TRNC News Today 15^th January 2016

Çolak received Turkey – Turkish Republic of Cyprus Cooperation Association

Foreign Minister Emine Çolak received Turkey-Turkish Republic of Cyprus Cooperation Association.

In her speech during the reception Çolak expressed her pleasure to welcome the Turkey-Turkish Republic of Cyprus Cooperation Association. Çolak said that the ties between North Cyprus and Turkey are very strong.

Touching on the Cyprus issue, Çolak stated that it was desired to ensure a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation based on the political equality of the Turkish Cypriots in the ongoing negotiation process which have continued for more than 40 years.

Stating that the identity of Turkish Cypriots is denied and non-recognition brought Turkish Cypriots big difficulties, Minister Çolak said that Turkish Cypriots should not be penalized in this way.

At the end of the reception, Turkey-Turkish Republic of Cyprus Cooperation Association President Aydoğan presented a plaque and thanked Minister Çolak.

Ban to meet with Akıncı and Anastasiades in Davos

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon will meet with President Mustafa Akıncı and Greek Cypriot Leader Nikos Anastasiades in Davos on Thursday 21 January.

The UN has announced that the meeting will be on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The purpose of the meeting, that will take place in the presence of the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, is “to take stock of the state-of-play in the negotiations”. This year, the forum will be held between 20-23 January.

Akıncı: “Issues regarding the map will be finalized without causing speculation at the last stage”

President Mustafa Akıncı stated that there are some other issues regarding “Territory” and they will be finalized at the last stage of the negotiations without causing any speculation.

In his statement following the meeting with Greek Cypriot Leader Anastasiades, President Akıncı said that all chapters have been discussed alternately as it was predicted in the 11 February 2014 Text, adding that the issues “Governance and Power Sharing” and “Economy and Relations with the EU” have been discussed previously and intense studies have been made regarding “Property” issue in the last few months.

Furthermore, stating that the “Territory” issue will be solved at the meeting attended by the guarantor countries, Akıncı expressed that their consensus is to discuss the names of the places, maps and percentages in the last stage of the negotiations.

Adding that there are differences of opinion and difficulties in addition to their common views, Akıncı said that they are working to overcome the differences so their meeting yesterday was very fruitful in this sense.

Expressing that the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s desire to meet with both Leaders in Davos was on the agenda of yesterday’s meeting, Akıncı said that he will attend the meeting within the framework of the known attitude of the Turkish Cypriot side.

Akıncı also stated that the members of the Committee on Education have been determined and the members will consist of 11 Turkish Cypriots and 11 Greek Cypriots.

Anastasiades: “We discussed the issues that are not on the agenda before”

According to the news of the Greek Cypriot radio, Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Anastasiades stated that after the leaders’ meeting which was held yesterday they discussed all issues and elements addressed in the negotiations so far.

On the question of the criticism that the Greek Cypriot political parties are not informed, Anastasiades stated that if a dramatic improvement occurs, he will call a meeting of the National Council.

Hammond: “The UK is also waiting for a solution in Cyprus as well as Turkey”

The UK’s Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs, Philip Hammond said: “The UK is also waiting for a solution in Cyprus as well as Turkey. As the UK we also support this.”

Cyprus may be nearing a breakthrough in resolving its four-decade old partition, Britain’s Foreign Minister said on Thursday, as momentum builds for a possible progress in peace talks this year.

“I’ve made several visits to Cyprus over the last few months, meeting members of both communities, and I am optimistic that we may be on the brink of a breakthrough in resolving this dispute,” Philip Hammond told reporters in Athens.

On Monday, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Ankara would fulfil its responsibilities to ensure the resolution this year of the dispute over Cyprus.

Hammond said Britain, Cyprus’s former colonial master and a guarantor of the island’s independence alongside Greece and Turkey, had no interest in maintaining the current tripartite model.

“If the two communities in Cyprus agree a model that requires Britain to play no role, we will be quite happy to play no role. If the model they develop requires Britain to play a role, then we are happy to consider playing any role the two communities ask us,” he said.

“What we want is to see a sustainable solution in Cyprus and we will do everything in our power to bring that about.”

