Select Committee on Foreign Affairs Written Evidence

HOW MANY TURKISH CYPRIOTS REMAIN IN CYPRUS[78]

INTRODUCTION

  Between 1974 and the present Turkey has populated northern Cyprus with more than 100,000 Turkish settlers. This, of course, constitutes an international crime and a violation of Article 49(6) of the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949 which provides that "[t]he occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into territory it occupies." Turkish settlers are given the properties of the evicted Greek Cypriots, are granted the citizenship of the internationally unrecognised TRNC, and vote together with the indigenous Turkish Cypriots such that the election results in northern Cyprus do not reflect the real will of the latter. The Turkish Cypriot leadership considers the settlers—who now make up the majority of the population in northern Cyprus—as members of the Turkish Cypriot community. This is an important consideration since the settlers will be entitled to vote as part of the Turkish Cypriot community in the coming referendum on the Annan Plan which is supposed to let Cypriots decide the future of their divided island.

1.1  The census of 1960

  The last census covering all of the Republic of Cyprus' inhabitants was taken on 11 December 1960. The number of Turkish Cypriots at that time was 104,320. Adding the 475 Moslem gypsies and other Moslems, the total came to 104,942. The number of Christians was 473,265. (Census of Population and Agriculture 1960, Government Printing Office, Nicosia, 1962)

1.2  The total number of Turkish Cypriots immediately before the Turkish invasion of 1974

  Because the Turkish Cypriots left the structure of the Cypriot state after the outbreak of inter-communal clashes at the end of 1963, no census covering the Turkish Cypriots could be conducted thereafter. According to the study of Canadian researcher, Richard A. Patrick, who served as an officer in UNFICYP, entitled "Political Geography and the Cyprus Conflict 1963-197 1"", (1976) there were a total of 119,147 Turkish Cypriots living in the Turkish Cypriot settlements on the island. The population estimates of the Greek Cypriot administration put the number at 114,960.

1.3  The total number of Turkish Cypriots in 1974

  The traumatic events of the summer of 1974 culminated in a Turkish military invasion which effectively divided Cyprus. Shortly after the division, the following information was provided in a report prepared by Mr Ahmet Sami, the secretary-general of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Justice of the "Autonomous Turkish-Cypriot Administration", dated 20 October 1974:

  "A total of 83,719 Turkish Cypriots live on the territory of the `Autonomous Turkish Cypriot administration'. There were 32,039 Turkish Cypriots left in the south. Approximately 10,000 of them are in the SBA, 4,200 in Limassol and in its villages, 12,000 in Paphos district, 2,630 in the Larnaca district, 3,209 in the villages of Nicosia district. It was stated in the same report that until 19 October 1974, about 12,000 Turkish Cypriots had moved to the north".

  According to the information given above, there were 71,719 Turkish Cypriots living north of and 44,039 Turkish Cypriots living south of the partition line, making a total of 115,758. This essentially confirms the estimates published in the Patrick study.

1.4  First arrivals of Turkish settlers from mainland Turkey

  According to an article published in Zaman on 9 August 1977, Mr Hakki Atun, the Minister for Settlement and Rehabilitation of the "Federated State of the Turkish Cypriots", had declared that 20,934 families, ie 83,650 Turkish Cypriots were settled in the north between 1974 and 1977. As the number of Turkish Cypriots coming from the south was 44,039, the remaining 39,611 persons must have been settlers transferred from Turkey.

  Turkish settlers were first brought in from Anatolia in October 1974 on the pretext that "they would work in the hotels and gardens left behind by the Greek Cypriots". In January 1975 the families of Turkish military personnel killed in Cyprus in the war of 1974 were also settled in the north. This practice was extended further to granting houses and plots of land to anyone wishing to settle in Cyprus.

  On 10 June 1976 Zaman reported Mr Rauf Denktashh's response to those in the north who criticised how the resettlement was being conducted, as follows: "It was a matter of uprooting and resettling about 80 thousand people. This magnificent mission was accomplished by human beings, who could make mistakes."

  Mr Denktashh's statements confirmed that as early as 1976 the number of Turkish settlers almost matched the number of Turkish Cypriots resettled from the south to the north.

1.5  Turkish settlers at the end of 1983

  In the draft "Second Five-Year Development Plan" prepared by the State Planning Bureau and published in September 1983, it was stated that 91,225 persons were re-settled between 1974 and 1982 on the territory of the "Federated State of the Turkish Cypriots". As the number of Turkish Cypriot refugees coming from the south was 44,039, the number of Turkish citizens settled in northern Cyprus can be estimated at 47,186. No official statistics were ever published.

  The Turkish Cypriot population in 1960 was 104,942 and in 1974 it was 115,758. As of 1974, however, reference to the numbers of the "Turkish Cypriots" also included the Turkish settlers. It is clear that the number of Turkish settlers was constantly rising. A census taken on 26.5.1990 to determine the number of voters before the next general election showed that the "Turkish Cypriot" population had reached 173,224. Mr Rauf Denktashh ultimately revealed why detailed population statistics were never disclosed: "If we disclose them, they will know who came from where!" (Yeni Duzen, 23 July 1993)

1.6  The Cuco Report

  The Spanish parliamentarian, Alfonse Cuco, Rapporteur of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography of the Council of Europe (CoE), prepared a report on the "Structure of the Cypriot Communities" dated 27 April 1992, which was discussed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE. The Assembly adopted Resolution No 1197 on 7 October 1992, which recommended that the Committee of Ministers instruct the European Population Committee to conduct a census of the island's population, in cooperation with the authorities concerned, in order to replace population estimates with reliable data. The authorities of the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot administration were requested to keep the arrival of aliens on the island under strict control. Turkey was invited to register at its Cyprus Consulate all Turkish citizens residing and arriving in Cyprus.

  It is unfortunate that since then no census has been conducted in the north of the island under international observation; the exact number of Turkish settlers remains undetermined.

1.7  The first Turkish Cypriot official census

  The results of the first official census conducted by the Turkish Cypriot authorities on 15 December 1996 and evaluated by the State Institute of Statistics in Ankara, were publicized two years later. According to this data, the de facto population of northern Cyprus was 200,587 and the de jure population was 188,662.

  The difference between the two was explained by Mr Ahmet Bulunc, Adviser of the State Planning Bureau, who stated that on the day of the census 11,925 persons had declared that their permanent residence was outside the TRNC.

  The results of the census were as follows:

Total population	200,587 (100%)
Citizens of the TRNC	164,460 (82%)
Born in the TRNC	137,398
Born in Turkey	23,924
Born in a 3rd country	3,138
Citizens of Turkey	30,702 (15%)
Students	8,287
Employed	12,922
Unemployed	1,327
Other (private business, pensioners, etc.)	8,166
Citizens of a 3rd country	5,425 (3%)

  The number of Greek Cypriots living in the north was 384 and the number of Cypriot Maronites 173.

  The census does not specify the number of children born in the TRNC to Turkish parents. There is no mention of the approximately 35,000 Turkish soldiers in Cyprus, nor of their dependents. It is further estimated that in addition there are about 25 or 30 thousand illegal workers, pushing the total of the de facto population even higher.

  According to information provided by sources who would like their identity to remain undisclosed, approximately 46,000 people have been granted TRNC citizenship since 1974 and 20-25 thousand of those do not live permanently in the TRNC. (Avrupa, 31.1.1998) This number includes famous Turkish politicians and parliamentarians.

  Mr Kenan Akin, who originates from mainland Turkey and was the TRNC Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, disclosed that there were 60,000 mainland settlers in the TRNC. (Avrupa, 6.6.1998)

1.8  By 1998 at least one-third of the population in northern Cyprus consisted of mainland Turkish settlers

  The idea of re-establishing a political party like the "Rebirth Party" of the Turkish settlers (the party had merged with the Democratic Party in 1992) surfaced after the general elections of 6 December 1998. An advertisement published by Turkish settlers read: ". . . nearly one-third of the population at large were cunningly divided and their just and balanced representation in parliament was obstructed." (Hiirriyet-Kibris, 22 December 1998)

  It is evident therefore that in the total population of the TRNC the number of those originating from mainland Turkey ranges between 60 and 80 thousand and reaches beyond 100 thousand if one includes the illegal workers.

1.9  Recent Figures

  Displayed below is the list of passengers arriving at and departing from the TRNC airports and seaports, by year and citizenship.

	Arrivals					Departures
Year	TRNC	Turkey	Other	Total	TRNC	Turkey	Other	Total
1974	5,098	5,573	1,022	11,693	6,093	4,193	804	11,090
1975	13,365	73,831	6,577	94,043	29,842	51,465	5,943	87,250
1976	30,764	83,440	4,552	118,756	31,454	80,347	4,985	116,786
1977	33,570	108,016	5,113	146,699	34.450	97,142	5,377	137,059
1978	35,449	104,738	8,177	148,364	36,410	103,108	7,802	147,320
1979	47,839	95,095	13,286	156,220	46,858	92,956	12,619	152,433
1980	51,204	69,810	14,793	135,087	53,135	68,727	14,082	135,944
1981	52,933	62,182	15,471	131,216	52,371	44,912	15,512	112,795
1982	49,870	62,058	22,811	134,739	51,764	66,172	22,631	140,567
1983	58,908	78,467	20,467	157,842	66,660	76,386	20,300	157,346
1984	57,929	93,193	18,925	170,767	56,763	90,403	19,511	166,677
1985	53,860	103,791	21,284	178,935	54,599	102,754	21,049	178,402
1986	55,076	105,729	25,763	186,568	55,788	105,492	25,603	186.883
1987	59,602	149,394	36,448	245,444	60,954	149,980	36,995	247,929
1988	60,178	173,351	56,050	289,579	62,243	169,501	53,966	285,710
1989	68,583	214,566	59,507	342,656	68,212	209,837	58,562	336,611
1990	74,681	243,269	57,541	375,491	73,771	541,764	57,615	373,150
1991	66,012	179,379	40,858	286,249	66,627	178,770	40,502	285,899
1992	78,466	210,178	57,440	346,084	80,304	209,045	57,380	246,729
1993	03,669	281,370	77,943	452,982	97,702	281,160	78,876	457,738
1994	109,878	256,539	95,079	461,415	113,012	252,813	94,514	460,339
1995	134,374	298,026	87,733	520,133	136,803	291,058	87,214	515,075
1996	133,072	289,131	75,985	498,188	135,079	286,691	75,337	497,107
1997	138,109	326,364	73,000	537,473	138,884	321,208	71,853	531,945
1998	134,274	315,797	77,230	527,301	134,823	385,466	(*)	519,749
1999	136,210	334,400	79,615	550,225	136,022	407,886		543,908
2000	140,302	347,712	85,241	573,225	141,156	433,408		574,564
2001	127,738	277,718	87,346	492,802	129,585	359,557		489.142
	2,101,392	6,169,734	8,271,126	2,144,914	6,051,233			8,196,147

(*) Refers to the total number of citizens from Turkey and Third Countries starting from 1998, stated in the Statistical Yearbooks.

