimed at neglecting & isolating TCs do not have a chance of success.
>> Greece, S. Cyprus & Egypt should confront the political, economic & geographic realities of the region & pursue policies accordingly.
>> There is no other road for stability or for a just & viable solution to the Cyprob.
>> Turkey will continue to defends its rights & TCs to the very end


The biggest threat is permanent partition

Kıbrıs
Negotiations Process

OVERVIEW

Akel’s MEP Niyazi Kızılyürek said both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots were dragging the island to a permanent partition through empty promises during an interview with Kıbrıs.

Kızılyürek said the biggest threat to Cyprus was permanent partition.

He said that both sides paid a heavy price as a result of intercommunal fighting with the Greek Cypriot side losing a part of their homeland and Turkish Cypriots their share in the Republic.

He added, “If we had been more aware of our losses, we would have taken a step towards the solution but the two sides choose to make do with whatever they have.”

Kızılyürek, in response to a question on his election to the European Parliament (EP), said: “People have said finally, there is something normal happening on the island.”

He added the other EP members are aware of his election through Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot voters.

Kızılyürek noted the EP is a place in which its members are elected by the citizens. “Therefore, the problems of both the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots are my agenda,” Kızılyürek said and added that, as a federalist, he is most interested in issues that will bring the two communities closer.

“The Turkish Cypriot community’s problems are a priority for me because it is an invisible community due to their political status. I am working on issues such as Turkish Cypriots becoming more visible or active within the EU as well as benefiting from EU assistance.

Kızılyürek noted his efforts were not specifically directed at strengthening Turkish Cypriot presence in EU institutions but enabling easier access to the benefits.

“Among my efforts is making Turkish an official EU language,” he said.

Asked to comment on the Turkish Cypriots’ future on the island, Kızılyürek said the biggest threat on the island was permanent partition.

“In such a case, the Greek Cypriot community might forever lose 37 per cent of the island but the Turkish Cypriots might end up losing their communal existence on the island dating back to the Ottoman era. North Cyprus could then become part of Turkey,” Kızılyürek warned.

Kızılyürek, in response to a question on the solution of the Cyprus problem, said pessimism regarding a political settlement was rife on the island.

He pointed out that while the Turkish Cypriot side was reluctant to making territorial concessions after 1974, the Greek Cypriot side did not want to share governance.

Since none of the sides is willing to make concessions from their positions it has not been possible to reach a solution, he said.

“However, since Crans Montana, it is possible to talk about a different kind of a non-solution. The method and shape of the solution are known but the fear of a solution dominates the political environment,” Kızılyürek underlined.

He added the sides are running away from the solution now instead of running towards it.

Kızılyürek also distinguished between Anastasiades and Akıncı’s positions regarding the solution of the Cyprus problem, stating that while Akıncı stood loyal to past convergences, Anastasiades failed to do so.

Touching on Anastasiades’ policies after Crans Montana, Kızılyürek claimed AKEL was the only party that was harshly criticizing him.

He pointed out that Anastasiades, by signing agreements with Israel and Egypt, is trying to keep Turkey out of the hydrocarbons equation.

“This was a big mistake because the hydrocarbons could have contributed to the solution process on the island,” Kızılyürek added. As a result, Kızılyürek argued, Turkey responded with a policy of force. He also claimed Turkey’s agreements signed with the TRNC are unlawful.

KEY ACTORS
Kızılyürek
>> Empty promises by both TCs and GCs are dragging the island to a permanent partition which is the biggest threat for Cyprus.
>> North Cyprus will become part of Turkey in the case of partition.
>> Big mistake to try to keep Turkey out of the gas equation by signing agreements with Egypt and Israel because hydrocarbons could have contributed to the solution process on the island.
>> Turkey has responded with a policy of force.
>> Turkey’s agreements signed with the TRNC are unlawful.


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