Schulz: “If we achieve the reunification of Cyprus this will be encouraging for everyone”

President of the European Parliament (EP) Martin Schulz said that the Cyprus problem has a possibility of being resolved this year and the reunification of the island in 2016 will give hope to everyone against the expectation of crisis.

According to the news of AA, Schulz said, “the ongoing negotiations between the two parties are considerably encouraging. We should do everything for a positive outcome intra vires of the EU institutions. If we can achieve the reunification of Cyprus in this crisis year, it will be a symbol of hope for everyone which appeals to the international community.

Burcu: “The solution will affect our lives positively in all areas”

Presidential Spokesperson Barış Burcu stated that Turkish Cypriots will experience major and positive changes both politically and in other areas of life with the solution.

Indicating that President Akıncı is working for a solution which provides equality, security and the freedom of the Turkish Cypriot people Burcu noted that nothing will be brought to the public without accomplishing this result. Burcu also added that sufficient time will be given for discussion after that.

Making evaluations regarding the negotiation process on a television program last night, Burcu stated that the status of Turkish Cypriots will be modified with the solution in a revolutionary way.

Dr Küçük to be commemorated with ceremonies today

Existence and Freedom Struggle Leader of the Turkish Cypriot people Dr. Fazıl Küçük will be commemorated with ceremonies on the 32nd anniversary of his death.

The first ceremony for Küçük will be held at his grave at Anıt Tepe and the second ceremony will be held at Atatürk Culture Centre.

Tourism Ministry is being represented at the tourism fair in Holland

Within the framework of the tourism promotion and marketing activities overseas the TRNC Tourism Ministry is being represented at the in Utrecht, Holland.

Introductory information about North Cyprus is given to visitors to the TRNC stand.

Greek Cypriot Cyprus Mail: “Anastasiades should not have bowed to the dictum of parties”

Greek Cypriot newspaper Cyprus Mail wrote that Greek Cypriot leader Anastasiades bowed to the party pressure and ruled out the possibility of an informal meeting with President Mustafa Akinci and the Prime Ministers of Greece and Turkey when attending next week’s World Economic Forum in Davos. The Greek Cypriot government spokesman, Nicos Christodoulides, announced yesterday morning that there “is no issue of a formal or informal, four-party and/or five-party meeting in Davos,” in order to appease the Anastasiades critics.

The newspaper wrote that: “This is how things work under Anastasiades, especially in relation to the Cyprus problem. If the parties make a noise about an issue he immediately retreats, in order to keep them happy. He had been resolute with regard to meeting Akinci in Davos, if invited by the UN Secretary General, which had also come under attack by the parties. “If invited I will certainly take part because the Secretary General should be informed about the actual status of the talks,” he said on Wednesday. Yesterday he received the invitation from Ban Ki-moon.

He ignored the familiar nonsense of the parties about the alleged “upgrading” of Akinci to “co-president” at such a meeting, as Anastasiades would be invited as President of the Republic and Akinci would be present with a similar status. As DIKO ludicrously pointed out, “only heads of state participate” in the Davos forum and Akinci would be treated as one if he was in a meeting with Anastasiades. The parties are dealing with the trivialities of form and procedure, because they do not want substance discussed, which is understandable given their opposition to a settlement.

This is why Anastasiades should ignore them. He should have jumped at the opportunity for a meeting with the PMs of Turkey and Greece. This was a perfect opportunity to build on the rapport he had with Ahmet Davutoglu at the EU summit last November that may be very useful in the future, as well as gauge the Turkish government’s intentions on Cyprus. He could have brought up, informally, the issue of guarantees which is of such great concern to Greek Cypriots. He could also have found out whether there was a divergence of opinion on what had been agreed at the talks between Akinci and Ankara, as the Greek Cypriot politicians were claiming.

It is very disappointing that Anastasiades chose to spurn this opportunity, in order to satisfy the hard-liners whose objective is the exact opposite of his. The idea that he would not attend such a meeting, that would allow him to exchange views with Davutoglu because it would “upgrade” Akinci, in the eyes of anti-settlement hard-liners is just too ridiculous for words. If Anastasiades’ objective is a settlement he should abandon this nonsense about political upgrades and downgrades resorted to by people who have turned the Cyprus problem into an issue of procedure.”