Front Page Headlines
The first leftist president is now part of history
He died yesterday at 5.36 pm at the Nicosia general hospital. Sadness and condolences by President Anastasiades. Cabinet decides today on funeral and burial. Extraordinary meeting of AKEL’s general secretariat.
- The Cyprob is now a hostage
- (Interior minister wants) Explanations from UNHCR
- Customs department: Still confiscating (fuel) at crossings
Demetris Christofias has departed
The Former President of the Republic died yesterday at 72. He consumed his life in the political track for Cyprus and the left wing. The important milestones of his course. Cabinet convenes.
- Procedures for measures against Turkey – Satisfaction by Nicosia-Athens.
- Akinci remembered now the five-party conference
- New war cries by (Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi) Akar
- They honoured Captain Vangelis by naming a street after him – He used to carry arms during 1955-59.
Farewell Demetris
Former President of the Republic and leading AKEL figure Demetris Christofias died yesterday.
- Rhetoric for internal consumption – The EU Commission’s ‘specific measures’ will first have to be decided and announced and then their effectiveness will be judged.
- (Education ministry) Causing difficulties to a TC over the student grant
- Gathering of Famagustians outside the Presidential Palace on Friday, June 28
- The government is called to tell the truth on the Cyprus-US agreements
Christofias dead at 72
Former president was hospitalised over a month ago with serious respiratory issues.
- OBITUARY – Christofias: I’m the red sheep of Europe
(Juncker:) Tayyip (Erdogan), the “measures will not be soft”
Jean Claude Juncker warns Turkey. Europe is determined to go from strong verbal treatment to sanctions against Turkey. Satisfaction by Anastasiades and (Greek Prime Minister Alexis) Tsipras.
- Christofias departed at 72 – He won many health battles over the years but not the last one. Sadness in Cyprus and Greece, farewell also by the TC leader in Greek. His son’s goodbye.
- The Turks won’t back down
- (Press conference by) Mustafa Akinci on all matters – Criticism, accusations.
- (Interior Minister) Constantinos Petrides: 3,060 refugees through the occupied areas. The pseudo-state is sending them over in an organised manner.
Main News
Nicosia very satisfied over possibility of EU sanctions against Turkey
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
EU Matters, Energy, Regional/International Relations, Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
President Nicos Anastasiades is satisfied by the call by the European Council for proposed measures by the EU Commission against Turkey over its drilling activities in the Cyprus exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the papers report.
Anastasiades on Friday expressed his utmost satisfaction by the conclusions of the European Council and over that targeted measures are to be taken on an EU level against Turkey.
He said Nicosia was not happy with the first draft of the conclusions on Thursday night and prepared the new text that was adopted as submitted.
Cyprus’ EU partners were convinced when they realised that Turkey’s words and deeds did not match, particularly after the dispatch of the second drilling ship in Cyprus’ EEZ, he said.
Anastasiades said the goal of the measures was sending a message to Turkey that “if it maintains European inclinations, it will have to adjust to EU principles and values” and to terminate illegal activities in Cyprus’ EEZ and to resume negotiations to find a viable solution to the Cyprus problem.
Anastasiades, answering journalists’ questions in Brussels after the summit, said the EU had gone from words to practical solidarity. The entire spectrum of EU-Turkey relations and any other kind of EU-Turkey interaction now depends on Turkey’s change of attitude, he said. He acknowledged at the same time, the difficulties vis-a-vis the EU’s relations with Turkey on the handling of the refugee crisis.
Politis, in an analysis piece by the paper’s political reporter Giorgos Kafkalias, says that the Cyprus problem is in a standstill and no positive prospect is seen on the horizon.
According to the paper, the Cyprus problem is now hostage to developments since the presence of Turkish drillships in the Cypriot EEZ leave no room for negotiations as per the GC side’s declarations.
The latest announcements by TC ‘Foreign Minister’ Kudret Ozersay concerning the closed off town of Famagusta adds to the problem, as well as his and ‘Prime Minister’ Ersin Tatar’s insistence on launching a public dialogue on the possibility of a two-state solution, the economic situation in Turkey and possible sanctions against her by the US and the EU. President Nicos Anastasiades is called to handle this explosive situation, the daily said.
