TCC Press Review 22 Oct 2020

Front Page Headlines

Yenidüzen

Junction of death hidden in pitch darkness

Three Zimbabweans, aged between 23 and 24 died in a traffic accident that took place near Yılmazköy (Skylloura). One of the passengers on board the car which crashed is fighting for his life in hospital. All four who were friends studying at the European University of Lefke drove to their death on a road which has no lighting.

  • “Holding early elections in the pandemic is difficult” – Head of Supreme Electoral Council Narin Ferdi Şefik spoke to Yenidüzen.
  • National Unity Party (UBP) congress on October 31.

Kıbrıs

First the UBP congress then the new government

The UBP will hold its congress on October 31 to elect its new leader. In the meantime, Ersin Tatar announced that he will continue to chair the cabinet meetings until a new government is established.

  • 35 political parties in 44 years – The Turkish Cypriots went to the polls 14 times to elect a parliament. 35 different political parties competed to win representation. There are now 13 registered political parties and the remaining 22 are not included in the political sphere anymore.
  • “We have been assisting the north in their efforts to contain the pandemic” – Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said.
  • 20 died on the roads in 10 months – A total of 143 people died in traffic accidents in the past four years and ten months.

Havadis

UBP is the agenda

Ersin Tatar presided over his final UBP party assembly following his election. UBP has decided to hold its congress on October 31. The second leg of the leadership election in UBP will be held on November 7.

  • Mustafa Akıncı announced his election expenses.
  • Tatar will officially become the president tomorrow (Friday) – The official results of the presidential elections will be published in the official gazette today (Thursday). Tatar will be sworn in at parliament tomorrow (Friday).
  • Tatar reminded of UN resolutions – Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades hope that “Tatar will not come to the negotiations table with the positions he has outlined to date.”

Diyalog

One election is over, the next begins

The task of forming a new government will be given to the new UBP leader to be elected on October 31. It seems that the crisis of government which emerged after the People’s Party (HP) quit the coalition isn’t going to be solved soon. The first step Prime Minister Ersin Tatar has done after being elected as the new president is to initiate the election of a new party leader. A decision was adopted by the UBP party assembly on Wednesday that the party’s extraordinary congress will take place on October 31. In the meantime, Ersin Tatar has said he intends to continue chairing the cabinet until a new government is formed. He added this is allowed by the constitution. As Diyalog announced yesterday (Wednesday), six candidates are eyeing the top seat in UBP. 

Avrupa

Election meddling and interference report

A group of activists and lawyers under the leadership of Tacan Reynar have launched a probe in election meddling and interference. The group, which is named: “Working group to report election meddling and interference,” issued a statement announcing that they will share their findings with the UN and the EU in order so that similar acts will not be repeated in future elections.

  • The UBP congress will be held on October 31 – Ersin Tatar announced that he will continue to chair the cabinet meetings until a new government is established.
  • Mustafa Akıncı announced his election expenses – He spent ₺2,035,932 (€219,000) on the elections.
  • Tatar will be sworn in – The fifth president Ersin Tatar will be sworn in tomorrow (Friday).
  • Is Özersay quitting politics? – It is claimed that Kudret Özersay, who remains quiet since the second round of the elections, will quit politics.

Main News

Mistake to negotiate for a federation, Hasipoğlu argues

Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process, EU Matters, Regional/International Relations, Energy

OVERVIEW

“It would be a mistake to negotiate for federation after this point,” the National Unity Party (UBP) Famagusta MP Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu said on Wednesday.

Speaking on a TV programme, he argued that the Greek Cypriot side’s policy in the negotiations process is based on delaying tactics and pretending to be wanting a solution with the Turkish Cypriots.

Hasipoğlu underlined that the goal is to achieve political recognition for the north and to increase the visibility of Turkish Cypriots in the international arena.

“It would be a mistake to seek international recognition and participate in talks over a federal solution at the same time,” Hasipoğlu said.

“The Greek Cypriot side has a different understanding of the UN parameters, of sharing, of guarantees. It is necessary to show it is not possible to reach a deal with the Greek Cypriot side within the framework of existing UN parameters. For decades, we continued with the processes on the premise that the Greek Cypriot side had good intentions but decades later, we now realise that the federation (model) has been exhausted,” Hasipoğlu said.