  The population of the occupied areas for the year 2001 was put at 212,500 in Supplement 5 of the Report entitled, "The Colonisation by Turkish Settlers of the Occupied Part of Cyprus", of 2 May 2003 (Doc 9799), which was prepared by Finnish parliamentarian Jaakko Laakso in the name of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography of the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoB. The estimated number of Turkish Cypriots is 87,600 (down from circa 115,000 in 1974) and the estimated number of Turkish settlers is 115,000.

1.10  The actual number of Turkish Cypriots is not known

  The number of Cypriot-born TRNC citizens, 137,398, does not indicate the actual number of the original Turkish Cypriots in the TRNC, because it includes the children of the Turkish settlers.

  In an article entitled, "Revelation: Turks have reached 25% of the population Colonization speeds up and changes dimension", Greek Cypriot newspaper Fileleftheros reported that although not all have been given TRNC citizenship, the number of mainland Turks in northern Cyprus has reached 120,000. Fileleftheros added that there are clear sigus that Ankara has accelerated the process of changing the demographic structure of northern Cyprus radically, both in quantity and in quality.

  Fileleftheros, relying on information collected and evaluated by various channels, further alleged that "the number of Turkish Cypriots did not exceed 86,800 at the end of 1998. This means that their proportion in the Cypriot population has dropped from 18% to 11%."

  The newspaper continued: "The number of the colonists is already over 120,000 and is between 125 and 128 thousand. According to the Report of the Statistics Department, the Turkish Cypriot emigration wave continues and 54,000 of them have already left. The number of Turkish Cypriots was only 88,200 at the end of December 1997. Instead of increasing they have decreased in number." (Cited in Halkin Sesi, 1.3. 1999)

1.11  Conclusion

  Since 1974 Turkish Cypriots have become a minority in their own land whilst northern Cyprus remains under the occupation and control of the Turkish military. The demographic structure there has been changed significantly through Turkey's displacement of 170,000 Greek Cypriots, its mass transfer of settlers from mainland Turkey, and the emigration of Turkish Cypriots to third countries. So much then for Turkey's respect for international law, in general, and the Hague Regulations of 1907 and the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949 in particular.

2.  WHO GOVERNS THE TURKISH CYPRIOT COMMUNITY

INTRODUCTION

  It seems that the 50-year-old adventure of Turkey in Cyprus and its relationship with Rauf Denktashh has come full circle. Criticizing the new Turkish government during a visit to the premises of the Hurriyet newspaper in Istanbul, Rauf Denktashh made the following statement:

"During the past 40 years You have secretly given arms to a handful of persons, urging them to fight for Turkism and Turkey, and we have spent our lives doing so. Now you cannot say that our struggle was wrong and unnecessary. You have no right to say this." (Hurriyet, 1.9.2003)

2.2  Background

  The Turkish Cypriot community has been under the effective control of the Turkish military since 1 August 1958, when command of the Turkish Cypriot underground organization TMT[79] was given to a mainland Turkish officer. From that day on the plan of the mainland Turkish "deep state"[80] under the code name "KIP" (Kibris Istirdat Plani Gaining Back Cyprus) was put into effect.

  The early failures of the Cyprus Republic were not the sole responsibility of the Turkish Cypriots. The Republic of Cyprus was proclaimed on 16 August 1960, but both Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders refused to fully support the democratic development of the new independent state. The fate of the new republic fell to the hands of the pro-enosis EOKA and pro-taksim TMT members. Civil society was not allowed to develop and the whole political, economic, social and cultural life of the Turkish Cypriot community came under the influence of the official partitionist ideology of the Turkish Cypriot leadership and the paramilitary TMT. The Turkish Cypriot civil administration came under TMT control especially after the inter-communal clashes that began in December 1963.

  In the wake of these events the Turkish Cypriot leadership boycotted the state apparatus of the Cyprus Republic and urged the Turkish Cypriot community to withdraw into small isolated enclaves scattered throughout the island and occupying less than 5% of its total territory. The Turkish Cypriot population thus came under the military administration of the TMT which was commanded by the BayraktarBozkurt[81] (Grey Wolf), who sat at the Turkish Embassy in the Turkish Cypriot sector of Nicosia and governed the districts with the Sancaktars (Standard-bearers). The latter were all mainland Turkish officers.

  Following the withdrawal of the Turkish Cypriots from the Republic of Cyprus at the end of 1963[82] and during the period between May 1964 and December 1967 the Turkish Cypriots were governed by the so called "General Committee"—a joint civilian-military organization that took its orders from Ankara. In 1967 there was the creation of the "Turkish Cypriot Provisional Administration"[83]. During the following year, in 1968, inter-communal negotiations started which lasted until July 1974. This period saw the mobilization of opposition forces within the Turkish Cypriot community that were not satisfied with the Turkish Cypriot leadership. At the same time many Turkish Cypriot university students who went to study in Turkey and elsewhere returned to Cyprus with newly popular left-wing ideas.

  It was in this new context that at the end of 1970 the Republican Turkish Party was formed and declared its struggle against the "fascism of B.E.Y."—the acronym that stood for the Turkish words Bayraktarlik (which governed the TMT), Elcilik (Turkish Embassy in Nicosia) and Yonetim (Turkish Cypriot Administration). In a similar gesture the Turkish Cypriot Trade Union of Teachers was formed in 1968 and expressed its resistance against the oppression of the military administration in the Turkish Cypriot enclaves.

  The terrorist activities initiated in 1970 against President Makarios and his followers by the fascist EOKA-B, an organ of the Greek junta in Cyprus, reached its peak with the coup of 15 July 1974. On 20 July 1974 Turkey seized this opportunity to invade and partition the island.

  The post-1974 rising chauvinist sentiment and the concentration of the Turkish Cypriots in the northern one-third of the island resulted in the declaration by the TMT of the so-called "Turkish Cypriot Federated State" (1975) and later the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (1983). Everything was put under the control of Turkey and her military and more than 100,000 settlers were brought in. The Turkish Cypriots became a minority, whereas the continuing presence of 35,000 Turkish soldiers hamstrung the "civilianisation" of the Turkish Cypriot society.

2.3  The National Coordinating Council

  Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus is currently governed by the so-called "National Coordinating Council" (NCC) that exercises supreme power over the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the TRNC. The NCC is comprised of the Turkish ambassador to the TRNC, the commander of the "Turkish Peace Forces," the commander of the Security Forces (all appointed from Turkey), and the President, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of the TRNC. The decisions of the NCC are not subject to appeal and are final. The existence of the NCC is evidenced through reports in the Turkish Cypriot press. On 29 February 2000 Avrupa reported that the Minister of Labor had been told that "nothing can happen in this country without our knowledge!"

  The editor of Yeni Duzen, Basaran Duzgun, wrote on 8 March 1997 the following about the NCC:

"The National Security Council is a topic of political debate in Turkey. How many people are aware that we in Cyprus also have a National Coordinating Council? How many persons know that this Council meets regularly, takes important decisions which can influence the daily life of the Turkish Cypriots, that it can overthrow the government and form a new one?"

  Another report was published in Kibris on 22 December 1995 under the title "Secret meeting at the Palace". The accusation of Turk-Sen (a Turkish Cypriot trade union) that "the Turkish Embassy is intervening in the internal affairs of the TRNC" related to the attempt to give control of the Electricity Authority to STFA, a private company from Turkey. Wrote Kibris:

"The so-called `Coordinating Council' met yesterday at the Presidential Palace. The meeting started at 11.00 and lasted 3.5 hours without any break. Participating in the meeting were President Rauf Denktashh, Prime Minister Hakki Atun, Lieut.-General of the Cyprus Turkish Peace Forces Hasan Kundakci, Commander of the Security Forces Brigadier-General Ismail Kocman, Ambassador of Turkey in Nicosia Aydan Karahan, Director-General of the Police Attila Say and other high ranking military commanders. No statement was made to the press after the meeting. But according to reliable resources the meeting dealt with the issue of the privatisation of electricity and `the relevant statement by Turk-Sen' was evaluated in an extraordinary meeting."

  The NCC constitutes an "extra-constitutional" device that essentially circumvents democratic procedures and avoids electoral accountability for its actions. Its role is to ensure that the affairs of northern Cyprus are determined in accordance with the interests of Turkey as interpreted and formulated by the National Security Council[84] in Ankara.

  On another occasion, Bulent Akarcali, Deputy President of the mainland Turkish party ANAP, was quoted by Yeni Demokrat (2 September 2001) as saying that:

"Today the TRNC is a republic only on paper. The money, everything goes there from Turkey. Even the Turkish ambassador cannot do anything without the permission of the military commander there. All the large investments in Northern Cyprus are given to tenders, directly in Ankara. This means that Northern Cyprus is governed like a province of Turkey. It is foolish and wrong to think that the Greek Cypriots, the Greeks and other members of the EU do not know this. They know it very well."

3.  THE GENERAL ELECTIONS HELD ON 14 DECEMBER 2003, IN THE OCCUPIED AREAS OF CYPRUS

INTRODUCTION

  The elections of 14 December 2003 have been presented by some in northern Cyprus, Ankara and beyond as a manifestation of the political autonomy of Turkish Cypriots from Turkey. This section challenges that assumption by illustrating the continuing crucial role of Turkish settlers and the Turkish military and intelligence establishment. The sad reality is that developments in northern Cyprus remain a function not of the political state of affairs within the indigenous Turkish Cypriot community, but of the balance of power between the various factions in Ankara.

3.1  Election Results

  3.1.1  Seven political parties participated in the general elections which took place in the occupied northern part of Cyprus on 14 December 2003[85]. The election results are as follows:

The Republican Turkish Party-United Forces (CTP-BG) led by Mehmet Ali Talat (35.18%)	19 seats
The National Unity Party (UBP) led by Dervis Eroglu (32.93%)	18 seats
The Democratic Party (DP) led by Serdar Denktashh (12.93%)	7 seats
The Peace and Democracy Movement (BDH) led by Mustafa Akinci (14.13%)	6 seats
The National Peace Party (MBP) led by Ertugrul Hasiboglu (3.23%)	—
The Solution and European Union Party (CABP) led by Ali Erel (1.97%)	—
The Cyprus Justice Party (KAP) led by Oguz Kalelioglu (0.60%)	—

  3.1.2  The Turkish Cypriot political parties were divided into two camps: CTP-BG, BDH and CABP were supporting a solution to the Cyprus Problem on the basis of the Annan Plan and membership of the European Union. The other parties, UBP, DP, MBP and KAP were supporting the status quo.

  3.1.3  Out of the 50 members of parliament four are Turkish settlers:

—  Nun Cevikel (CTP-BG), born in Mersin

—  Bayram Karaman (CTP-BG), born in Bitlis-Tatvan

—  Kemal Yilmaz (UBP), born in Adana-Kozan

—  Mustafa Gokmen (DP), born in Trabzon

  3.1.4  14 members of parliament are medical doctors (six CTP-BG, four UBP, three DP, one BDH) and two are dentists (one UBP, one DP). Only three members are women (one CTP-BG, one UBP and one DP). The participation rate in the general elections was 86.48%.

