Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 12-08-31

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From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] PKK claims that has established field control on nearly 400 square kilometers of territory in Turkey's southeast region. Turkish officials denied the claim

[02] Demirel on jury to select mausoleum for Rauf Denktas

[03] A rally in support of Asil Nadir is organized on Monday

[04] Turkey's national day was reportedly celebrated in front of empty grandstands in the occupied part of Lefkosia

[05] Establishment of an UBP-CTP "coalition government" is reportedly being discussed

[06] Gunes urges the regime to focus on the participation of Turkish Cypriot athletes in the Mediterranean Games in Mersin

[07] The breakaway regime participated in the World Body Building and Fitness Championship in Canada

[08] Columnist explains why Turkey's efforts to test waters for possible non-fly zone between Hatay and Aleppo may be "mission impossible"

[09] Turkish opposition members banned from laying wreaths at Ataturk monuments for the 30 August celebrations

[A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS

[01] PKK claims that has established field control on nearly 400 square kilometres of territory in Turkey's southeast region. Turkish officials denied the claim

"For the last 45 days, an area 300-400 kilometres square from Semdinli to Cukurca has been in the control of the PKK. All the roads outside the city borders are in the control of the PKK," claimed Demirtas in his interview that appeared on Thursday in Taraf daily.

However, Turkish government officials have dismissed these describing them as "a propaganda campaign that is not in touch with the reality on the ground".

"That's just Demirtas' wish," Huseyin Celik, AK Party Deputy Chairman, said on Wednesday, commenting on Demirtas' statement. "It's true that contractors can't carry on with their work in an area where clashes are ongoing, but that doesn't mean the area is under the PKK's control," Celik added, noting that the Turkish state is in control of every inch of territory within its borders.

The paper citing sources in the Hakkari security forces who spoke to Today's Zaman on condition of anonymity, writes that "PKK is carrying out terrorist acts to get media coverage, thereby giving the false impression that it controls the region". "Almost every other day the PKK attacks police stations just to get media coverage, but it's actually just that a couple of PKK terrorists are opening fire from a distance and then run away and hide in the mountainous area," the sources stated.

[02] Demirel on jury to select mausoleum for Rauf Denktas

The self-styled minister of transportation Hamza Ersan Saner arrived to Ankara to present a note to Demirel after the former president agreed to be on the jury.

Speaking during the meeting, Demirel congratulated the Turkish Cypriots and the self-styled government of the breakaway regime for undertaking such a project. "You have stood up for Denktas in a way that suits such a hero," Demirel said.

The former Turkish president said he had told Denktas that it did not matter if the world did not recognize the breakaway regime and told him that what mattered was that they led their people well. Demirel alleged that the world would recognize the occupation regime "sooner or later" and told Saner to "hold their heads up and hold fast to their values and hold fast to each other and the Turkish people."

Demirel also alleged that the Turkish invasion in 1974 by Turkey had not yet produced political results.

On his part, Saner said they chose to introduce the jury on August 1 as it was the day the island of Cyprus was captured by the Ottomans in 1571 and was also the day Denktas founded the "Turkish Resistance Agency".

Saner said the competition to pick a mausoleum design for Denktas would officially begin on September 1 and that they expected a large number of entrants.

[03] A rally in support of Asil Nadir is organized on Monday

Under the title "For Justice", the paper writes that representative of the ten organizations met yesterday and announced that they will hold this rally on Monday 3 September aiming at protesting what they described as "conspiracy initiatives" of the Greek Cypriot side and support the "legal struggle of Nadir" in London. The rally will be held at 11.00 a.m. at Kugulu Park at Kerynia Gate under the slogan "Justice for Asil Nadir will come for the Turks of Cyprus".

The activity is supported by organizations such as the Stock Breeders' Union, the Farmers' Union, the occupied Morfou and Lefka area Citrus Fruit Producers' Union, the Potatoes Producers' Union, the "North Cyprus" Citrus Producers' Union, the producers' Union of occupied Elia village, the Chamber of Agricultural Engineers etc.

(I/Ts.)

[04] Turkey's national day was reportedly celebrated in front of empty grandstands in the occupied part of Lefkosia

In statements during the celebrations, lieutenant Ismail Serdar Savas, commander of the Turkish occupation forces in Cyprus, alleged that the victory which they had achieved has been the sole guide and source of inspiration not only for the Turkish nation, but for all the enslaved and oppressed nations which struggle for freedom and independence. He said that the Turkish army will always be protecting the Republic they had established.

