THE Turkish Cypriot press in general reacted positively to the news from Burgenstock yesterday.
The positive reaction, however, was not born from the notion that negotiations had found common ground between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot negotiating teams, but that the Turkish side had been seen to gain more in terms of concessions than the Greek Cypriot side.
Kibrisli, a centre-left daily that backs Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Mehmet Ali Talat, ran a headline hailing the negotiations a “big success”, and went on to relish the fact that the previous night’s proceedings in Burgenstock would have “spoilt the EOKA day celebrations” in the south. The paper added: “The Turkish side has begun to reap the fruits of its pro-solution policy” in that they managed to gain more concessions while always appearing to be more conciliatory.
Kibris – the north’s biggest selling daily – was also upbeat about the performance of the Turkish negotiating team and highlighted Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s backing for a positive vote in the Turkish side’s referendum.
YeniDuzen – Talat’s party mouthpiece – was yet more buoyant, declaring: “The job is done!” suggesting, perhaps wrongly, that a solution to the Cyprus problem was close at hand. However, a picture on page two showing the Turkish Cypriot negotiating team with the caption “happy” and a picture of Greek Cypriot team with the caption “sad” signified that the paper was more concerned with the performance of Talat and his team than with what had been achieved by negotiators representing the two communities.
Anti-establishment Afrika, however, was less optimistic with its headline declaring: “The referendum on April 24: ‘Yes’ from the Turkish Cypriot side, ‘No’ from the Greek Cypriot side”. Again, the paper picked up on the impression that the Turkish side were seen to be more willing to accommodate the wishes of the UN in Burgenstock, saying, “The Turkish side said ‘I’m ready to sign’ but the Greek side refused”.
Only Volkan – famed for its outlandish right-wing sentiments – came out against the plan, despite the gains made by the Turkish side in negotiations. The paper quoted Denktash saying EU Commissioner for Enlargement Gunter Verheugen behaved like a Nazi general and his assertion: “If we don’t get what we want, we’ll begin a ‘no’ campaign.”