3.2  The Right Forecast

  3.2.1  The election results showed that the parties supporting a solution (CTP-BG, BDH, CABP) received 50.45% of the vote whilst the parties supporting the status quo (UBP, DP, MBP, KAP) received 49.55%. (Kibris, 17 December 2003).

  3.2.2  It is interesting to note that there were two right forecasts about the outcome of the election before it actually took place. Serdar Denktashh, leader of the DP, announced at a party meeting the results of a public opinion poll as follows: Parties supporting the Annan Plan would take 51% and the pro-TRNC parties would take 49% of the vote. (Ortam, 6 October 2003)

  3.2.3  Mr Thomas Weston, the Cyprus Coordinator of the State Department, spoke at a panel discussion organized by Johns Hopkins University and said the following: "I will not say my view about which party should win in the elections on 14 December. But many Turkish Cypriots support the Annan Plan and its provisions. I don't know if they make up 51% or 49%. But a siguificant proportion of the Turkish Cypriots will show their will favoring the Annan Plan. That is more important than the result." (Kibris, 4 December 2003).

3.3  Some Challenges

  3.3.1  Rauf Denktashh criticised Guenther Verheugen in a written statement. Mr Verheugen had said that new citizens were being created so as to manipulate the TRNC elections. Mr Denktashh said that this allegation was baseless since the citizenship grants had been made in accordance with Law No. 25/96. (Halkin Sesi, 23 November 2003).

  3.3.2  Rauf Denktashh stated that Turkey was not interfering in the forthcoming general elections of 14 December. He said: "Turkey has the right to interfere. . .I'm not saying this in order to invite you to interfere. Turkey secured these rights with the 1960 Agreements, the right to keep the balance between Turkey and Greece and the right not to allow Cyprus to become an EU member before the accession of Turkey. There are people in Cyprus who try to abolish these rights. Turkey has the right to say: "You cannot do this. We defend and we shall defend them." (Kibris, 10 December 2003).

  3.3.3  Abdullah Gul, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Turkey, stated: "Whoever wins the elections in the TRNC, he cannot behave independently from Turkey. If someone behaves as if Turkey does not exist in matters relating to Cyprus, we shall be distressed. As a guarantor country Turkey shall be the side who will say `YES' or `NO' on a matter related to the Cyprus Question." (Birlik, 16 December 2003)

  3.3.4  Rauf Denktashh criticized Mr Weston who alleged that people originating from mainland Turkey had voted in the elections: "We don't accept anyone giving us directives about who will be included in the Voter Roll of the TRNC. The CTP-BG and the BDH did not complain about the election results since they received votes from TRNC citizens originating from Turkey. Normal numbers of voters were added to the lists of the last local elections and the opposition did not complain about it." (Ortam, 19 December 2003)

3.4  Demographic Structure

  3.4.1  It is a well-known fact that in the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus the demographic structure was changed after 1974 with the transfer of settlers from Turkey, contrary to international law.

  3.4.2  A Report was prepared in 1992 by Spanish parliamentarian, Alfons Cuco, for the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography of the CoE on the topic of Turkish settlement. Per the Report, between 1974 and 1990 the population in the areas controlled by the Republic of Cyprus increased by only 13.70% whereas the increase in the northern part was 48.35%! (Draft Recommendation, Paragraphs 2 and 3) The same Report mentions that UN Representative Camilion had informed Mr Cuco that 40-45 thousand Turkish civilians had been transferred to the island. (Cuco Report, 27 April 1992, Doc. 6589, Paragraph 85).

  3.4.3  Furthermore, 42,000 Turkish Cypriots emigrated from the occupied areas because of various reasons. In 1997, the number of Turkish settlers and their children living in the occupied areas had not been declared officially, but was estimated to be about 100,000. (Ahmet An, "Kibris nereye gidiyor?", Istanbul 2002, p 324)

  3.4.4  The latest report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography of the CoE (2 May 2003, Doc 9799), prepared by Finnish parliamentarian, Jaakko Laakso, informs us that:

2.  It is a well-established fact that the demographic structure of the island has been continuously modified since the de facto partition of the island in 1974 as a result of the deliberate policies of the Turkish Cypriot administration and Turkey. Despite the lack of consensus on the exact figures, all parties concerned admit that Turkish nationals have been systematically arriving in the northern part of the island. According to reliable estimates, their number currently amounts to 115 000. (. . .)

4.  In particular, the Assembly expresses its concern at the continuous outflow of the indigenous Turkish Cypriot population from the northern part. Their number decreased from 118,000 in 1974 to an estimated 87,600 m 2001. In consequence, the settlers outnumber the indigenous Turkish Cypriot population in the northern part of the island. (. . .)

5.  In the light of the information available, the Assembly cannot accept the claims that the majority of arriving Turkish nationals are seasonal workers or former inhabitants who had left the island before 1974. Therefore it condemns the policy of "naturalization" designed to encourage new arrivals and introduced by the Turkish Cypriot administration with full support of the Government of Turkey.

6.  The Assembly is convinced that the presence of the settlers constitutes a process of hidden colonization and an additional and important obstacle to a peaceful negotiated solution of the Cyprus problem.

36.  The aim of the Turkish-Cypriot administration's policy towards the settlers has been to promote their permanent establishment on the island. The settlers are granted housing, land or other properties on special terms. They are issued with a "concession certificate" which they are not entitled to sell or pass to a third party until a period of 20 years has elapsed.

37.  The most important measure for the settlers has been the possibility of acquiring Turkish-Cypriot nationality. In 1975, the Turkish-Cypriot administration passed Act No. 3/1975, under which nationality could be given to anyone who requested it and, in particular, to members of the Turkish armed forces who had served in Cyprus and their families.

38.  In 1981, complementary provisions were established according to which Turkish-Cypriot nationality can be granted to persons permanently resident in the northern part for at least one year, those who made or could make an important contribution to the economy, or social and culture life, and those who have rendered services to the security forces.

39.  Along with citizenship, the settlers get a whole series of political rights including the right to vote and set up political parties.

3.5  The Implications of the Change in Demographic Structure

  3.5.1  The table below shows the increasing number of voters in the various elections which have taken place in the occupied areas since 1974:

	Number of Voters in:
Date	Population	General Election	Presidential election
20 Oct 74	115,758	—	—
08 Jun 75	126,949	—	—
20 June 76	130,136	75,724	—
20 Jul 76	130,136	—	75,824
28 Jun 81	151,233	84,721	—
28 Jul 81	151,233	—	84,721
23 Jun 85	160,287	93,934	—
09 Jun 85	160,287	—	95,124
22 Apr 90	171,469	—	103,218
26 May 90	171,469	103,218	—
13 Oct 91	173,224	106,303	—
12 Dec 93	177,120	108,370	—
15 Apr 95	181,363	—	113,398
06 Dec 98	188,662	120,758	—
15 Apr 00	188,662	—	126,675

  3.5.2  In the last census of 15 December 1996 the de facto population was declared as 200,587 and the de jure population as 188,662 (Yeni Duzen, 28 November 1997).

Out of this population of 188,662, 82% (164,460) were citizens of the TRNC, 15% (30,702) were citizens of the Republic of Turkey and 3% (5,425) were citizens of third countries. But no data was given about those who were citizens of both the TRNC and the Republic of Turkey or about those whose parents were born in Cyprus. The indigenous Turkish Cypriots are already a minority in the occupied north and their number is estimated at around 80,000. The numbers of those with double citizenship (TRNC and TR) already exceed those of the Turkish Cypriots. (Ahmet An, "The status of the mainland Turkish population transferred to Cyprus", Afrika, 3, 4, and 5 September 2003).

3.6  Who Can Be a Voter?

  3.6.1  According to Article 8(1) of the Law of Election and Referendum of the TRNC (No.5/1976), those who are registered in the Permanent Voters' List, whose names appear on the Ballot Box Voters' List and who are over 18 years old can vote. The first "Citizenship Law" of 1975 was amended in 1993 (Law No. 25/1993) so that persons coming from Turkey would receive the TRNC citizenship more easily. Everyone who came from Turkey and settled in the occupied areas was given a TRNC identity card.

  3.6.2  In the "Citizenship Law" of the TRNC (No. 25/1993) there are articles which grant citizenship to foreigners by marriage (Article 7), by residency (Article 8), and by decision of the Cabinet (Article 9).

  3.6.3  An amendment was made in 1998 (Law No. 12/98) to the effect that the Voter Rolls would be updated every three months with the newcomers and outgoers.

3.7  Official findings of the Parliamentary Commission

  There were certain irregularities in the elections of 1990 when the amended Electoral Law was abused. That is why the TRNC parliament formed a special commission to look into these complaints. The findings were as follows:

—  "Just before the election the Electoral Law was amended in a way that does not fit the spirit of democracy and democratic pluralism.

—  Despite election time regulations, BRTK (Radio and TV of the TRNC) and TRT (Radio and TV of Turkey) made illegal broadcasts.

—  There have been illegal broadcasts using the government radio and television transmitters and reflectors, which affected the result of the 1990 elections. This happened although only the broadcasts read and endorsed by the Supreme Electoral Council were supposed to have been allowed.

—  Local and foreign newspapers published articles on election day that are viewed as interference in the elections.

—  In order to gain political advantage civil servants were irregularly paid advance salaries one week before the elections.

—  There has been domestic and foreign interference in the elections which changed their fate.

—  Just before election day and on election day itself, the Immigration Department was opened and citizenships and identity cards were issued. This is considered direct interference in the elections.

—  Security Forces joined in acts of flyer and banner destruction, which fall outside their duties.

—  Citizens doing their military service are allowed to cast their votes at the voting center closest to their station. However, when the political parties demanded the voter roll plus an account of the districts where such citizens normally vote, they were rebuffed. Therefore, there are well-grounded rumors suggesting that there has been double casting by these people.

—  Some candidates were attacked, beaten and their cars were damaged.

—  The Supreme Electoral Council does not operate continuously; therefore some people who are not citizens or voters were included in the voter roll and casted votes.

—  Foreign officials came to our country and visited villages and advised Turkish Cypriot citizens. This amounted to interference in the elections. (M.A. No. 1:1.1.94)"

  * Reference: Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Parliamentary Investigation Committee, 4 June 1997. Report on the 1990 Elections, (M.A.NO: 1/1/94).

