15 NOVEMBER IS TO BE CELEBRATED
The 24th
Anniversary of the Establishment of the Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus will be marked with various
ceremonies tomorrow (15 November).
Within the
framework of the celebrations, 63 foreign guests from 20
different countries including Turkey will visit the TRNC.
Official
ceremonies marking the anniversary will start at 12:00
pm today with a speech by President Mehmet Ali Talat
which will be broadcast live on Bayrak Radio and
Television.
President
Mehmet Ali Talat will receive well-wishers at the
Presidential Palace as from 08.30 in the morning and the
wreath laying ceremonies will be held in front of the
Martyrs’ Monument and Ataturk Monument in Lefkosa.
The ceremony
at Lefkosa Ataturk Monument will start at 9:00 am with
the signing of the Special Book.
The ceremony
at the Doctor Fazil Kucuk’s Tomb will start at 9:30 am
and will be followed by a parade.
Similar
ceremonies will also be held other towns.
STATEMENY BY PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESPERSON HASAN ERCAKICA
ON
13
NOVEMBER 2007
The EU
Commission published the Progress Report on Turkey on 6
November 2007. The significant aspect of the report on
Turkey which relates to Cyprus as well, is the reference
made to the 8 July process. We were pleased that the EU
Commission has confirmed the real role of the 8 July
Agreement and underlined the continuation of Turkey’s
support to a comprehensive settlement.
The position
of the Turkish Cypriot side overlaps this stance.
Comprehensive negotiations which are to be started after
a short preparatory period, will lead us to a lasting,
just and timely solution.
Another
important issue that also pleased us was, the reference
made to the fact that the ECHR has accepted the
Immovable Property Commission as a domestic remedy for
the property issues.
On the other
hand, the fact that Turkey has been criticized for not
normalizing its relations with the Greek Cypriot side
and not fulfilling its liabilities arising from Protocol
10, not only discourages the settlement efforts in
Cyprus but also serves to the enhancement of the
intransigent stance of the Greek Cypriot side.
In the mean
time, European Parliament High Level Contacts with
Turkish Cypriots Group paid a visit to the island. As it
is known, this group has been established to enhance the
relations between the European Parliament and the
Turkish Cypriots. In February 2007, the Group published
a report including the steps to be taken towards the
Turkish Cypriots and made a series of proposals such as
adoption of Turkish as the official language of the EU
and representation of the Turkish Cypriots in the
European Parliament. We are disappointed that there is
still no progress concerning these proposals.
Although our
expectation from the Contacts Group, who paid their
first visit to Cyprus following the publication of their
report, was to underline these issues, it has not been
possible to say that a serious decisiveness to that end
has been observed.
Besides, we
deemed that the statement by Francoise Grossetete, who
presided the Contacts Group and alleged that the Turkish
Cypriot side and Turkey has altered their policies and
are now defending the idea of two states, is “a
subjective statement”. After the Turkish Cypriot side
has declared its decisiveness both to the UN and the
Greek Cypriot side regarding the fact that a solution
should be reached within the framework of the
established UN parameters and current body of work and
delivered these ideas as a proposal, questioning the
will of the Turkish Cypriot side to that end is not
acceptable.
