TCC Press Review 3 Oct 2020

Front Page Headlines

Yenidüzen

“Education with masks to last only a day”

The teachers’ unions evaluated the Covid-19 measures taken by the Education Ministry. According to the Turkish Cypriot Teachers’ Union, the number of pupils attending school on the second day was quite low. Many families found the measures taken by the government to be insufficient. Particularly, families of most preschoolers did not send their children to school. The Education Secretary Burak Maviş said, “the funding allocated by the finance ministry for the purchase of health and education kits is ₺9 (€1) per pupil and teacher. This figure should be ₺89 (€9.77). The hand disinfectants provided for teachers can only last a week. The masks handed out just a day.”

  • The threat of sanctions to Turkey at the EU Summit.

Kıbrıs

Important success in higher education

10,304 places out of the 13,694 quotas allocated for 17 universities in the north in the ÖSYM (Measuring, Selection and Placement Centre) have been filled. The number of Turkish students to continue their education in the Turkish Cypriot universities has increased significantly in the past three years.

  • “Turkish Cypriots are the interlocutors for the Greek Cypriots, not Turkey” – Turkish Foreign Ministry reacted to the decisions adopted at the EU Leaders’ Summit.

Havadis

N/A

Diyalog

No funding

(Agriculture and National Resources) Minister Oğuz who said that most of the 16 reservoirs or lakes in the TRNC cannot be used. He made a sincere confession that some of them have been completely neglected since 1975. He said that building a wall for one lake costs ₺880,000 (€96,600), money which the state does not have. Oğuz also said that the Department of Water Works also does not have the necessary machinery such as excavators for cleaning the bottom of lakes and stream beds.

  • If not sanctions will be imposed – A decision emerged at the EU leaders Summit calling on Turkey to cease its hydrocarbon activities in the Eastern Mediterranean.
  • ‘The best’ on the issue of territory – President Mustafa Akıncı said that the map presented to the Greek Cypriots at Crans Montana was prepared together with Turkey. It was later withdrawn from the table. 

Avrupa

Turkish Embassy has become an election office

Mustafa Akıncı continues to reveal Turkey’s interference in our elections…He said if there’s a need, he will speak more openly… Akıncı said the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Justice and Development Party (AKP) MPs are going from village to village telling the people not to vote for him. He added, “This is what he was told in the Boğaziçi (Lapathos) village.” Akıncı also said the Turkish Ambassador Murat Başçeri has met with the MPs from a party at the ‘Beyaz Ev’ (White mansion). “We know what they talked about there, too,” Akıncı said. He added pressure is being put on the business people either through threats or promises. “When the time comes, I will speak more openly,” Akıncı stressed.

  • No to constitutional amendments’ referendum – TKP-YG (Communal Liberation Party-New Forces) said.

Main News

Guterres renewes his desire to call for 5+1 conference

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

OVERVIEW

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed his desire to call for an “informal 5+UN conference” following the Turkish Cypriot elections, President Mustafa Akıncı said on Friday.

Issuing a statement from his office, Akıncı said he has had a video-conference with Guterres within the framework of the UN General Assembly.

He said the developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Cyprus issue were on the agenda. 

“In this regard, the Secretary-General renewed his intentions to call for an informal meeting, which the two sides on the island, three guarantor powers and the UN officials will be in participation,” Akıncı said.

Expressing his gratitude to the Secretary-General for his determination to contribute to the solution of the Cyprus issue, Akıncı reaffirmed his belief that the problems can only be overcome through negotiations and through diplomacy.


Map presented in Crans Montana best map presented by TC side

Diyalog
Negotiations Process, Property, Territory

OVERVIEW

“The map presented at Crans Montana was not prepared for the Greek Cypriots but for the UN,” Mustafa Akıncı said on a programme on TV2020 on Thursday.

He said that the map initially tabled during talks held in Geneva had been prepared jointly with the Turkish military.

“The map, tabled with the thought that the Cyprus Problem was going to be solved in Crans Montana, was aimed for the UN. We withdraw the map once the Greek Cypriot side withdrew its own map. But the map would have been tabled again if a settlement was to be reached,” Akıncı added.

He explained that the Turkish Cypriot side would be faced to pay millions of Turkish Lira in compensation for Greek Cypriot properties left in the north if no maps were to be put on the table.

“Do we have that much money? No. Therefore, it is obvious that there will be territorial adjustments made and maps will be tabled. The map we presented in Crans Montana was by far the best map ever prepared by the Turkish Cypriot side. But there were no concessions made,” he stressed.

Akıncı reiterated his view that efforts to solve the Cyprus Problem will resume with an unofficial five-party meeting once the elections are held in the north.

“If we don’t push for a solution and surrender our rights to the Greek Cypriot side this will mean that the Greek Cypriots will continue to hold the legitimate Republic of Cyprus (RoC) and Turkish Cypriots will surrender their legitimate rights,” he said.