3.8.   Complaints by the Turkish Cypriot Parties about the changing Demographic Structure

  3.8.1  The Republican Turkish Party (CTP) applied to the Supreme Court yesterday in order to open two cases about the illegal citizenships granted to 1,600 persons since the last local election of 30 June 2002. (Ortam, 13 March 2003)

  3.8.2  The Patriotic Union Movement (YBH) started a campaign at the CoE against the participation of the mainland settlers in the forthcoming elections of 14 December 2003. Hayati Yasamsal, the President of the Turkish Cypriot Rights and Freedoms Association, also a member of the YBH, visited Strasbourg and met Alvaro Gil Robles, Commissioner for Human Rights of the CoE, and members of the Committee for Immigration, Refugees and Population. He handed over a memorandum of the YBH which complained that the number of the mainland Turkish settlers exceeded those of the local Turkish Cypriots in the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus. (EU-News, Yeni Duzen, 25 June 2003)

  3.8.3  YBH applied to the European Court of Human Rights seeking (i) a new and internationally observed census in the occupied north, and (ii) a stop to the granting of citizenships to the Turkish settlers. (Ortam, 16 July 2003)

  3.8.4  Alpay Durduran, Secretary of the YBH for Foreign Relations, called a press conference giving information about his party's application to the European Court of Human Rights. (See text in Yeni Duzen, 19 August 2003)

  3.8.5  CTP filed a complaint, this time against the Cabinet, the Ministry of Interior, Rural Affairs and Construction, and the Supreme Electoral Council of the TRNC on 10 March 2003 over 1,600 persons who got the TRNC citizenship between 1 July 2002 and 19 February 2003. The State Attorney declared that the number of new TRNC citizens created by cabinet decision was 225 since the last local elections. Among them were Turkish pop singer Murat Gogebakan, Prof Dr Kaya Ozkin, Mayor of Ankara Sinan Aygun, businessman and the leader of the Liberal Party of Turkey Besim Tibuk, and Turkish businessman Jack Kamhi; none of these persons permanently resides in the TRNC. (Kibris, 29 August 2003; for the full list see Kibris, 28 August 2003)

  3.8.6  Afrika reported on 7 August 2003 that the TRNC government mobilized as the date of the general elections in December 2003 drew closer. The Identity Cards Department was very crowded and the Prime Ministry of the TRNC ordered the printing of 50,000 Identity Cards in Turkey which would not have the "place of birth" indication in order to facilitate Turkish settlers' access to the free areas of Cyprus. (Kibris, 21 August 2003; see also the Official Gazette of 18 August 2003 which published Cabinet Decision E-1626-2003. The order would cost 8 billion TL without a tender.)

  3.8.7  The President of the Peace and Democracy Movement (BDH), Mustafa Akinci, sent a letter to Mr Walter Schwimmer, the Secretary-General of the CoE, and asked for the implementation of a Resolution passed by the CoE for a reliable census to be taken in the occupied areas. Mr Akinci wrote a letter also to Mr Abdullah Gul, Foreign Minister of Turkey, asking for an end to be put to the granting of new citizenships before the forthcoming general elections and informing him about certain instances of interference in the election campaigu. The military commanders made political speeches to civilians asking for military mobilization meetings. Mr Denktashh led a meeting in the Karpas region together with the Turkish Ambassador to the TRNC and the Commander of the Security Forces, allegedly discussing economic policy measures. (Kibris, 27 August 2003; for the full text of the letter to Mr Gul see Afrika, 27 August 2003)

  3.8.8  Yeni Duzen published the copy of a letter written by the Immigration Officer of the TRNC and dated 25 March 2003, per which the Security Forces had asked for a Turkish citizen of Izmit to become a TRNC citizen even though that person did not have a valid passport or work permit. (Yeni Duzen, 12 September 2003)

  3.8.9  The Secretary-General of the CTP, Ferdi Sabit, asked in the TRNC parliament why the list of the thousands of new citizenships granted by cabinet decision (Date: 2 July 2003, No. 1322-02 and Date: 27 August 2003, No. 1848-03) had not been published in the Official Gazette of the TRNC. Mr Sabit said that the President of the TRNC, Mr Rauf Denktashh, had sent a supplementary list of 854 persons whose ancestors were supposed to be Turkish Cypriots to the Voters' Registry of the Ministry of Interior. There was no answer to his questions. (Kibris and Yeni Duzen, 13 September 2003)

  3.8.10  The list of 101 persons who were made citizens by decision of the Cabinet (E-1322-2003) on 2 July 2003 was published following a two-and-a-half month delay in the Official Gazette, dated 19 September 2003, No. 117. (See Afrika, 23 September 2003 and Kibris, 25 September 2003)

  3.8.11  A secret naturalization list with 299 names was published a few days later in Yeni Duzen; the list included the names of artists, TV stars, ex-ministers and bureaucrats, their wives and sportsmen from Turkey, a great majority of whom were not residing in the TRNC. (Yeni Duzen, 25 September 2003)

  3.8.12  YBH made a new representation to the European Court of Human Rights: "Since our last application, the military-civil administration of Turkey and their representatives in Cyprus continue their wrongdoings in violation of international law—wrongdoings which were brought before the Court." The PUM sent another letter to the European Court of Human Rights asking for the discussion of the matter before the elections of 14 December. (Yeni Duzen, 7 October 2003)

  3.8.13  The PUM stated officially that the party would not participate in the elections of 14 December 2003: "The PUM will not accept this election and its results which will redecorate the window designed by the rulers and which will be contrary to international law. We call on our people to adopt this struggle." (Yeni Duzen, 9 October 2003)

3.9  First guess as to the number of Voters

  3.9.1  The speaker of the Supreme Electoral Council, Mrs Ruhsan Borak, declared that about 137,500 voters would be voting in the forthcoming general elections. In the elections of 30 June 2002 the number of registered voters had been 133,943. An increase of 3,600 voters was estimated. About 1,700 were persons who had reached the age of 18 and would be voting for the first time; about 1,900 were new citizens, most of them residing uninterruptedly for more than five years in the TRNC. (Kibris, 22 September 2003)

3.10  Rush of the "New Citizens" to get their Identity Cards

  3.10.1  Afrika reported on 7 October 2003 that about 300 employees of a casino had crowded the building of the General Headquarters of the Police Force in Nicosia to get their certificates of "good character." Yeniduzen and Kibris wrote on 7 October 2003 that "new citizens" waiting in queue to get their identity cards at the Immigration Office in Nicosia had quarrelled among themselves and the police had to intervene. Kibris, under the title "Citizenship Scandal", reported that more than 200 persons had visited the Immigration Office and one of them complained: "I've been in Cyprus since 1996 and I could not get my citizenship, but those who came three days or two months ago, can get it". The crowd was the same also in the Outpatient Department of the State Hospital, which used to have no more than 10 visitors a day, but now has 300-400 persons applying for "Health Certificates," this amounting to more than 5,000 persons in a week.

  3.l0.2  The Civil Servants' Trade Union (KTAMS) went on a two-hour- strike at the Immigration Office after the head of the Office had a heart attack and the other civil servants complained of being under pressure to register hundreds of new citizens before the 15 October deadline. (Kibrisli, Yeni Duzen and Halkin Sesi, 10 October 2003)

  3.10.3  Mehmet Albayrak, the Minister of Interior, Rural Affairs and Settlement, stated on Kibris FM Radio that he was not aware of all citizenship grants, especially those made by decision of the Cabinet. (Kibris, 10 October 2003)

3.11  Another Appeal to the Supreme Court

  3.11.1  The political parties protested again against the granting of citizenships in abundance before 15 October. For example the Chairman of the Peace and Democracy Party, Mustafa Akinci, applied to the Supreme Court against the Ministry of Interior. He asked for the striking out of those who were granted citizenship after 12 March 2003. The party's advocate told the press that 3,500 persons were given citizenship since March-April 2003. (Kibris, 11 October 2003)

  3.11.2  Even the Deputy Prime Minister, Serdar Denktashh, admitted that the granting of new citizenships caused trouble and should be stopped immediately. On the other hand he said the following at a press conference: "They are all our citizens who have been waiting for months and years to be registered. The Annanist parties make a fuss about the changing of the demographic structure. We have 137,000 voters. Assuming this number were to rise to 139,000, why are they afraid if all 80,000 persons at the demonstration were their supporters?" (Halkin Sesi and Kibrisli, 11 October 2003)

  3.11.3  Dervis Eroglu, the Prime Minister, stated that his party has a high number of supporters and did not need new citizens. Since 1998 citizenship was granted to 1,500 persons, whereas during the DP-CTP coalition government more than 2,500 persons had become citizens in 34 months. (Kibris, 12 October 2003)

  3.11.4  Rauf Denktashh, the President of the TRNC, told the correspondent of the Anatolia News Agency in Istanbul that many people had waited for years to become citizens. He added that a legal answer would be given to the opposition parties which had seen that they would lose the elections and wanted to put Turkey, the TRNC and the forthcoming elections under suspicion by focusing media coverage on the new citizens. (Kibris, 12 October 2003)

3.12  Patriotic Union Movement

  3.12.l  The Patriotic Union Movement issued a statement criticizing the policy of the opposition parties on the citizenship question, saying: "These parties did not give any support to our complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (about the illegal settlers brought from mainland Turkey) and they accepted the number of 137,500 voters as legal. Now they complain over an additional few thousand voters or they send a letter of complaint to the Council of Europe." (Afrika, 14.10.200.)

3.13  A Protest Against the Granting of New Citizenships

  3.13.1  15 trade unions belonging to the "This country is ours" platform staged a protest march with hundreds of people plus a two-hour strike in Nicosia against the granting of new citizenships. Later a letter of protest was handed to Taner Erginel, the Chairman of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Electoral Council, condemning the obstruction of the reflection of the people's will in the ballot. The trade unions of the Teachers for Secondary and Elementary Schools demonstrated before the Ministry of Education, protesting the Minister's wrongdoings. (Kibris and Yeni Duzen, 15 October 2003)

  3.13.2  Mehmet Ali Talat, President of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), spoke at a press conference about the granting of new citizenship a "quarter of an hour before the elections" and reminded all of the party's appeal to the Supreme Electoral Council. He declared that the number of voters was estimated as 137,500 on 30 September 2003 and continued saying: "This number increased by 1,700 persons who were granted citizenship by regular procedures and 1,900 persons who were granted citizenship by decision of the Cabinet. This increase is not seen in any other country and it is a crime of the government." (Yeni Duzen, 15 October 2003)

  3.13.3  Mustafa Akinci, President of the Peace and Democracy Movement (BDH), accused Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a meeting in Mallorka, complaining before the international delegations that Turkey should stop Denktashh's regime and his supporters who continue to grant new citizenships every day to those who came from Turkey and changed the demographic structure of the TRNC electorate. "Stop this interference with our will!" he said. (Ortam, 19 October 2003)

3.14  Official Nulviber: 140,832

  3.14.1  Taner Erginel declared at a press conference that the number of registered voters including those added one day ago was 140,832. This number was 134,628 in the last local elections of June 2002 and it was estimated to be around 137,500 on 19 September 2003. It was not then clear how many voters would be voting on 14 December. (Kibris, 16 October 2003)

  3.14.2  Mr Erginel stated that persons who were granted citizenship between 30 September and 15 October 2003 could be registered as voters during a forthcoming period. Mr Akinci commented on Mr Erginel's statement and said that the number of voters in the local elections one year ago was 134,628 and had increased by about 7,000 persons. Mr Akinci added that it had been announced that the number of those who had reached age 18 was actually 1,700 which meant that the Ministry of Interior had granted citizenship to a great number of persons in-between. They can give this an appearance of legality, Mr Akinci said, but it is in fact illegal, which is why the BDH had applied to court for an interim decision. We don't have the details of those 7,000 citizenships, especially how they were granted, Mr Akinci concluded. (Kibris, 16 October 2003)

  3.14.3  Mehmet Albayrak, the Minister of Interior, confirmed that in the last two months a lot of citizenships had been granted, and many people had been employed as civil servants even after the relevant pre-election deadline. (Kibris, 17 October 2003) He was to declare later that in the last one-and-a-half months 574 persons had been granted TRNC citizenship.

