According
to the Election and Public Vote Law, the High Electoral Board has confirmed
that the general elections, which are carried out every five years in the
TRNC, will take place on 14 December, 2003.
Taner
Erginel, the Head of the TRNC Supreme Court, said the election date was set
during yesterday’s (September 18) meeting of the High Electoral Board and
would now be presented for approval by the government.
According
to the Election and Public Vote Law, electoral restrictions, which are put
into practice two months before the date the elections are due to commence,
will now be effective as of 14 October, 2003.
TRNC
President Rauf Denktas yesterday (September 18) met with the UN Secretary
General’s Deputy Special Representative to Cyprus, Zbigniew Wlosowicz,
and stated that the Turkish Cypriot side was ready to start work on
cleaning up the mines in the Buffer Zone, as was previously agreed between
the two sides.
Pointing out that, the clean up operation might start in Lefkosa and
its surrounding area, where most of these mines were concentrated, the
President said, the team that would be required to clean up these mines
would be determined after the arrival of an expert to the island.
TURKEY-TRNC
CUSTOMS UNION FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT
Commenting on
claims made by the European Commission that “the Customs Union Framework
Agreement signed between Turkey and the TRNC was contrary to the Customs
Union Agreement between Turkey and the EU”, President Denktas said, this
agreement was not to create discord, but a step directed at enabling the
Turkish Cypriot people, who have been living under unjust embargoes for the
last 40 years, to use their human rights together with Turkey and was a
preparation for the EU norms together with Turkey.
He
added that the EU’s reaction to this stemmed from the Greek Cypriots
propaganda and from a lack of information.
ERTUGRULOGLU:
“EU IS THE LAST ORGANIZATION THAT CAN MAKE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST LAW AND
TREATIES”
The
TRNC Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence, Tahsin Ertugruloglu, in an
interview with BRT yesterday (September 18) criticizing the EU’s
opposition to the Customs Union Framework Agreement signed between Turkey
and the TRNC, said, the EU was the last organization that could make
allegations against law and treaties.
Minister Ertugruloglu said, if the EU wanted a settlement it should
immediately give up its idea of making the TRNC and the Turkish Cypriot
people dependent on the Greek Cypriots. He said this was the only way of
achieiving a settlement in Cyprus.
Pointing out that he was not surprised by the EU’s attitude to the
Cusoms Union Framework Agreement signed between Turkey and the TRNC and
didn’t expect a different attitude because the EU was adopting double
standards, the Minister said, the EU, by ignoring international law and
agreements has made the illegal Greek Cypriot administration a member as “Cyprus”,
while considering our totally legitimate step to be contrary to
international agreements, has once more portrayed its real stance. He added
the EU by acting with the mentality that, “whatever I say is legal”, was
not a policy that could be accepted.
Accusing the EU of persistently and intentionally continuing with its
policy to wipe out the existence of the TRNC, Minister Ertugruloglu said,
the EU by always using the Cyprus issue as a precondition for Turkey’s EU
membership was giving an opportunity to the Greek Foreign Minister, George
Papandreou, to constantly bring this on to the agenda. In reality, he said,
what the EU was saying to Turkey was, “first, you hand over Cyprus to us,
and then maybe we’ll take you in”.
Calling upon the EU to alter its policy on the TRNC and Turkish
Cypriot people, Minister Ertugruloglu said, he recommended that the EU,
instead of trying to compensate
for its mistakes by eliminating the existence of the TRNC, should
acknowledge that the TRNC was the result of the free will of the sovereign
Turkish Cypriot people.
