Front Page Headlines
“We do not accept the argument that the Adalı murder case is closed”
The Republican Turkish Party’s (CTP) youth branch staged a protest in front of the Police General Directorate building regarding the Kutlu Adalı murder. The youth organisation placed a black wreath at the front gate of the building and read out a press statement. Later the protestors left black pens in front of the gate in protest.
A 10-minute-long telephone recording belonging to Arhun and Hafız surfaces
The hearing into the case known as the ‘telephone recording’ which has rocked the country continued yesterday. The court ordered suspects police chief constable Ali Savaş Altan, businessman Tekin Arhun, İsmail Karaböcek and Nurettin Arapsoy, who are being charged with extorting Erkut Hafız, a witness in a police bribery case, to remain in police custody for three more days. The three are accused of secretly recording a telephone conversation which they then reproduced and distributed.
- British sterling pound and the US Dollar heading to a new record high – The tendency in the increase in the value of foreign currencies continued until the very last days of the week. While the Turkish Central Bank maintained the interest rate at 19 per cent, political and economic developments increased the value of the foreign currencies against the Turkish lira.
No strength left
Shopkeepers who are experiencing the hardest times are calling on the authorities to take action to reopen the crossing points for business and tourism. Shopkeepers speaking to Diyalog say they have no strength left to keep going.
- Exceeds 53,000 – The south has doubled the number of its university students.
I raised my hand and gave the order to shoot (him)
Since the opening of the Kutlu Adalı case, look what else is being revealed…Hasan Kundakçı, who was the force commander of the Turkish Security Forces in 1996, also spoke and gloated about the shooting of Solomos Solomou on the flagpole in Derinya (Deryneia). He also spoke about Tasos Isaac who was killed by a mob (of grey wolves). Kundakçı said: “I had given the necessary orders in advance in the case of anyone attempted to cross our border or anyone to steal our flag. They knew exactly what to do when I raised my hand. (Rauf) Denktaş was also there on that day.”
- Start the investigation with Soyalan – Şener Levent in his column writes that if a new investigation is going to be launched on the Kutlu Adalı’s murder, it must start with Ahmet Soyalan, who is the current police commissioner in the north but was the police officer in charge of the murder investigation in 1996.
Main News
“Our sovereignty or equality is not open to discussion,” says Tatar in a letter to UNSG
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar has sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) laying out his side’s approach to the Cyprus issue and how he sees the process going forward. Tatar had made the reveal about the letter during an interview with Turkish Cypriot news agency TAK in the north published on Thursday.
The Turkish Cypriot leader made it clear that official negotiations to settle the Cyprus Problem could only be launched as and when the Turkish Turkish Cypriots’ sovereign equality and equal international status was secured.
Publicising the missive, Tatar’s spokeswoman Berna Çelik Doğruyol said the Turkish Cypriot leader had expressed his gratitude to the UNSG for “his fair and balanced attitude during the five-plus-UN informal meeting in Geneva.”
Doğruyol said Tatar in his letter expressed his discomfort on the Greek Cypriot Nicos Anastasiades’ position adopted during the meeting in Geneva. “Anastasiades not only distorted historical facts but argued that a solution on the island can be realised through integrating the Turkish Cypriot community into the Republic of Cyprus (RoC), which is currently under the effective control of the Greek Cypriots,” Doğruyol quoted Tatar as saying. under the occupation of the Greek Cypriots at the moment,” Tatar said,
“Hijacked by the Greek Cypriots in December 1963, the RoC lost all legitimacy following unlawful changes made to its constitution. The state was transformed from a bicommunal partnership to an exclusively Greek Cypriot state controlled by Greek Cypriots for the Greek Cypriots. This material breach was aimed at subjugating and dominating the Turkish Cypriot people leaving the Turkish Cypriots with no alternative but to establish their own separate administration in Cyprus in the exercise of their inherent right to self-determination,” Tatar said in his letter.
He added that since then there are two separate and independent administrations in Cyprus.
According to Doğruyol, Tatar also argued that the international community conceded to the illegal actions of the Greek Cypriot side, which led to the collapse of the 1960 Republic and which led to the disruption of the balance between the two sides. He added since then the Greek Cypriot side has been utilizing unfair and anachronistic isolations against the Turkish Cypriot community to achieve a solution imposed on the Greek Cypriot side’s own terms.
“Not only do these limitations and restrictions hinder Turkish Cypriots’ economic and social development, but they also embolden the Greek Cypriot side to continue with their irreconcilable attitude preventing a settlement,” Tatar argued, adding that it is necessary to reach an agreement that will lift these restrictions.
“The Turkish Cypriot side is determined to maintain its right to self-determination and determined to demand sovereign equality and equal international status, in order so that a cooperative relationship between the island’s two existing and future states can be established,” Tatar highlighted, adding that the Turkish Cypriot side went to Geneva with a new vision based on it.
Accusing the Greek Cypriot side of paying lip service to UN parameters, Tatar argued that the Greek Cypriot side’s insincere and hypocritical attitude would only help maintain the status quo on the island, which they significantly benefit from.
“The way forward is to start a new process in line with the UNSG’s proposal of ‘a bottom-up’ approach, leaving behind the failed processes,” Tatar said, adding that it can only be based on the existing realities on the island and the equal international status of the two sides as well as their inherent sovereign equality enshrined in the UN Charter.