3.15.   Official Number of Citizenships Granted

  3.15.4  Mr Albayrak disclosed that the number of citizenships granted between 1974 and 14 October 2003 totalled 53,904. (Kibris, 23 October 2003)

  3.15.5  The details of the citizenships granted after 1994 (numbering 17,293) were given as follows: by cabinet decision: 3,675; by approval of the Ministry of Interior: 7,272; third generation: 2,246; by matrimony: 1,971; citizens of a third country: 1,142; Bulgarian Turks: 987. (Birlik, 24 October 2003)

3.16.   Population Estimates of the TRNC

  3.16.1  Serdar Denktashh stated that the population of the TRNC was 240,000 whereas it was 205,000 according to the census of 1996 and 182,120 according to the Supreme Electoral Council! (Afrika, 17 October 2003)

  3.16.2  Columnist Arif Hasan Tahsin wrote in Afrika that Memduh Hoca, one of Afrika's journalists, had learnt from the Census Department that according to the last census the population of the Turkish Cypriots was 68,000 and that 50,000 of them were voters, leaving the number of voters from mainland Turkey at 90,000. (Afrika, 19 November 2003)

  3.16.3  Columnist Yalein Bayer wrote in the mainland Hurriyet newspaper that the population of the TRNC is 220,000. 120,000 are mainland Turkish settlers. More than 20,000 persons originate from Turkey's Hatay province. Then come those from the Black Sea region and Mersin. Out of 141,000 voters, 70,000 are mainland Turkish settlers. (Hurriyet, 16 December 2003)

3.17  False Identity Cards with False Information

  3.17.1  An interesting article appeared in the press: A mainland settler, Bahri Unsal, was noticed at the Ledra Palace check-point with an ID bestowed by the TRNC with a false name, date of birth and birthplace, issued on 14 March 2003. Another settler, Seyithan Tunc, was not allowed to cross the Green Line with a false ID. His birthplace appeared as Akarsu-Paphos, whereas the settler answered that he was from Mardin/Turkey and that Paphos was a place in Mardin! (Afrika, 22.10.03 and Yeni Duzen, 23.10.03)

  3.17.2  Some new citizens born in Palestine (four), Egypt (five), Mekka (two), Limassol (two), Sivas (one), Katar (one), Bursa (one), Erdek (one), Silifke (one), Nicosia (one), and Algiers (one) had Mr Mustafa Tokay's address as their place of residence. Mr Tokay was the Adviser to the Prime Minister. There was no comment by either Mr Tokay or Mr Eroglu about this or about whether Mr Tokay's home had been turned into a mansion. (Yeni Duzen, 31.10.03)

  3.17.3  On the other hand, a multi-communal Cypriot study group about "Women in the Cypriot communities" scrutinized the Permanent Voter Roll and discovered that 50 voters out of 600 selected at random did not reside at their declared address. (Ortam, 11.11.03)

  3.17.4  The District Electoral Council of Famagusta ordered the arrest of two muhtars who had issued false certificates of residence. Various objections to the Voter Rolls resulted in the exclusion of 628 persons from them (Nicosia: 481, Famagusta: 83, Guzelyurt: 43 and Iskele: 21 persons). (Yeni Duzen and Kibris, 18.11.03)

3.18  The Would-be Number of Voters without the "New Citizens"

  3.18.1  A study was published in Yeni Duzen with some information gathered from the Permanent Voter Roll of the Supreme Electoral Council in September 2003:

Number of voters in June 2002	133,652
Died between June 2002-September 2003	1,131
Those died who were not voters in June 2002	16
Number of voters in September 2003	137,011

  3.18.2  This means that there was an increase of 3,871 persons registered as voters, whereas the head of the Supreme Electoral Council declared that until 30 September 2003, 473 persons had been granted new citizenship! His explanation was that some people who had the right to vote had not been registered in the lists, had applied later and had been registered! It means that about 3,500 citizens had not voted since 1998 although they had the right to do so and they applied over the past one month to get registered! (Yeni Duzen, 1.11.03)

3.19  Court Challenges

  3.19.1  During the court hearing in the case brought by the BDH it was revealed that the Council of Ministers took a decision on 24 September 2003 (E-2125-2003) to grant citizenship to 1,563 persons in one day and it was decided not to publish this decision in the Official Gazette of the TRNC. (Afrika, 4.11.03) The BDH's lawyer stated that the Council of Ministers granted citizenship to more than 2,000 persons in two meetings of the Cabinet in September 2003. (Kibris, 5.11.03) Only 387 of them had received their certificate of citizenship. (Ortam, 11.11.03)

  3.19.2  One day later the court delivered its interim decision in the case brought by the CTP and ruled that 200 out of 301 persons granted citizenship between 30 June 2002 and April 2003 could not vote in the elections of 14 December 2003. (Yeni Duzen, 5.11.03; for the list of those 200 names see Kibris, 6.11.03)

  3.19.3  The TAK news agency published data from the Supreme Electoral Council indicating that 3,773 new applications were made for entry into the Voter Roll and 1,228 objections were made to various voters, which were published in the Official Gazette. The candidacy of Mr Oguz Kalelioglu, President of the KAP (Cyprus Justice Party), was declared invalid since he did not fulfill the condition of having resided in the TRNC for three years prior to lodging his candidacy.

3.20  Akinci's Letter to Erdogan and Gul

  3.20.1  BDH leader Mustafa Akinci handed a letter and documents to the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was visiting the TRNC and met the opposition leaders at the Saray Hotel in Nicosia. In his letters to Mr Erdogan and Mr Gul, Akinci referred to the fact that the number of additions to the Voter Roll between 1993 and 1998 was 12,136, whereas this number was 23,848 between 1998 and 2003. Although the Protocols signed between Turkey and the TRNC stated that employment in the civil service would be frozen, the government parties had employed more than 1,500 persons for the sake of gaining political advantage. (Kibris, 17.11.03)

  3.20.2  Mustafa Akinci gave the same information to the Commission of Foreign Relations and Human Rights of the European Parliament on 18 November 2003 where he was visiting together with the leaders of the CTP and CABP. (Afrika, 19.11.03)

3.21  The Final Voter Roll

  3.21.1  Taner Erginel, Head of the Supreme Electoral Council, announced on 25 November 2003 that the final number of voters who were entitled to vote was 141,471, 639 more than the number of 140,832 which had been announced before. As a result of objections, 862 persons were excluded from the list with the approval of the Council. (Kibris and Afrika, 26.11.03)

  3.21.2  Yeni Duzen newspaper published the statement above with the following list on 26 November 2003:

Year	Total number of voters	Increase	Percentage
1976	75,824
1981	84,721	8,897	11.73
1985	95,124	10,403	12,28
1990	103,218	8,094	8.51
1991	106,303	3,085	2.99
1993	108,622	2,319	2.18
1998	120,758	12,136	11.17
September 2003	137,500	16,742
October 2003	140,832	3,332
November 2003	141,471	639	17.17

3.22  Influence of Turkey during the Election Period

  3.22.1  It is a well-known fact that in the aftermath of 1974 Turkey started a policy of Turkification of the northern occupied part of Cyprus. Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktashh was the main culprit in the implementation of this policy. Erdal Andiz, a columnist of Kibrisli newspaper, wrote the following about the influx of the mainland Turkish settlers right after 1974. When he heard that mainland Turkish settlers would be brought to the occupied areas he rushed to Denktashh's residence and complained to him: "Denktashh sipped from his glass of whisky cold-bloodedly and told me: "You will be a Turk." I reacted immediately and said: "They can come here today because I am a Turk." Denktashh retorted in the same cold-blooded manner: "Then you will be more Turkish." (Kibrisli, 29.6.2001)

  3.22.2  There has been no change in this policy over the last 30 years. As the Turkish Cypriots left the island for good, mainland Turkish settlers came to settle so as to Turkify the occupied areas. When a delegation of the "This country is ours" platform visited the Prime Minister of Turkey on 30 January 2003 in Ankara, Mr Erdogan responded to the criticism that the Turkish Cypriots are emigrating abroad: "There will be no emigration. If all leave, we have enough people here. We shall send them over." (See Halil Pasa, Afrika, 25.5.2003)

3.23  Activities of the Psychological Warfare Department

  3.23.1  Ali Bayramoglu, a columnist of the Yeni Safak newspaper of Turkey, wrote: "We do not know in full detail the extent of the initiatives of the National Security Council and the Psychological Warfare Department of the General Staff Presidium. But we know something. One of them is the Falcon Psychological Warfare Plan. In a report under the name `Activities and projects executed by the Executive Directory after the formation of the Psychological Warfare Department', it was underlined that this plan is being implemented with the contribution of the Psychological Warfare Department of the General Staff Presidium under the National Security Council, in order to stop the dissemination of the `idea of Cypriotism' in the Turkish Cypriot sector of Cyprus. It targets the press and broadcasting organs together with the Turkish Cypriot community, irrespective of who might be in power at a given time. With the help of this plan, the formation of political ideas is obstructed and activities were guided as the opposition was put out of circulation." (Yeni Safak, 30.8.03)

  3.23.2  According to the allegations of various columnists, 6 teams of psychological warfare were active in the Karpas region propagandizing against the Annan Plan and the European Union. Officers in civilian clothes who said they were from the Public Relations Department of the Security Forces Command paid visits to some villages in that area where the settlers live. (From the Kibris Postasi webpage, Yeni Duzen, 31.8.03)

3.24  A Newcomer: The Cyprus Justice Party (KAP)

  3.24.1  A retired army officer, Oguz Kalelioglu, who was a mainland Turkish commander in Famagusta during the Turkish invasion of 1974, was sent to Cyprus before the start of the election campaign in order to form a political party which would guide the political will of the Turkish settlers, mainly living in Famagusta district. Kalelioglu was said to be one of the officers who had worked for the National Security Council in the past (Fatih Gullapoglu, Tanksiz Topsuz Harekat, Tekin Yayinevi, Istanbul, p.94-1 12) and later for the "State Department for Religious Affairs." (Murat Yetkin, Radikal, 30.8.2003)

  3.24.2  The Cyprus Justice Party (KAP) was established on S Jnne 2003 under the leadership of Oguz Kalelioglu and its headquarters was opened in Nicosia. (Kibris, 2.9.03)

  3.24.3  The candidacy of Mr Kalelioglu was cancelled by the Supreme Electoral Council because he did not fulfill the necessary residency requirement. Another six KAP candidates withdrew their names before the elections took place. (Kibris, 13.12.03)