TC leader Mustafa Akinci’s call for a five-party conference so that the positions of each side are clarified is not unrelated to the social dinner between Anastasiades and Ozersay.
Citing sources within the UN, Politis reports that everyone knew of Turkey’s intentions to drill in disputed areas. On the other hand, repeated calls to all sides by the UN to sit at the negotiations yielded no results while the GC and TC sides have been for months engaging in public disagreements on political equality and the Guterres Framework. Only Turkey was consistent in her announcements.
The government focused on trilateral cooperation with neighbouring countries while UN envoy Jane Holl Lute has been going back and forth without any substantive results at Cyprus problem level, the daily said.
The reality is the government has a difficult challenge to face since it is not easy to stop Turkey’s machinations, the daily said.
KEY ACTORS
Anastasiades
>> Very satisfied by the prospect of sanctions against Turkey after Cyprus’ EU partners were convinced & showed their solidarity in practice after realising Turkey’s words and deeds did not match.
>> The measures aim at making Turkey realise that if she still wants an EU future she must adhere to the bloc’s principles and values & terminate illegal activities in Cyprus’ EEZ but also resume negotiations to find a viable solution to the Cyprob.
>> Turkey’s European future depends on the country’s change of attitude.
>> Acknowledges difficulties concerning EU’s relations with Turkey on the handling of the refugee crisis.
Government assessing Green Line regulation after mass arrival of migrants through crossings
Alithia, Politis
Migration & Citizenship, CBMs
OVERVIEW
The dailies report that the government will seek explanations by the UN over the influx of migrants to the government-controlled areas through the occupied areas even looking into changes in the Green Line regulation.
In total 3,060 people have crossed from the occupied areas seeking political asylum during the first six months of 2019 many of them not from Syria but from African countries such as Cameroon and Nigeria in their majority, men.
Politis reports that Interior Minister Constantinos Petrides will seek explanations by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) following a statement by Ozersay on Friday that the occupation regime is in cooperation with UNHCR so that all migrants arriving in the north seeking asylum are channelled to the free areas.
Lately many migrants arrive from Istanbul and Antalya to Tymbou airport and from there are directly transported to the crossings to seek asylum at the free areas, the daily reports, adding that the pseudo-state has announced it would not allow entrance to Syrian refugees and will from now on request a ‘visa’.
Petrides said that if what Ozersay is saying is true, the government will seek explanations by the UNHCR since this is a very serious issue.
The government is even considering not allowing entry to the free areas of persons arriving from illegal ports of entry without any travel documents.
The minister said the numbers of migrants arriving are so large the government is unable to handle the situation.
According to Alithia, Petrides said that the organs of the pseudo-state act as people smugglers and hinted that the government may re-examine the Green Line regulation status.
Petrides said there were political expediencies behind this issue and that it constituted flagrant violation of the EU-Turkey agreement on the refugee issue for which Turkey receives a lot of money. The government has already informed the EU of the situation while it is assessing “the practical implementation of the Green Line regulation with whatever this entails,” he said according to Alithia.
KEY ACTORS
Petrides
>> The government is assessing the implementation of the Green Line regulation after the steep increase in the arrival of migrants through the crossings with the help of TC authorities.
Mourning over former president Christofias’ death
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
Governance & Power Sharing, CBMs
OVERVIEW
The death on Friday of former President and former AKEL leader Demetris Christofias featured prominently on all papers on Saturday.
Christofias died on Friday afternoon at the age of 72 after being at the Nicosia general hospital for about a month after being admitted with acute respiratory problems. He was Cyprus’ sixth president and served between 2008 and 2013. On the day of his election, Christofias was serving his second term as House president, a position he took in 2001.
President Nicos Anastasiades expressed his condolences to the family and said he was greatly saddened by the news of Christofias’ death.
Akinci too expressed his condolences in a tweet to Christofias’ family, AKEL and the GC community. Akinci’s tweet was in Greek, according to Alithia.
During his term as president, he agreed with TC leader Mehmet Ali Talat to the opening of the Ledra Street crossing point in April 2008, and the setting up of 16 bicommunal technical working committees.