Threats by Eroglu on oil explorations: “The Turkish warships are standing by in the Mediterranean Sea”Turkish Cypriot daily Gunes (15.09.11) reports that the Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu hosted Turkish Cypriot journalists at a dinner last Tuesday and briefed them on the latest developments as regards the Cyprus problem and the negotiations process prior to his visit to New York.

In a conversation with the journalists, Eroglu said that the explorations for oil and natural gas in the open sea of Cyprus are not accepted and added that he has told President Christofias that the Greek Cypriots should abandon this effort. Eroglu noted that Turkey will never allow such an effort and added: “Ships of the Turkish Armed Forces are standing by”.

Eroglu alleged that his statements on the issue of the citizenship [in a possible federal state] have not been published correctly in the press and pointed out that what he had said was that everybody who will vote in the referendum should be accepted as citizen.

Referring to the same dinner, Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen (15.09.11) reports that Eroglu noted that what he said was that all “citizens” registered in the “register” of the regime should become citizens of the “new state”. Eroglu said that the tripartite summit in October is crucial and noted: “I guarantee that I will be at the negotiating table until the end of October? The UN Secretary-General should decide what will happen after the summit to be held in the end of October”.

The paper writes that Eroglu is worried about the internal developments in the occupied area and that because of the “disorganization” of the self-styled government people tell him that they wish they had not voted for him. Eroglu said he is not informed by the “government” on the new “laws” which it prepares and added that he reads these “laws” in the papers.

According to Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris (15.09.11), Eroglu said also that he is worried about the internal problems which exist in the occupied area of Cyprus and the course of the “country”. He noted that the internal problems increase and that he continuously receives complains by the people. Eroglu pointed out that the internal problems weaken him at the negotiations table during the efforts of reaching a solution to the Cyprus problem. He argued that discipline existed in the National Unity Party when he was the president of the party and added that the “MPs” and the “ministers” should cooperate. If they do not, “early elections” wait at the door, he said. Asked whether he sees “early elections”, Eroglu said that these “elections” will not happen in 2011 because only few months remained until the end of the year. Asked whether there will be “elections” next year, Eroglu replied that this depends on the developments.

The paper writes that referring to the explorations for oil and natural gas by the Republic of Cyprus, Eroglu alleged that President Christofias behaves in a hard manner against Turkey in order to secure the support of the nationalist circles in the government-controlled area of the island. Asked whether there will be a war because of this issue, Eroglu argued that they do not want a war and added: “There will be no war, but Turkey will defend its interests of course”. He recalled that many wars in the world happen because of oil.

Kibris reports that Kudret Ozersay, Eroglu’s special advisor, briefed the chief editors of the newspapers on the ongoing Cyprus negotiations.