3.25.   Some Disillusioned Settlers

  3.25.1  Letter to the editor by Mehmet Bogachan: "After assessing the situation we have realised that we have always been used as an electoral pawn. Maybe we have realized this too late, but I would like to remind you of the proverb that it is gainful to turn from one's mistakes." (Halkin Sesi, 16.5.03)

  3.25.2  President of the Veterans' Association of the Cyprus Turkish Peace Forces, Sadan Turkkan: "We have 1,200 members, plus 5,000 honorary members; 82 members of our association have the ID of the Autonomous Turkish Cypriot Administration, but they have not been granted the TRNC citizenship yet." (Kibris, 10.7.03)

  3.25.3  President of the Refugees Association of the TRNC, Assistant Prof. Dr. Nuri Cevikel: "We have been exploited in the last 29 years. We have been used by the state authorities. The mainland Turkish sector in the TRNC has lived through a shock. Those who got into power with our help, they will use us during the elections and later we shall be thrown into the dustbin. As citizens of mainland Turkish origin, we don't want to be used any more. We want human rights and the rule of law." (Kibris, 26.7.03)

  3.25.4  President of the Refugees Association of the TRNC, Assistant Prof Dr Nuri Cevikel: "We represent today one-third of the Turkish population of the island who were brought in with thousands of promises from various parts of Anatolia since 1975."(Kibris, 25.8.03)

3.26  Direct Financial Influence of the Turkish Government

  3.26.1  According to a report by NTVMSNBC, the Turkish government budgeted financial aid in the amount of 120 trillion TL for November and December 2003. One-third of the budget of the TRNC is supplied by Turkey and Turkey gives a maximum of 60 trillion TL every month. Recently, this amount dipped below 60 trillion. Because of the approaching elections the sum of 120 trillion was given the "go ahead." Already in August 2003 the salaries of the civil servants and pensioners were raised and new personnel were employed by the state, this being reflected in the budget of 2004. The increase in financial aid was assessed by the opposition as indicating support for the Denktashh Administration. (Ortam, 3.12.03). Mr Hasipoglu, Famagusta MP, stated in Parliament that these extra jobs from the 03 Salary Scheme would cost net 5 trillion TL to the state according to the budget of 2004. (Kibris, 27.9.03)

  3.26.2  It was reported on 4 December that Abdullatif Sener, Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister Responsible for Cypriot Affairs, would visit the TRNC with another two or three Ministers bringing money before the forthcoming elections in support of the TRNC government. Prime Minister Erdogan intervened and only Mr Sener went to the TRNC on the condition of making balanced statements. (Murat Yetkin, Radikal, 9.12.03) Mr Sener stated that his visit had nothing to do with the election campaign and Turkey would continue to support development projects with the 160 million dollars agreed upon on 24 September 2001. (Kibris 8.12.03 and Halkin Sesi, 7.12.03)

  3.26.3  Mr Sener also took part in the foundation-laying ceremony of a tourist complex and a hotel which will cost 45 million dollars and which will be built in the Bafra/Karpas region. The local Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Engineers and Architects and the Union of Constructors protested that the construction plans had not been officially licensed.

3.27  Other Visitors from Turkey

  3.27.1  Aside from Prime Minister Erdogan and Mr Sener, many other politicians (Deniz Baykal, leader of the Republican People's Party; Dogu Perincek, leader of the Workers' Party; Oya Akgunen and Atif Ozbey from the Happiness Party, Saadettin Tantan, exMinister; Mustafa Kemal Zeybek, ex-Minister; Sinan Aygun, Chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Commerce accompanied by a delegation of 125 persons that distributed pro-Denktashh leaflets (Mr Aygun was granted TRNC citizenship before, but he was amongst those who were not allowed to vote, because his residence was not in the TRNC); trade-unionists (from Turk-Is, Kamu-Sen); and retired army personnel (Yasar Spor, Kemal Yavuz, Gultekin Alpugan at the head of a delegation of ex-officers) visited the TRNC to support the existing regime before and during the election campaign. (See various Turkish Cypriot newspapers)

  3.27.2  Even the advertising company which had helped the AKP win the elections in Turkey, Arter Reklam Cilik, was helping Mr Eroglu, the Prime Minister of the TRNC, in the election campaign of his governing National Unity Party. (Hurriyet, 5.12.03)

  3.27.3  Ordinary people were brought in from Turkey to attend the meetings of the UBP. It was reported that seven buses full of such people were carried by ferry-boat to Famagusta and the expenses were paid by Mustafa Ozbek, leader of the Turkish Metal-Sen Trade Union. (Kibris, 11.12.03)

  3.27.4  Kibris reported that the UBP hired people from the poor quarters of Nicosia, eg Kaimakli and the old city, for 20 million TL to populate the Ataturk Stadium during the music festival of the UBP. (Kibris, 21.11.03)

3.28  Military Interference

  3.28.1  Alpay Durduran, Secretary for Foreign Relations of the YBH, commented on the Turkish Foreign Minister's speech that the elections in Cyprus should be democratic. Mr Durduran stated that the armed civil servants of Turkey and the politicians who were elected with the help of Turkey threaten both the political parties and the press. They have all the means to implement their threats. They only look for the appropriate time. We have not forgotten that they executed their threats in the past. Therefore the Turkish government has to tell them that the military should not interfere in politics. (Afrika, 18.8.03)

  3.28.2  Ortam reported that a Turkish general together with some 15-20 officers visited the village of Yorgoz (Tepebasi). The imam of the village used the loud-speakers of the mosque to inform the villagers that the commander of the 39th Regiment would come to the village at 14.00 hours and talk to them. They should be ready at the village square in front of the coffee-shop. The general visited the village together with other officers in sports clothes and told the villagers that the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots could not live together and that the Turkish Army was the true guarantor of the security of the Turkish Cypriots. (Ortam, 20.11.03)

  3.28.3  Ortam reported three days later under the title "That's enough!" that another officer, Commander of the 4th Infantry Brigadier Mustafa Erguven, spoke during a ceremony for the new conscripts saying that those Turkish Cypriots who support a solution to the Cyprus Problem were enemy collaborators. (Ortam, 23.11.03)

  3.28.4  The complaint of the BDH to the Kyrenia District Electoral Council about the event in Yorgoz was answered through a letter (No. 65/2003, dated 20.11.03) as follows: "We do not have the right to decide about your complaint. If you wish, you can convey your complaint through your party to the attention of the Commander of the Turkish Army in Cyprus and/or to the Supreme Electoral Council." (Ortam, 24.11.03)

  3.28.5  Afrika reported that the occupation army in the north was being used to garner votes in the forthcoming elections. Afrika wrote that a 40-page booklet entitled, "The story of the road that leads to freedom", was distributed to the Security Forces personnel and the army. The newspaper asked: "Nobody knows who wrote, printed and distributed the booklet which refers to "the evils of the Annan Plan and how the legendary leader Rauf Denktashh saved the Turks in Cyprus." (Afrika, 7.12.03)

  3.28.6  Excerpt from a letter sent to the columnist Mebmet Altan at www.gazetem.net by a 25 year-old Turkish Cypriot unemployed university graduate: "I would like to refer to an operation executed in the Karpas region—a region mostly populated by Turkish settlers—on the night before the elections. . .On that night, the Turkish generals visited the villages in the Karpas area one by one and told the people that "no vote would be given to the opposition." Incredible threats were aired. Words like this were uttered: "If the opposition wins from the ballot boxes of this region, all of you will be sent to Turkey." If you look at the distribution of votes by region, you will see that these threats helped since the opposition received less than 20% of the vote there." (Ortam, 18.12.03)

3.29  The Role of the Mass Media

  3.29.1  Five mainland Turkish TV channels (TRT-1, TRT-2, Show-TV, ATV, Star-TV) are beamed into Turkish Cypriot homes and other channels can be received via satellite. Almost all the mass-circulation newspapers of Turkey are sold in the TRNC. The mainland Turkish mass media organs were involved in the Turkish Cypriot elections. The local Turkish Cypriot mass media organs were divided into two camps: pro-solution and pro-status-quo.

  3.29.2  The state TV and Radio Station BRTK is supposed to be impartial, but is used to propagate the official ideology of the Turkish Cypriot leadership. While the statements of Rauf Denktashh, Eroglu and other pro-status quo organizations were covered in full in the news, the views of the opposition parties and trade unions were either not mentioned or given minimal coverage. Avrasya TV is a new TV channel founded by Mustafa Ozbek, the President of the chauvinist mainland Turkish trade union Metal-Sen. It broadcasts to 42 countries from Nicosia and its views are close to those of the pro-establishment leaders in Turkey. Kanal T belongs to Ersin Tatar, a chauvinist Turkish Cypriot. Akdeniz TV belongs to Huseyin Macit Yusuf, another chauvinist Turkish Cypriot who owns also the "Volkan" daily newspaper which supports Rauf Denktashh and attacks the pro-solution parties on a daily basis. There are also Radio Guven and Radio Vatan which belong to the Army and defend the status quo.

  3.29.3  On the other hand, there are Kibris TV and Genc TV, Radios Kibris-FM, First-FM, Sim-FM supporting a solution to the Cyprus Problem. Below are some election news that appeared in the mass media:

3.29.3.1  Mrs Dilek Kirci was sacked from Kanal T. Mrs Kirci was forced by the owner, Ersin Tatar, to support only the UBP candidates in her programme "People's Assembly."

3.29.3.2  Kanal T censored the statements of Salahi Karpuzcu, the Muhtar of Gonyeli Yenikent and Ahmet Benli, CTP candidate in the elections, when they spoke in favor of the Annan Plan during a programme called "Our Villages." (Kibris, 22.10.03)

3.29.3.3  Ali Tekman, programme presenter at the BRT-Radio and TV criticized, day in day out, the supporters of the Annan Plan as "Annanists" and the teachers who demonstrated for their rights as "black-faced." He aspires to become a UBP candidate. (Kibris, 22.10.03)

3.29.3.4  The "Press Club" programme of the Avrasya TV (ART) was interrupted during a live transmission when the journalist Hasan Kahvecioglu criticized the TV station's news about the tearing up of a Turkish flag on BDH premises. (Kibris, 28.10.03)

3.29.3.5  Basaran Duzgun, editor of Kibris, and Hasan Hasturer, a colunmist of the same newspaper, were taken to court after 223 days because of their articles about the events in Doganci village. They run the risk of being punished with a total of 21 years' imprisonment. (Kibris, 4.11.03) On the complaint of the Security Forces Command new cases were opened against journalists under the pretext that they had humiliated the Security Forces. The names of the journalists to be tried at the military court are Basaran Duzgun, Hasan Hasturer, Suleyman Erguclu (Kibris), Hasan Kahvecioglu, and Mehmet Davulcu (Ortam). Murat Kanatli, the editor of the Yeni Cag weekly newspaper is also being intimidated by the police. (Yeni Cag, 7.11.03)

3.29.3.6  President Denktashh commented thus about the press cases: "If they have broken the law, they will go to court." (Afrika, 6.11.03)

3.29.3.7  The Supreme Electoral Council warned all TV and radio stations that it would not punish any of them so long as they treated all parties equally and did not allow unethical phone-ins. (Kibris, 6.11.03)

3.29.3.8  Public Opinion Company Verso of Turkey chose 1,500 mainland Turkish settlers out of 2,060 persons it interviewed for a gallup poll. (Afrika, 10.11.03)

3.29.3.9  The Supreme Electoral Council cautioned four TV channels (BRT, Avrasya TV, Genc TV and Kibris TV) and put up a telephone line "Alo 178" for complaints by TV-viewers and radio-listeners.