KEY ACTORS
Akıncı
>> Map presented in Crans Montana for UN, not for GCs.
>> Map prepared together with the Turkish military.
>> Alternative to presenting maps is paying millions in compensation. There is no such money.
>> The map presented at Crans Montana by far the best map presented by TC side so far.


EU decision on Turkey ‘delusional’ sans few positive takeaways, Ankara says

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

OVERVIEW

The EU’s decisions on Turkey, issued Friday, are not based on reality although they have some positive points, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

“The statement is an example of how some EU countries want to improve ties with our country while others have been taken as hostages by Greece and Greek Cypriots,” the Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Emphasizing that the reference to the explanatory talks with Greece is a positive point, the Foreign Ministry corrected the EU statement by reiterating that the talks are not on the restrictions of the maritime borders but instead on all the problems that Turkey and Greece have.

“The fact that within the decisions there is no mention of Turkish Cypriots or a fair distribution of the hydrocarbon resources between the two sides shows that the EU’s mentality to overlook the Turkish Cypriots resumes,” the ministry added.

The ministry also reiterated that until the Cyprus crisis is resolved, the addressee of the Greek Cypriots is Turkish Cypriots, not Turkey.

“Thus, the EU should have called on Greek Cypriots to have talks with Turkish Cypriots, not Turkey,” it said.

The ministry further expressed that it is not a constructive approach on the part of the EU to refer to Turkey’s actions to protects its rights in the region as “illegal.”

“The EU should realize now that it cannot reach anywhere with such rhetoric,” the ministry said.

During a joint press conference with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio on Friday, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also criticized the EU for its decision.

“Although we showed well intention in solving the East Med crisis, we are determined to protect and defend our rights in the region,” he said.

“The EU’s decision on East Med was problematic. Turkey will be not celebrating the fact that the EU did not impose any sanctions,” Çavuşoğlu highlighted.

EU leaders on Friday issued a declaration warning Turkey it must halt gas exploration activities in waters claimed by Greece and the Greek Cypriot side and urging it to commit to talks.

The statement was agreed on by all 27 EU leaders after seven hours of haggling, with Greece and particularly the Greek Cypriot side pushing for a tougher line while other countries argued for a more conciliatory approach toward Turkey.

EU Council President Charles Michel said early Friday that the bloc agreed to adopt a two-way strategy toward Turkey and wants to give a chance to constructive political dialogue but warned that all options are on the table if that was not the case.

Speaking at a news conference following the EU leaders’ summit, Michel said the main discussions of the gathering focused on the current situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and EU-Turkey relations along with sanctions on Belarus.

He said the EU pact encouraged political dialogue based on common interests but added that the EU offered full support for Greece and the Greek Cypriot side and noted that the bloc expected Ankara to take positive steps.

According to Michel, the EU would rather have a positive agenda with Turkey, which it expects not to take any unilateral steps.

He said the European pact also supports efforts to establish a dialogue between Athens and Ankara and the restart of Cyprus negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations.

Stating that the leaders taking part in the event suggested establishing a multilateral conference to resolve disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean, he added that the EU Council would monitor developments and reevaluate the issue once again in December.

EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, also speaking at the news conference, said the European pact called for collaboration with Turkey based on a positive agenda, but she reiterated that the EU supported Greece and the Greek Cypriots.

She welcomed the start of a reliable dialogue between Athens and Ankara but noted that the EU regretted the latter’s attitude toward the Greek Cypriot side, which it does not recognize.

Von der Leyen warned that the EU would utilize all instruments and options should Turkey take unilateral actions, but the bloc did not prefer this, as positive relations would benefit both sides.

She noted that updating the customs union, improving commercial relations and cooperating in terms of migration should be on the agenda of both Turkey and the EU, especially at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted a heavy blow on international trade.

According to the statement issued by the EU regarding the summit, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was asked to organize a multilateral Eastern Mediterranean conference where multiple issues such as maritime jurisdiction areas, security, energy, migration and economic cooperation would be discussed.

The participants, format and date are yet to be negotiated on.

KEY ACTORS
Çavuşoğlu (Turkey)
>> EU’s decisions on Turkey, are not based on reality although they have some positive points.
>> Statement is an example of how some EU countries want to improve ties with Turkey while others have been taken as hostages by Greece & GCs.
>> Talks are not on the restrictions of the maritime borders but instead on all the problems that Turkey & Greece have.
>> No mention of TCs in the decision or a fair distribution of the hydrocarbon resources between the two sides shows that the EU’s mentality to overlook the TCs resumes.
>> Until the Cyprus crisis is resolved, the addressee of the GCs is TCs, not Turkey.
>> Thus, the EU should have called on GCs to have talks with TCs.
>> It is not a constructive approach on the part of the EU to refer to Turkey’s actions to protects its rights in the region as “illegal.”
>> The EU should realize now that it cannot reach anywhere with such rhetoric.


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