Eroglu refers to the importance of the message given to the world with the illegal agreement he signed with Erdogan in New York

Under the title “The message is clear”, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris (05.10.11) reports that the Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu has referred to the importance of the illegal agreement he signed in New York with the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan regarding the delimitation of the “continental shelf” between Turkey and the occupied area of Cyprus and noted that the “agreement” is important from the point of view of being signed after the meeting of Tayyip Erdogan with the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.

In statements yesterday to Resat Akar, KIBRIS Media Group’s general director and presenter of “Son Durum” [Latest Situation] program of Kibris TV, Eroglu evaluated the developments in the Cyprus problem, the issue of natural gas and oil, the economy of the breakaway regime, the internal politics in the occupied area of Cyprus and the possibility of early “elections”.

Noting that the agreement between himself and Erdogan was signed after the Turkish Premier’s meeting with the US President, Eroglu said: “This is the point which should actually be evaluated and should not be ignored. It has been an agreement which was included in the agenda of the whole world”.

Arguing that Turkey and the breakaway regime are not considering starting provocations and war, Eroglu threatened that “if there is any interference in our exploration ship, we will not leave this interference without response”. He also threatened that if the Greek Cypriot side takes steps that it should not take, being encouraged by Israel and Greece, there will definitely be a response.

Eroglu reiterated that he told President Christofias to reconsider any drilling attempts at a time when the Cyprus negotiations are taking place and warned him that “if you take these steps, we have also steps that could be taken”. He said that President Christofias replied: “Are you threatening me? I cannot continue the talks under these circumstances”.

Eroglu alleged that with the “agreement” he signed with Erdogan the “continental shelf” of Turkey and the “TRNC”, the breakaway regime in the occupied areas of Cyprus, was delimited, and argued that the breakaway regime has the power to cooperate with any company in its “continental shelf” and that the day after the signing of the “agreement”, they “authorized” the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) to carry out seismic exploration.

He alleged that the vessel Piri Reis carries out explorations using this “authorization” according to international agreements and the law of the sea.

Eroglu said that the existence of natural gas resources in the south of Cyprus was established in a depth of 4.000 meters and reiterated that Piri Reis is carrying out explorations on behalf of the breakaway regime, not Turkey. However, he added that “while we search for our rights, we want to note that Turkey’s rights should also not be forgotten”. He alleged that Turkey has the strongest fleet in the Mediterranean, but it does not want war.

Eroglu noted that he has submitted a proposal to the UN Secretary-General saying that the explorations should be postponed by both sides until after the solution of the Cyprus problem, and that if this is not accepted, a bi-communal committee could be established for concluding agreements and granting licenses and that the profit from the resources which will be found should be used for financing the comprehensive solution. He said that they suggested the establishment of a fund with these profits “with the knowledge of the Secretary-General”.

Eroglu argued that the Cyprus negotiations came to the point of “give-and-take” and claimed that a “give-and-take” process should begin. Giving examples about the “give-and-take” process, Eroglu said that the issue of territory is entered in the UN registers, and that the map and the numbers will be the last issue of discussion and also that the map will be discussed when a four-party or a five-party meeting is held.

Eroglu noted that President Christofias asked the return of 100 thousand Greek Cypriot refugees to their homes (under Greek Cypriot administration) and the return of 65 thousand refugees “among us”, as he said meaning under Turkish Cypriot administration. He also said that President Christofias told him that he would not discuss the territory without the return of occupied Morfou to its legal Greek Cypriot owners. “When that day comes, everything will be discussed”, he argued.

Eroglu said also that they debated a lot on the property issue and that lately they discussed the governance and power sharing. He argued that the two founding states should have guarantors and that the agreement to be reached should become primary law of the EU. He said that the Turkish Cypriot side wants an agreement by which the least possible people will be displaced.

Eroglu noted that the leaders finished the chapter of economy and agreed that the Central Bank of the federal state will have a director and a deputy director and equal number of Greek and Turkish Cypriots as members (of the administrative council). He said that the presidency of the central bank and of the public service commission will be rotating.

Eroglu said that the most important issues are the territory, property and power sharing. “The Greek Cypriots want almost all of our land”, he claimed referring to the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus. He said that until the end of October they will discuss the criteria they determined for the property issue, and that the Greek Cypriots want to have the final say on whether they will return to their properties and that the Turkish Cypriot side does not accept this.

Referring to the internal political developments in the occupied area of Cyprus, Eroglu said that the “opposition” parties are trying to “join forces” and that they could force the “government” to early “elections” in the second half of 2012. He said that the opposition parties are considering abandoning the “parliament” and added that if the main “opposition” party abandons the “parliament”, a single party “parliament” could not exist and therefore early “elections” might be held.

Eroglu noted that the “government” faces difficulties in paying the salaries of its employees and that the measures which should have been taken were not taken in time. He argued that wrong steps were made in the beginning and added that they will experience problems in paying the bonus wages (13th