He also argued that the Greek Cypriot mindset needs to change.

Hasipoğlu noted that there is not a topic left untouched in the federation talks and added that the sides know each other’s red lines very well.

“The Turkish Cypriot side now must clearly outline these facts to the UN and call on the UN to conclude the federation talks,” Hasipoğlu said.

“This is a determined position because we want a future that is not clouded with uncertainty” he stressed.

The UBP MP said the alternatives other than federation must be tabled.

“For example, Kosovo. They achieved what we failed in over 40 years in just two years because this is what they demanded from the UN. Why don’t we do the same? Isn’t this our right,” Hasipoğlu asked.

He pointed out that more than 100 states now recognize Kosovo.

Responding to a question on the hydrocarbons issue, Hasipoğlu expressed his hopes that the crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean will lead to a solution.

“If we can share the gas, we should. If not, let’s separate the blocks,” he stressed.

Reiterating that the Greek Cypriot side wants to delay the Turkish Cypriots through the negotiations process, Hasipoğlu concluded by stating that the Turkish Cypriot side does not want to waste any more time and wants the uncertainty over its future to be lifted.

Expressing similar views during a TV programme on Kanal T, former Turkish Cypriot negotiator Ergün Olgun argued that the Greek Cypriot side has been using the negotiations process as a tool for its gains rather than a solution.

“The Greek Cypriot side’s true intentions of forcing the Turkish Cypriot side into making more concessions during the Crans Montana process were seen,” he claimed, adding that Turkey’s reciprocal steps came after Crans Montana.

“It is, for this reason, Turkey has taken action over the maritime jurisdiction issue, deployed drillships to the Eastern Mediterranean and taken concrete steps on Maraş (Varosha),” Olgun said.

“The political message the Maraş (Varosha) move has given is that the Greek Cypriot side is not the sole sovereign entity on the island,” Olgun stressed and argued that it has now been clarified that the federal solution is not the right option on the island because the Greek Cypriot side wants to spread its hegemony throughout the island.

“I believe both Turkey and the north will develop a joint rhetoric based on two sovereign states,” Olgun concluded.

Meanwhile, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay on Wednesday echoed views expressed by Hasipoğlu and Olgun.

“Turkey has no wish to waste another 50 years by negotiating a federal settlement but we are ready to discuss a two-state solution,” Oktay told CNN Türk in an interview.

The Turkish vice president said that Ankara had shown all kinds of efforts to reach a federal solution in Cyprus but that all attempts had failed.

“We do not want the Cyprus Issue to remain unresolved. It was the Greek Cypriots who were responsible for the collapse of the talks in Crans Montana. We can talk about a two-state solution based on sovereign equality,” he said.

Regarding the elections in the north, Oktay said that Turkey’s agenda was not occupied with the elections in the north.

He said that criticisms directed at Ankara of interfering in the elections did not reflect the truth.

“The Turkish Cypriot people exercised their own free political will. They made up their minds. The financial assistance provided, which we were accused of providing as election bribes, is something that we regularly provide the TRNC. We have been assisting the TRNC deal with the pandemic and its effects. It is the EU’s assistance provided at this time and the UN Secretary-General’s statements which should be considered as interference in the elections,” he said.

KEY ACTORS
Hasipoğlu (UBP)
>> It would be a mistake to negotiate for federation after this point.
>> The GC side’s policy in the negotiations process is based on delaying tactics & pretending to be wanting a solution with the TCs.
>> The goal is to achieve political recognition for the north & increase the visibility of the TCs in the international arena.
>> It would be a mistake to seek international recognition & participate in talks over a federal solution.
>> The GC side has a different understanding of the UN parameters, of power-sharing & guarantees.
>> Necessary to show it is not possible to reach a deal with the GC side over the UN parameters.
>> For decades, the TC side continued with the processes on the premise that the GC side has good intentions.
>> Decades later, we now realise that the federation (model) has been exhausted.
>> The GC mindset needs to change.
>> There is not a topic left untouched in the federation talks adding that the sides know each other’s redlines very well.
>> The TC side now must clearly outline these facts to the UN & call on the UN to conclude the federation talks.
>> This is a determined position because we want a future that is not clouded with uncertainty.
>> The alternatives other than federation must be tabled.
>> Kosovo achieved what we failed in over 40 years in just two years because this is what they demanded from the UN.
>> If we can share the natural gas, we should. If not, let’s separate the blocks.
>> The GC side wants to delay the TCs through the negotiations process.
>> The TC side does not want to waste any more time & want the uncertainty over its future to be lifted.