3.29.3.10  The Radio and TV Supreme Council of Turkey (RTUK) cautioned the radio and TV stations in Turkey in favor of the free formation of public opinion during the elections in the TRNC and Turkey. (Kibris, 21.11.03)

3.29.3.11  Rauf Denktashh phoned in to TV programme "Ceviz Kabugu" of the ATV (Turkey) to support the "national cause." Serdar Denktashh and Mehmet Ali Talat were the guests of the programme. (Kibris, 2.12.03) The air ticket for Serdar Denktashh was paid by the Tourism Development Fund of his Ministry and Mehmet Ali Talat's ticket by ATV. (Yeni Duzen, 9.12.03)

3.29.3.12  Rauf Denktashh took part in a TV programme of TV8 and supported the government as he criticized the opposition in the TRNC. (Kibris, 8.12.03)

3.29.3.13  Tahsin Ertugruloglu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the TRNC, phoned in to a TV programme of Kanal D of Turkey to humiliate Mehmet Ali Talat. (Kibris, 10.12.03)

3.29.3.14  After the prohibition of the circulation of "Star" newspaper the previous day, "Radikal" newspaper of Turkey was prohibited yesterday from circulating in the TRNC, because of its publication of the results of a public opinion poll. (Afrika, 11.12.03)

3.29.3.15  Fascist youths blocked the participation of pro-EU parties in TV discussion programme "Siyaset Meydani" to be transmitted live from the Near East University in Nicosia by ATV. (Kibris, 13.12.03)

3.29.3.16  Because it did not heed its warnings, Akdeniz TV was prohibited from broadcasting by the Supreme Electoral Council on the morning of the elections until 12.00. (Afrika, 15.12.03)

3.30  The Electoral Law Regulations

  What follows is a list of Turkish Cypriot media reports that refer to instances where the Turkish Cypriot administration did not abide by its own electoral law and regulations in the weeks leading up to the 14 December, 2003, elections.

  3.30.1  Rauf Denktashh violated the Electoral Law regulations (Article 80) on the first day of the election campaign when he spoke against the prospect of signing a peace agreement. (Ortam, 16.10.03)

  3.30.2  TAK, the official news agency, continues to publish the speeches of Mr Denktashh and Mr Eroglu (17.10.03)

  3.30.3  The employees of the BRT, State Radio and TV Station, went on a two-hour strike in protest against the Station which lost its impartiality and supported only the anti-Annan views of the governing coalition parties. (Kibris, 24.10.03)

  3.30.4  Serdar Denktashh, Deputy Prime Minister, criticized his partner in the coalition government saying that the UBP had extended public employment to people to gain political advantage. (Kibris, 24.10.03)

  3.30.5  Rauf Denktashh made a speech against the Annan Plan at the inauguration ceremony of a mosque in Famagusta. (Afrika, 27. 10.03)

  3.30.6  RTP-United Forces (CTP-BG) complained to the Supreme Electoral Council that Mr Denktashh violated the election prohibitions with his speech on the occasion of Turkish Republic Day, 29 October. (See the text of the letter in Yeni Duzen and Kibris, 1.11.03)

  3.30.7  The Cabinet distributed 3 86,273,540.426 TL to various organizations by decision No. 141 of 30.10.03. (Kibris, 1.11.03)

  3.30.8  Taner Erginel, Head of the Supreme Electoral Council, declared that the President of the TRNC was not immune from the prohibitions of the electoral law. (Afrika, 1.11.03)

  3.30.9  The BDH complained against Mr Denktashh at the Supreme Electoral Council alleging that he broke the rules of the election campaign. (Kibris, 5.11.03)

  3.30.10  CABP (Solution and the EU Party) complained to the Supreme Electoral Council too. (Kibris, 6.11.03)

  3.30.11  Rauf Denktashh: "If there will be elections, does it mean that everyone will stop talking?" (Kibrisli, 6.11.03)

  3.30.12  Taner Erginel: "We invite all authorities and political parties to exercise self-control." (Kibris, 9.11.03)

  3.30.13  The DP rented 4 planes from a private company in order to transport voters to the TRNC before 14 December. The UBP reached an agreement with the Cyprus Turkish Airline to transport its own supporters. (Yeni Duzen, 11.11.03)

  3.30.14  The Supreme Electoral Council ordered the UBP not to use the TRNC or Turkish flags in its propaganda materials. (Ortam, 20.11.03)

  3.30.15  The Ministry of Finance paid the November salaries earlier because of the coming Bairam holiday. The 13th salary will be paid on 12 December and the December salary on 30 December. In 40 days a total of 135 trillion Turkish pounds will be paid to "boost" the markets. (Afrika, 21.11.03)

  3.30.16  The director of the Grain Commission, Omer Alganer, brought two buses from the Konya District Organization of the AKP (Erdogan's Party) to be used in the election campaign of the UBP. The Demirpolat Firm, which has won the tenders of the Grain Commission since the 1998 elections, paid the rent for the buses which amounted to 50 billion TL. (Kibris, 22.11.03)

  3.30.17  120 parcels of propaganda material for the UBP went through customs absent official control or taxing. (Yeni Duzen, 24.11.03)

  3.30.18  On the first day of the Bairam the imam of Gonyeli spoke of the "traitors and enemies among us" in his sermon in the mosque. (Kibris, 26.11.03)

  3.30.19  Some people woke up on the first day of Bairam to the ringing of their telephones which conveyed the recorded voice of Eroglu's propaganda for his party. (Kibris, 26.11.03)

  3.30.20  Flag provocation by the UBP militants in Hamitkoy during the election meeting. They tore the Turkish and TRNC flags and accused the left-wing youth. (Afrika, 1.12.03)

  3.30.21  Placards bearing the name "TMT-B" were left at the headquarters of the CTP-BG and the Residence of the British High Commissioner by unknown persons. (Kibris, 2.12.03)

  3.30.22  The Dipkarpas Municipality distributed cement and steel bars to the villagers in order to get their votes during the coming elections. The wife of Prime Minister Eroglu distributed packets containing one kilo of beef or chicken in the same region. (Kibris, 3.12.03)

  3.30.23  Mr Akinci told a delegation of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly (from Turkey) that the election campaign is not being conducted in a democratic atmosphere. He called attention to the ongoing amendment of the voter roll, the distribution of jobs, and a campaign of intimidation. Mr Erel of the Solution and EU Party told the same delegation that there was interference in the elections. Even after the deadline for the election prohibitions, about 1,503 persons were taken into public employment. Many people were granted citizenships. (Kibris, 6.12.03)

  3.30.24  Unknown persons attacked the election advertisements, party flags, party buildings and cars of the three opposition parties with paint. (Kibris, 6.12.03)

  3.30.25  The Turkish newspapers were unloaded from the airplane of the Cyprus Turkish Airways and the "cargo of the Prime Minister" with three tons of election propaganda was loaded instead. (Afrika and Kibris, 7.12.03)

  3.30.26  Two Greek Cypriots and a Turkish Cypriot were detained on the evening of 8 December 2003 during the political meeting of the BDH as they were selling newspapers, printed in Turkish and Greek, demanding that the elections be turned into a referendum and supporting the left-wing parties. (Kibris, 9.12.03)

  3.30.27  The UBP continued to use the flags of the TRNC and Turkey in breach of the decision of the Supreme Electoral Council (Kibris, 8.12.03). The Supreme Electoral Council banned the UBP's leaflets which were contrary to Article 74 of the Electoral Law. (Kibris, 9.12.03)

  3.30.28  The director of the Social Security Department, Huseyin Kansay, was removed from his post by a decision signed by the Minister of Labor, Ahmet Kasif, Prime Minister, Dervis Eroglu and President Rauf Denktashh. Mr Kansay had resisted the order of the Minister of Labor, who had wanted to register 1,500 persons illegally from the Famagusta and Iskele regions for the social insurance benefit scheme, contrary to the directive of the State-Attorney and the State-Auditor. (Yeni Duzen and Ortam, 10.12.03)

  3.30.29  Kibris published the list of the newly employed civil servants: 693 positions filled contrary to the law. (31.8.03) The KTAMS (Turkish Cypriot Civil Servants' Trade Union) found out that 1,500 new persons had been employed by the civil service with permanent status (Salary Scale 03), many of them being university graduates. In fact this salary scale is for secondary school graduates. (Halkin Sesi, 10.12.03)

  3.30.30  Unsigned leaflets were distributed by unknown persons within the walls of old Nicosia where settlers live. The settlers were threatened with being sent back to Turkey if the opposition parties won the elections. (Yeni Duzen, 11.12.03)

  3.30.31  The case brought by the BDH about the granting of citizenship to about 2,000 persons will be examined by the Supreme Court in January 2004. (Kibris, 12.12.03)

  3.30.32  Propagandist groups were used yesterday during Friday prayers in the Degirmenlik (Kythrea) mosque, denouncing people who were for a solution of the Cyprus Problem. An ex-Minister from Turkey, Saadettin Tantan, was among the speakers. (Ortam, 13.12.03)

3.31  Observations of the Oslo Group

  3.31.1  During the period leading up to the December 14 elections the Turkish Cypriot opposition, fearing that the Denktashh regime would not conduct fair elections, called for international observers. No proper international monitoring of the elections was however able to be organized. Nevertheless some unofficial monitoring was conducted by individual NGOs during the actual course of the elections. What follows are references in the Turkish and Greek Cypriot press to such attempts at monitoring the December 14 elections.

