GCC Press Review 19 October 2020

Front Page Headlines

Politis

Partition is now our interlocutor

The TCs have chosen Ersin Tatar as their leader with 51.69% of votes. The Trikomo and Famagusta ‘districts’ where there is increased presence of settlers, were the ones to give Tatar his victory. The end of an era for Akinci after 45 years in politics. The TC leader took a swipe at Ankara for intervention. Satisfaction in Ankara with Erdogan and Cavusoglu congratulating Tatar for his victory.

Phileleftheros

The ‘ballot box’ voted for Erdogan

Ankara enforced the result in the occupied areas with Ersin Tatar as the winner. Akinci withdraws from politics. Crazy celebrations in the occupied areas.

  • The event in Dherynia sent out messages amidst provocations by the Grey Wolves
  • So close to Famagusta: The occupation is as visible and felt as ever

Haravgi

Tatar’s victory is a step back

After the unprecedented interventions and the war waged on Akinci, Turkey finally managed to help nationalist Ersin Tatar, who is fully in line with Ankara’s partition plans for Cyprus, win yesterday’s elections. AKEL said this was a negative development and stressed that the GC side must remain focused on the resumption of the talks.

  • ‘Anastasiades resign’ was among protesters’ calls during a demo against corruption
  • A new provocation by Turkey

Alithia

Erdogan won the elections in the occupied areas

Cyprus is numb, the Grey Wolves are celebrating. Storm-like developments, Akinci leaves politics.

  • US Assistant Secretary of State in Cyprus for contacts with foreign, defence ministers
  • L. Constantinides: The Aegean islands and Cyprus are Europe’s great responsibility (opinion)
  • New provocation by Ankara: It presents half of the Aegean and the area from Crete up to Cyprus as its search and rescue area

Main News

Concerns over Cyprob after Tatar’s election

Alithia, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
Governance & Power Sharing, Negotiations Process

OVERVIEW

Ersin Tatar’s victory in Sunday’s elections in the north is the main item in all dailies on Monday.

Tatar won with 51.74% of the votes while incumbent Mustafa Akinci garnered 48.26%.

Phileleftheros and Alithia report that Erdogan was in fact the one who won the elections citing Ankara’s glaring interference during the election campaign.

According to Phileleftheros the ballot box elected Erdogan’s chosen one, proving wrong all forecasts and confirming the obvious, that Ankara holds the magic wand with which it moves the threads and determines developments in the occupied areas.

The paper reports that there are no surprises as regards what comes next on the Cyprus problem as the new TC leader is expected to respond positively to the UNSG’s call for talks at a new informal five-party meeting. However, he will project Turkey’s hard-line positions pushing the process to uncharted waters as regards the form of the solution.

As regards Famagusta, it is very likely that Turkish plans for the opening of the closed-off area of Varosha and its settlement will proceed more rapidly now as a form of pressure on the GC side ahead of developments in the Cyprus problem, the paper reported.

Alithia reports that Cyprus was shocked after hearing the final results of the ‘presidential’ elections in the occupied areas and Tatar’s victory.

In fact, the big winner is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who, with his interventions, managed to have a politician who acts as his ‘yes man’ elected. Tatar is a politician who declares he wants a two-state solution/partition, the daily reported. The Grey Wolves and the hard liners are celebrating, the daily reports. It adds that the occupied areas are turning a new page while developments are expected to be rapid as Akinci leaves politics.

Haravgi reports that Erdogan’s chosen one who has plans for the partition of the island, has won the elections. The paper noted that Tatar, in his first address after the result was announced, referred to the ‘TRNC’ (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus).

It seems that Turkey’s interventions during the election campaign in Tatar’s favour and the war waged against Akinci have played a crucial role in Tatar’s election, the daily reported.

Under the headline, ‘Partition is now our interlocutor’, Politis reports that this is the end of an era for Akinci while the bizonal bicommunal federal solution enters turbulent waters.

Analysing the results by area, the daily reports that Tatar won thanks to Trikomo and Famagusta where there are many settlers.

According to the paper, the efforts of Tatar’s party, the National Unity Party, to convince people to vote seems to have paid off since 24,000 more people voted in the run-off compared to the first round of the elections. At the same time, Ankara’s underground guidance of those living in the occupied areas also worked since it managed to shape the climate in the public dialogue.

In real numbers, Akinci did not manage to secure the votes he had garnered back in 2015 when he was first elected as TC leader, the daily reports.

Haravgi also reports that main opposition AKEL said Tatar’s election as the leader of the TC community was “a negative development”, given his position on the Cyprus problem.

“Nonetheless, in view of the fact that the UN Secretary-General has repeatedly reiterated his intention to undertake efforts to revive the negotiations, the GC side must remain committed and consistent in resuming negotiations from the point they left off in Crans-Montana,” the party said.


Athens reacts to Ankara’s new S&R map

Alithia, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
External Security, Regional/International Relations

OVERVIEW

The papers report on a new provocation by Ankara, the presentation of a map depicting Turkey’s search and rescue area.

The map, released by Turkey’s minister of transport and infrastructure, Adil Karaismailoglu, shows Turkey’s responsibility areas which have been expanded to cover the area from Crete all the way up to Cyprus.

Haravgi reports it is the same map in front of which Erdogan was photographed at the beginning of September bringing back the ‘Blue Homeland’ notion.

The Greek foreign ministry said that the Turkish search and rescue region which is arbitrarily defined in the new Turkish law, like the one defined in the Turkish law of 1988, is illegal to the extent that it overlaps areas of Greek sovereignty and jurisdiction, thus producing no legal effect. In addition, it is not based on operational criteria and does not serve the purpose of protecting human life, the Greek ministry said, according to the dailies.  

It also said that the search and rescue region under Greek responsibility, which was established in the 1950s by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Regional Air Navigation Agreements and officially declared in 1975 to the competent International Maritime Organization (IMO), coincides with the Athens FIR and is in accordance with the IMO and ICAO recommendations included in the International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue (IAMSAR) Manual.

The ministry also said that it was clear from this latest move, which is purely politically motivated, that Turkey has no qualms about causing confusion and thereby endangering human lives. This move adds to a long list of arbitrary and illegal Turkish claims in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean – claims that are responsible for the unprecedented escalation in the recent period, it said.


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