Recalling the Turkish Cypriot side’s six-point proposal put forth in Geneva, Tatar said a cooperative relationship between the two sides can only work once the UN Security Council (UNSC) secures the equal international status and sovereign equality of the two sides.
“The rationale behind my proposal is; results-oriented negotiations should be conducted between equals,” Tatar stressed, adding that the new process to be launched between the two equal sides must also be limited with a timeline.
Noting that the Turkish Cypriot side’s proposal aims at “levelling the playing ground both at the negotiations table and outside,” Tatar said the Turkish Cypriot side has reached the point due to countless failures in the past processes which had left the Turkish Cypriot side continue to suffer under inhumane isolations whereas the Greek Cypriot side as the recognized entity on the island.
Doğruyol also said that Tatar reiterated that the past processes to reach a federal solution had failed due to the Greek and Greek Cypriot side’s irreconcilable attitudes.
KEY ACTORS
Tatar
>> Official talks can only be launched as and when the TCs’ sovereign equality & equal international status is secured.
>> TC side determined to maintain its right to self-determination & demand sovereign equality & equal international status.
>> The way forward is to start a new process in line with the UNSG’s proposal of ‘a bottom-up’ approach, leaving behind failed processes.
>> A cooperative relationship between the two sides can only work once the UN Security Council (UNSC) secures the equal international status & sovereign equality of the two sides.
>> Rationale behind TC proposal is that results-oriented talks should be conducted between equals.
>> Talks should be limited with a timeline.
>> TC side’s proposal aims at levelling the playing ground both at the negotiations table & outside.
Tatar sends message for Nicos Rolandis
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar issued a message expressing his condolences to former Greek Cypriot minister Nicos Rolandis. In a statement issued from his office, Tatar referred to Rolandis’ article in Cyprus Mail dated March 1, 2020, and said Rolandis had repeatedly said many opportunities had been missed in the efforts for the solution of the Cyprus problem.
“Rolandis had courageous statements which drew the readers’ attention to the realities on the island,” Tatar said, expressing his condolences to his family.
717 Turkish Cypriots are eligible to vote
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Diyalog, Avrupa
CBMs
OVERVIEW
There are 717 Turkish Cypriots eligible to cast a ballot in the parliamentary elections to be held on Sunday in south Cyprus, Turkish Cypriot media reported on Friday based on information obtained from the Greek Cypriot officials.
It is reported that 193 Greek Cypriots and 50 Maronites will also be allowed to cross to the south for the elections. They are required to show a negative PCR test result obtained within the last 72 hours to cross to the south.
KTTO’s first quarter report reveals a bleak picture of TC economy
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Diyalog, Avrupa
Economy
OVERVIEW
The Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce (KTTO) shared its first-quarter economy report with the public on Friday. The report, which covers the period from January to March 2021, provides a snapshot of the economic situation in the north as well as provides the readers with macroeconomic data in the north, south, and Turkey. Compiled under seven chapters, the report also outlines the KTTO’s economic recommendations in the seventh chapter.
Reading out excerpts from the report, Turgay Deniz, head of the KTTO, said the economy in the north was suffering as in all parts of the world.
“Due to losses in tourism and higher education sectors, the TRNC economy will be deeply affected, shrinking by 11.04 per cent in our estimates,” Deniz stressed, adding that the figure has exceeded double-digits for the first time in a long time.
He said another area that showed immense growth is the number of unemployed. Deniz said: “The unemployment was measured at 10.1 per cent – also first double-digit figure in nine years – and unemployment among the youth has reached 29.3 per cent.”
“By the end of 2020, the inflation rate was 15,03 per cent,” Deniz said, which dropped slightly to 13.97 per cent in the first quarter of 2021. He added with the sharp devaluation of the Turkish lira, the inflation rate in the second quarter is likely to be higher than it now is.
Deniz added that even though the percentage for state budget covering local expenses through local revenues had dropped to 87 per cent in 2020, the figure in the first quarter of 2021 has been calculated as 92.28 per cent.
“The TRNC budget will have a deficit of ₺135m (€12.9m) in the first quarter of 2021 however when compared to the same period last year, we see that the budget deficit was also in the same band and was measured at ₺133m (€12.7m) in 2020,” Deniz said.
He also noted that the banking sector like in 2020 continued to grow in 2021 as well.
“Due to the pandemic, the banks emphasized on private sector loans in 2020,” he said, adding that the loans for companies amounted to 36.9 per cent of all loans. Deniz said even though the percentage of consumer loans decreased due to a halt in economic activities, people’s savings partially with the decrease in the value of the Turkish lira, increased by 25.3 per cent in the first quarter.
Deniz also urged the authorities to fulfil the requirements stated out in the “Economic Protocol Agreement signed between Turkey and the TRNC” and urged the authorities to allocate the promised funds for infrastructure development as well as for the private sector.
In other recommendations, Deniz also highlighted that “the government” needs to be more active in acquiring Covid-19 vaccines; open all the crossings; lift restrictions on the entry of foreigners who had purchased homes in the north; speed up the citizenship procedures for those who invest €1m or above in the north and to create a “Student Friendly Island” to attract more university students.
Deniz also laid out the Chamber’s demands from the authorities to extend the tax deferrals and state subsidies and other benefits and exemptions on mandatory payments until the end of 2021.