TRNC News Today 1^st February 2016

Foreign Minister Çolak is holding contacts in Doha

Foreign Minister Emine Çolak is holding official contacts in Qatar’s capital Doha.

General Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kemal Köprülü, Private Secretary of the Ministry Hüseyin Özel, the President of Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce (TCCC) Fikri Toros and KTSO Member of Board Çavlan Paralik are also accompanying Minister Çolak during her visit.

Minister Çolak began her contacts in Doha with the visit of some Qatari businessmen. After the visit, Çolak attended a working dinner given in her honour. Minister Çolak also attended the dinner given in her honour by the TRNC Doha Representative Aytug Plümer. Turkey’s Doha Ambassador Ahmet Demirok, as well as some foreign ambassadors also participated in the dinner.

On the second day of her visit, Minister Çolak visited “Katara Cultural Village” where she was briefed on the various facilities. Çolak expressed admiration of the Cultural Village and its mission aimed at bringing people together.

During the tour, Çolak was accompanied by Katara General Manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti. She was briefed on the facilities and future projects at the Cultural Village. Dr al-Sulaiti gave a detailed explanation of the events and activities of the Cultural Village.

Çolak also visited an Open Air Theatre, an architectural masterpiece of the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara), and toured Katara’s different sections.

Minister Çolak was briefed on the important events held by the Qatari Society of al-Gannas (Sniper Association) as well as its activities, the Qatari heritage on falconry and fishing, tournaments and competitions organised by the association.

Çolak expressed her appreciation at the world-renowned cultural projects undertaken by Katara.

For his part, Dr. Khalid Bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, stressed the importance of such visits to Katara which represent the first tourist and cultural destination in Qatar and the Gulf region, reflecting the development and renaissance taking place in Qatar at all levels and fields, particularly the cultural aspect.

Within the framework of her contacts in Doha, Minister Colak met with Qatari Businessmen Association Chairman Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, in the presence of the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Fikri Toros and the Board Member of the Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Industry Çavlan Paralik.

In her speech at the meeting Çolak said that North Cyprus has entered talks with Southern Cyprus and they are in the process of achieving agreements for unification which will facilitate their integration into the European Union, and generate more business opportunities and economic prosperity for their country.

In his part Sheikh Faisal highlighted historical relations between the two countries, praising the geographical location of Cyprus and the security and stability which will encourage investment. On the other hand, the Chairman of the Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Industry presented investment opportunities in five sectors, including supply of water via the pipeline from Turkey.

Özyiğit: “Let’s unite our island and make it a symbol of peace and friendship”

The Leader of the Communal Democracy Party (TDP) Cemal Özyiğit made a call to the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots to show determination for reuniting the Cyprus Island. Özyiğit said “Let’s reunite our divided island and make it a symbol of peace and friendship”.

Özyiğit made a speech at the festival organized on Saturday in Lefkoşa by TDP and DISI to support reunification of the Island and to give a strong message towards the peace vision. DISI Leader Averof Neofitu also made a speech at the festival. The activity started firstly in the buffer zone and then continued in South Cyprus and North Cyprus. Özyiğit and Neofitu coloured the buffer zone drawn on two canvases to show their will for reunification of the Island. The political leaders wrote in the Turkish and Greek languages: “We can reunite the Cyprus Island”.

Neofitu stressed that Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots should learn to make cooperation and trust each other.

Prohibition for Bi-Communal Chorus in South Cyprus

It was stated that permission was not given to the Bi-Communal chorus to join an activity in South Cyprus.

According to the news of the Greek Cypriot Daily Haravgi, the Head of AKEL Education Committee Hristos Hristofidis stated that permission was not given to the Bi-Communal chorus to join the activity because one of the songs would be Turkish.

Hristofidis stated that this event was conducted with the approval of the Greek Cypriot Education Ministry and the decision showed that there is no democracy in the education system of South Cyprus.

Referring to the Greek Cypriot Education Technical Committee, Hristofidis also expressed that some unacceptable behaviour was even put forth when the Committee would be established and the members of the Committee would be decided.

Spying on the base at Troodos

It was announced that the US and the UK had broken codes of Israel’s unmanned aerial vehicles flying over the Eastern Mediterranean and allowed images from the pilot cabin and stole the images which were obtained from the reconnaissance flights for 20 years.

According to the news of the Greek Cypriot weekly Kathimerini, the situation was leaked to the international press by Edward Snowden.

In the report, it was indicated that the US and the UK observed the spy activities of Egypt, Turkey, Iran and Syria through the programme code named “Anarchist” based in the Cyprus mountains (Troodos) since 1998.

Kasulidis: “The parties are progressing so much for the first time”

The Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Yoannis Kasulidis explained that he believes a solution can be found for the Cyprus problem and both sides have reached so much progress on un-discussed topics for the first time.

Greek Cypriot daily Alithia newspaper gave coverage to the conversation of the Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Yoannis Kasulidis under the title of “the solution plan will be the plan of the two leaders”. Indicating that the current negotiations are different from the negotiations so far, Kasulidis said that it belongs to the Cypriots and it would not be an agreement which was externally imposed as before.

Stating that an improvement was achieved on management, economy and EU matters for the first time, and noting that transition to the most difficult chapter of property is an indication of the improvement more than the previous process, Kasulidis also said, “in case of some difficult issues to be resolved on the property and guarantees, a solution is near to approach.”

A seminar to be held on the Security of the Federal Government

It was announced that the Technical Committee on Crime and Criminal Matters will organize a seminar entitled “The security of the federal government”.

According to the news of the Greek Cypriot daily Alithia, the Chairman of the committee Andreas Kapardis indicated that two American experts from FBI, an Australian and a British expert will make speeches at the seminar.

According to the news, Kapardis indicated that preliminary preparation is necessary at all levels for a possible solution and also gave information about the establishment and objectives of the committee.

Rüya Taner to give concert in Paris

Turkish Cypriot Pianist Rüya Taner is going to give a concert in Paris tonight with a group including Greek Cypriot, Greek and Turkish artists.

The concert will be conducted with the organization of the ‘Association of Artists United for Peace’ under the auspices of the Turkish Ambassador to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Hüseyin Avni Botsalı.

As well as Taner, Hüseyin Sermet from Turkey, Papagionis Theodarakis from Greece, Cyprien Katsaris from South Cyprus, David Lively from US, Nima Sarkechik from Iran and Tanbi Cimus from Syria will take the stage in the concert.