Oktay (Turkey)
>> Turkey has no wish to waste under 50 years by negotiating a federal settlement but is ready to discuss a two-state solution based on sovereign equality.
>> Ankara has not meddled in north’s elections as claimed. Financial assistance provided is part of routine support to the north.
>> The EU’s & the UNSG’s motives should be questioned.


Tatar taking office while one group probes election meddling

Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Governance and Power Sharing, Human Rights

OVERVIEW

President-elect Ersin Tatar will be sworn in at a ceremony in the Turkish Cypriot parliament on Friday, all dailies reported on Thursday.

The ceremony, set to take place on Friday afternoon will be off-limits to the press due to the Covid-19 pandemic measures.

A handover ceremony will take place at the Office of the President on Friday with Mustafa Akıncı handing over the post to Tatar.

Meanwhile, it has been announced that UBP will be holding its extraordinary congress on October 31 to choose a new party leader following Tatar’s election as the new president.

The process of electing a new party leader will take place in two rounds, the second a week later on November 7.

The crisis of government which emerged after the People’s Party (HP) quit the coalition a week before the elections, however, is continuing.

Tatar on Wednesday said that he would continue to head the government until UBP elected its new leader, adding that the new UBP leader would be tasked with forming a new government.

He pointed out that this was permitted by the constitution.

In the meantime, an independent working group named “Reporting Meddling and Interference” has been established by a group of political scientists, activists and researchers to launch a probe into allegations of election meddling.

The working group, which is made up by Tacan Reynar, Abdullah Korkmazhan, Mine Yücel, Mine Atlı, Derya Beyatlı, and Orhan Erönen has asked people with any information on the elections to come forth in a statement issued on Wednesday.

“There were serious claims of meddling and interference in the (second round of) elections between October 11 and 18… Therefore, we have decided to collect and report on all the available data that prevented the Turkish Cypriot community’s political will to be reflected in the ballot boxes,” the statement read.

The group added that the findings in the report will then be shared with international organizations, human rights groups, the UN and the EU to prevent similar actions to be repeated in the future.

It also assured the public that the identities of those who share information will be kept strictly confidential.


Two new Navtex announcements from Turkey

Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Regional/International Relations, Energy, External Security

OVERVIEW

Turkey announced two new navigational telex (Navtex) after Greece violated the demilitarized status of some islands contrary to the Treaty of Lausanne, the dailies report on Thursday.

The Office of Navigation, Hydrography and Oceanography’s Izmir station announced the Navtex on Tuesday, stating that the demilitarized status of Samothrace, Lemnos and Aya Evstratios islands have been violated by Greece.

Ankara has rejected the Greek claims over the waters in which the seismic research vessel Oruç Reis is currently carrying out its explorations.

Ankara and Athens have been at odds with each other over the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean and the maritime boundaries of islands.

Ankara claims that Greece has armed 18 out of 23 islands in the Aegean Sea, which is perceived as a threat to its security.

These include the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Symi, Icaria, Patmos, Leros, Kalymnos, Kos, Astypalaia, Rhodes, Kastellorizo (Megisti-Meis), Nisyros, Tilos, Halki, Karpathos and Kasos.

Moreover, Ankara argues that the Treaty of London in 1913, restricts the militarization of the Eastern Aegean Islands, which was then confirmed by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.

Moreover, Ankara also quotes the 1947 Treaty of Paris, which ceded the Dodecanese islands from Italy to Greece, also confirmed the demilitarized status of the islands.

On the other hand, Greece argues that the 1936 Montreux Convention regarding the regime of the Turkish Straits should also be applied to the issue of islands. Athens claims that the islands need to be militarized for the protection of sovereignty.


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