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen newspaper (31.08.12) reports that the ceremony at Dr. Fazil Kucuk Boulevard in the occupied part of Lefkosia was held in front of empty grandstands and that even the "protocol" did not participate. The paper writes that such celebrations, which are organized 4-5 times every year in the occupied area of Cyprus, do not attract the interest of the "citizens" any more.

(I/Ts.)

[05] Establishment of an UBP-CTP "coalition government" is reportedly being discussed

The paper alleges that CTP leadership had instructed supporters of the party to join the UBP in order to support Kucuk for the presidency of UBP during the latter's congress. According to the paper, the CTP will be given four so-called ministries in the "government" to be established after the congress: the self-styled ministries of foreign affairs, agriculture, health and education.

(I/Ts.)

[06] Gunes urges the regime to focus on the participation of Turkish Cypriot athletes in the Mediterranean Games in Mersin

(I/Ts.)

[07] The breakaway regime participated in the World Body Building and Fitness Championship in Canada

Athletes from 30 countries participated in the championship according to the paper.

Tarik Mustafa came first in his category while Sefik Sefik and Mustafa Behlul came second in their category.

[08] Columnist explains why Turkey's efforts to test waters for possible non-fly zone between Hatay and Aleppo may be "mission impossible"

"When the first indications of another wave of the Arab Spring began to appear in Syria, Turkey was quick to cool down Western excitement over the possibility of intervening there in order to speed up the results of the revolution through military means, as had been done in Libya. The reason was simple: For Turkey, Syria was not like Libya.

Actually, it had not been easy for Turkey to make the necessary manoeuvre in the case of Libya, either. Only days before the rebellion started in Libya, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had received a human rights award from Moammar Gadhafi himself and bearing his name in Tripoli. It was a chance for Ankara to show that there had been no shift in the axis of Turkish foreign policy; no more than two weeks after Erdogan's acceptance of the Gadhafi award, the Turkish Parliament approved a government motion to send the air force and navy to contribute to the NATO force in Libya. Turkish approval of hosting NATO's early-warning radar site as a part of Missile Shield defence system came soon after.

But Syria was different. First of all, it was not thousands of kilometres away; it was a neighbour, and the neighbour sharing not only the longest (910 kilometres) land border with Turkey, but also a lot of cultural history. After some traumatic years, when Hafez al-Assad harboured outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) [Kurdistan People's Congress, KGK] leader Abdullah Ocalan during his armed campaign against Turkey, Ankara has been on relatively good terms with his son Bashar al-Assad. Erdogan and al-Assad were calling each other brothers and having family summer vacations together. Relations had reached the level of joint cabinet meetings and the mutual lifting of visas, following which merchants in Gaziantep used to go Aleppo, 120 kilometres away, to have their lunch kebabs. They returned when the riots started in Damascus.

That was why Turkey was trying to cool its Western allies down from engaging in a Libya-like campaign, as were bitter memories of two consecutive wars in another neighbour, Iraq, which damaged the Turkish economy and resulted in the PKK setting up military camps there.

To be fair, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu spent weeks and months trying to convince al-Assad to reform his system and stop his security forces from opening fire on protestors, who were not yet armed to the teeth.

It was morally acceptable for the majority of the Turkish people to defend the human rights of their Syrian neighbours, as they tried to make their voices heard under an oppressive regime. It was partly acceptable to support the Syrian opposition, who could not find a way to be represented in Damascus. But when reports began to accumulate that Syrian armed groups were being trained in Turkey, and intelligence services from the Americans to the Saudis were providing them with arms via Turkey, eyebrows began to be raised.

When two parliamentarians from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) were denied access to a refugee camp in the border province of Hatay, Davutoglu explained that it was a camp especially for defected Syrian security officers, and entry was by government permission only. Now Hatay is listed as the headquarters of the Free Syrian Army on their websites, and Davutoglu has left for New York to test the waters at the UN for a possible non-fly zone between Hatay and Aleppo, with additional difficulties such as the support of Iran, the Russian navy base in Syria, and a strong Russian-trained air defence in Syria.

Al-Assad says he needs some more time to crush the opposition, and Turkey is trying to make his job difficult, but the scratches Turkey gets along the way may take a long time to heal."

[09] Turkish opposition members banned from laying wreaths at Ataturk monuments for the 30 August celebrations

Officers had gathered at squares in Isparta and Izmit, as well squares on Istanbul's islands, even before party members arrived to lay wreaths. Tension ran high in several different spots as confrontations between police forces and party members marred the nation's celebrations of Victory Day. In some locations, crowds successfully overcame police forces and laid wreaths at monuments.

Measures taken by ruling Justice and Development Party authorities and police departments to prevent the laying of wreaths were heavily criticized by members of the CHP, as well as other politicians. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION

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