  3.31.2  Under the title "We have some concerns regarding the elections", Kibris (17.12.03) published statements made by the representatives of the Oslo University Law Faculty group who had gone to occupied Cyprus to unofficially observe the 14 December election. Aanund Hylland, Gunner M Karlsen and Elisabeth Rasmusson, the members of the Oslo group, issued a statement stressing that the illegal Bayrak (BRT) television station had wrongly portrayed their view of the elections during a report broadcast in the evening of 15 December. According to the observers, Bayrak broadcast pictures of them together with other foreigners at the office of Mr Taner Erginel, chairman of the Supreme Electoral Council. In its report Bayrak said that the observers had stated that the "elections were just and free" implying that everybody who was in the room agreed. The Oslo group noted that the person who had made this statement did not belong to their group and pointed out that they wanted to be clear that they did not approve of such views. The members of the Oslo group expressed their sorrow over the fact that the Bayrak report had aired none of their views on important issues. Noting that Clement Dodds, Michael Steven (former Member of the British Parliament and lawyer), and the British-Helsinki Human Rights Group, who had said that the elections were well-organised, have been on the island for only four days, Mrs Elizabeth Rasmusson noted that this was not enough time for someone who wanted to express a reliable opinion on the election procedure. Mrs Rasmusson recalled that Mr Michael Steven possesses (Greek Cypriot) property in northern Cyprus. Referring to Mr Dodds, Mrs Rasmusson said that he has written a book about northern Cyprus, but that he is not an expert in observing elections. Therefore, these two persons could not assess the elections, she added. Mrs Rasmusson said that in January 2004 her group would prepare a report, which would include reliable documents and information acquired in the course of their research during their long stay in northern Cyprus. The written statement of the three members of the Oslo group contains, inter alia, the following: "There are some concerns about the elections in northern Cyprus. In this press release there are only some preliminary elements. BRT created a wrong impression regarding our views in its reportage on 15 December in the evening. Our main concern is that BRT with its reportages supported the ruling parties and it was prejudiced. As a state institution BRT, under the principles of the constitution of the TRNC and international law, bears the responsibility of serving the people without prejudice and without taking sides. The observation we made of the main news bulletins of BRT shows that these obligations were violated." The statement referred to the arbitrarily granted citizenships and then added: "There were allegedly pressures on the voters so that they would support some specific political parties. These could create an atmosphere, which is not consistent with independent elections." (Republic of Cyprus, PlO)

  3.31.3  Norwegian observers suspicious over election turnout: "The large number of voters in last Sunday's elections in the north compared to the last elections has raised suspicions of `voter production', according to a Norwegian group. In their preliminary findings, a group of observers from the University of Oslo observed `claims regarding pressure on voters to support specific parties', creating an atmosphere `opposing the procedure of free elections'. The observers said procedures were inadequate and give rise to objections regarding the voter roll. The group accused the Turkish Cypriot television station Bayrak of biased representations as well as of failing to broadcast their serious observations concerning the elections. The observers further commented that Bayrak's news bulletins had been biased in favor of the ruling parties instead of being impartial, which would have better served the public interest. The observers' final findings will be published at a later date." (Article written by George Psyllides, Cyprus Mail, 19.12.03)

CONCLUSION

  The political regime in northern Cyprus is an example of a situation where the institutions and practices of democracy conceal the absence of democratic substance. What has happened in northern Cyprus over the last thirty years is an attempt to legitimate the institutions of the occupation regime by giving them the appearance of democracy and the form of representative government. Yet the institutions in question do not fulfil the fundamental function of democracy, which is to give expression to the will of the legitimate electorate—the Turkish Cypriots!

  What often escapes the casual observer is that the important "democratic" exercises in northern Cyprus are controlled through an elaborate but concealed network of people and practices that lead back to Ankara. There is still in place an obscure structure that ensures that the decisive voice in the north is that of the National Security Council which rules Turkey. This has not been changed by the result of the 2003 elections. To change, it must first be exposed.

  Turkey's role in Cyprus shows no sign of abatement and merits no positive consideration from the European Union. It is a state of affairs that is not conducive to Turkey's European aspirations or to the prospect of a fair and lasting solution to the Cyprus Problem. In the final analysis, unless and until Turkey dismantles its insidious mechanisms of control in north Cyprus any inter-communal settlement that follows the parameters of the Annan Plan will be impossible because it will threaten to place a reunified Cyprus under Turkish influence and ultimate control.

  The European Union should in no way help legitimise Turkey's grip over northern Cyprus. Indeed all efforts should be focused on ensuring a process of real democratisation of the Turkish Cypriot community. Indeed it is the responsibility of the European Union in a new European environment to help Turkish Cypriots escape the controlling hand of Ankara and freely participate in Cyprus' European future.

  This objective is perhaps the most important prerequisite for a truly workable and lasting solution to the Cyprus Problem. There should therefore be no rewards for actions that are meant to obscure the real nature of the northern Cyprus political regime, or for attempts to obscure the real nature of Turkish intentions regarding Cyprus.

  The findings of this report should give pause to those who look forward to an early resolution of the Cyprus problem in the context of Cyprus accession to the EU. This report puts the whole idea of a European solution of the Cyprus dispute in serious doubt unless certain fundamental issues are properly and squarely addressed. Such issues relate to the role that Turkey intends to play in Cyprus as well as the kind of power and influence that Turkey intends to exercise over the Turkish Cypriots.

Annex I

POLITICAL PARTIES IN NORTHERN CYPRUS

  Shortly after the division of the island in the wake of the Turkish invasion of 1974, the Turkish Cypriot administration tried to improve its institutions of self-government. Its efforts initially met with some success, especially as regards the formation of a legislative body.

  In its current form this body has 50 members chosen through electoral contests occurring every five years. Political parties must obtain at least 5% of the total vote to gain entry to the legislature. Voters are able to choose candidates from different parties in five electoral districts, namely Nicosia (16 legislators), Famagusta (13 legislators), Kyrenia (nine legislators), Morphou (seven legislators), and Tricomo (five legislators). The first elections in northern Cyprus took place in June 1976.

  The main parliamentary political parties in northern Cyprus are the Republican Turkish Party, the Peace and Democracy Movement, the National Unity Party and the Democratic Party.

  Founded in 1970 the Republican Turkish Party is the oldest party in northern Cyprus and has a centre-left political orientation. Its founding leader, Ahmed Mithat Berberoglu, was succeeded by Ozker Ozgur and later by Mehmet Ali Talat, who is the party's current leader. The party has traditionally opposed the idea of partitioning Cyprus, and is in favor of a negotiated solution that would follow the ideas included in the Annan Plan.

  The majority of RTP supporters are Turkish Cypriots although it has consistently, during the recent electoral campaign, solicited the vote of the Turkish settlers. (NOTE: the Annan Plan essentially provides that at least 60,000 settlers will remain in Cyprus, which has made the plan attractive to those settlers who have been in Cyprus longer and are therefore eligible to remain under the Plan) Mehmet Ali Talat was reported during the 2003 campaign as saying that: "The human rights of the Greek Cypriots are not more important than the property rights of the mainland Turkish settlers in Cyprus,"(Press Summary of 24.8.03, published in Birlik 25.8.03)

  The Peace and Democracy Movement, founded by Mustafa Akinci in June 2003, comprises of several smaller political parties (the Communal Liberation Party, the Cyprus Socialist Party and the United Cyprus Party) as well as several labor organizations (the State Doctors' Trade Union (Tifi-IS), the Union of Municipality Workers (BES), the Union of Civil Servants (CAG-SEN)).

  The party has no ideological platform other than the common desire to resolve the Cyprus Problem in accordance with the provisions of the Annan Plan. The Peace and Democracy Movement is predominantly a Turkish Cypriot-supported party.

  The National Unity Party was founded in 1975 by Rauf Denktashh and others. Its current leader is Dervish Eroglu. In April 1994 the party incorporated the right-wing settler party of Orhan Ucok (the Homeland Party). The National Unity Party has close relations with the Motherland Party of Turkey. Its political agenda focuses on the concept that the current status quo in Cyprus is the best solution to the Problem because it provides the best policy options for Turkey. The party opposes any solution that would deprive Turkey of its effective control of the island or that would mean that any of the Turkish settlers—on whose vote the party is largely dependent—would have to be repatriated.

  The Democratic Party is a right-wing party founded in 1992 as a breakaway faction of the National Unity Party that included Denktashh's younger son, Serdar. (Denktashh has been supportive of his son's party)

  The Democratic Party was joined in 1992 by the Social Democratic Party of Ergun Vehbi (originally founded by Rauf Denktashh—Rauf Denktashh's eldest son who died in a car accident in the late eighties). In 1992 the Democratic Party was joined by the main settler party of Ali Ozkan Altinisik (the Rebirth Party) hence gaining the largest settler following among all parties in northern Cyprus. The Democratic Party supports the position that the solution of the Cyprus Problem must be based on the notion of two separate sovereign states. In August of 1994 together with the National Unity Party it voted against the idea of a federal solution to the Cyprus Problem, supporting instead Rauf Denktashh's call for a confederation. The Democratic Party has been traditionally opposed to Cyprus' accession to the EU. Nevertheless, it has not rejected the Annan Plan outright, especially once the strong pro-Annan Plan and pro-Europe demonstrations of the Turkish Cypriots got underway in 2002-03.

  All of the parties in northern Cyprus were and continue to be under the effective control of Ankara.

  Following the recent elections of 14 December 2003, Akinci's party (six legislators) was not invited to join the coalition government of the Republican Turkish Party (19 legislators) and the Democratic Party (seven legislators) presumably because it had expressed guarded opposition against the Turkish military and Turkish interference in the affairs of northern Cyprus.

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78   This section draws upon material published by the author in his book "Kibris Nereye Gidiyor?" ("Quo Vadis Cyprus"), published in Turkish, in Istanbul/Turkey, in June 2002, by the Everest Publishing House, pp 318-327. Back

79   TMT, which stands for Turkish Resistance Organisation (Turk Mukavemet Teskilati) (Turkish Fighters) was the terrorist organization created by the Turkish Cypriots with British acquiescence, as a reaction to the Greek Cypriot EOKA (Ethniki Organosi Kiprion Agoniston-National Organization of Cypriot Fighters) that initiated an anticolonial struggle against British rule in 1955. Back

80   This signifies the Turkish term "derin devlet" which refers to a militarybureaucratic complex that controls the Turkish state irrespective of the government that wins the Turkish elections. Back

81   The term Bayraktar means main standard or flag bearer, and the term Bozkurt refers to the legendary grey wolf that led the marauding Turkish tribes from Central Asia to Asia Minor and the areas currently occupied by modem-day Turkey. Back

82   The withdrawal was in the wake of intercommunal conflict which erupted as a result of a constitutional dispute over the approval of taxation legislation. Back

83   After renewed fighting in Kophinou in November 1967 Greece had to withdraw a substantial number of Greek army officers and troops from Cyprus. The Turkish Cypriots then set up the "Provisional Turkish Cypriot Administration" on 28 December 1967. Its basic law provided that until all provisions of the 1960 Constitution were applied Turkish Cypriots living in the enclaves were to be attached to this administration which regulated its own executive, legislative and judicial branches. Back

84   The National Security Council (NSC) was established in Turkey in 1962 by special law. It was supposed to be an organ that would help the Cabinet take decisions on questions of national security. It convenes every month and whenever necessary under the presidency of the President of the Republic of Turkey and includes certain ministers, the Chief of Staff, and the three Commanders of the Land, Sea and Air forces. The 1962 law was amended in November 2003 and the NSC was turned into an advisory body. Nevertheless, it continues to carry weight in Turkish political life. For example, there is an NSC representative sitting in as a member of the Supreme Councils of the Universities and Radio-TV Stations. No law, regulation or international agreement entered into by the Republic of Turkey may contradict the policy laid down in the "Red Book" prepared and reviewed every year by the NSC. Back

85   For a profile of political parties in northern Cyprus see Annex I. Back

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Prepared 22 February 2005