GCC Press Review 8 Sep 2019

Front Page Headlines

Sunday Mail

Gangs target Paphos homes

‘They are moving from area to area and they can literally empty your house in an hour’, security expert says.

  • Next stop Guterres for Cyprob
  • We are Cypriots:  Melancholy believers in a united Cyprus try to hold on to hope

Simerini

Cavusoglu is setting the course!

The picture will start becoming clearer tomorrow after his contacts in the occupied areas. Sources since Tuesday have been saying the TC side would not agree on the Terms of Reference before his arrival to Cyprus. Despite Nicosia’s initial approach that it is an issue concerning the two sides in Cyprus, the information has been confirmed. It clearly seems that Turkey decides and the TC leadership follows.

  • Position: Romantic Realism (editorial on the Cyprob talks and Turkey’s aspirations)
  • Guterres: I’m not falling for it again… but Lute has secret arbitration in mind
  • Αndreas Pentaras: Cyprus’ security at the international conference (opinion piece)
  • Savvas Iacovides: Why do we go to talks again (opinion piece)
  • Nicos Katsourides: The moment of truth (opinion piece)

Politis

DISY is pushing for a radical restart

Nicos Anastasiades has before him a request for a complete facelift. The reshuffling is planned for the end of October-early November. The apolitical government needs to be strengthened by active party executives. (DISY leader) Averof (Neophytou) wants a broom to rid the Presidential Palace and the government from the influence of (former DIKO leader and DIPA leader Marios) Garoyian.

  • What this week left us from Lute’s visit – The United Nations have a clear perception of the positions of the two sides on the Terms of Reference. The effort for restarting the dialogue affects the March ‘elections’ in the TC community.  Turkey has completely decrypted the tactics of President Anastasiades.
  • ‘Decision for Peace’: Andreas Christou and Xenia Constantinou analyse the vision of the political movement
  • Chronicle: Cyprus problem 1999-2019: Τhe last 20 years (free supplement given with Sunday’s Politis)

Phileleftheros

Road Map: ‘(Turkey) wants everything’

Τhe Turkish scenarios after the halt in Jane Holl Lute’s mission to Nicosia. Turkey is also seeking arbitration. (Turkey) wants to become a superpower.

  • Akinci is searching for his political survival – Cyprob procedures.
  • Fast-track electricity connection between Turkey-occupied areas – Yet another step of dependence.
  • British involvement until the end… in the EU
  • The Turkish game of expansion and domination
  • (Decision for Peace member) Ioannis Kasoulides: We are addressing civil society
  • (Decision for Peace member)  Andreas Christou: We are not a pressure group but (we encourage) reflection among civil society
  • (Famagusta Mayor) Simos Ioannou: Turkey’s aim is to divide us
  • Occupied areas: 734,000 crossings by GCs and €11,7m in purchases
  • Νikos Moudouros: Varosha, the ghosts and the new solutions… (opinion piece)
  • Where time froze in 1974 (article on the impression of a TC journalist who participated in the recent tour in Varosha)
  • Yiannis Spanos: Turkey’s choice (opinion piece)

Kathimerini

They are leaving the difficult (decisions) to Guterres

The backstage that led from the optimism of an agreement to the pendulum of the conclusion.

  • Main article: Urgent (analysis on developments on the Cyprus problem)
  • Political equality is a gain for Mustafa Akinci
  • Alternative plans are gaining ground
  • Decision for Peace: An initiative with clear messages to the president
  • Energy: (Anastasiades’) proposal on natural gas has been rejected
  • Intervention: Petros Zarounas: A parallel negotiation on natural gas has started (opinion piece)

Haravgi

The UN Secretary-General’s Framework an answer to our concerns

This effort, if and when it starts, must succeed, says AKEL’s general secretary stressing to Sunday’s Haravgi that his party believes the UN Secretary-General’s Framework includes references that shield us when it comes to important issues. Besides, AKEL, in an announcement after the completion of Lute’s contacts expressed disappointment and concern and calls on Mr Anastasiades to make sure this time that his narrative will match that of the UN Secretary-General.

  • The ‘Peace Generation’ that will reunite Cyprus
  • Young expats want to feel Cyprus close to them

Alithia

Fears for a hot winter!

The new standstill in the Cyprus problem paves the way for Turkey to proceed to new faits accomplis in Famagusta and the Cypriot EEZ (exclusive economic zone). The picture will become clear as to the next steps on the Cyprus problem during Guterres’ meetings with the two leaders in New York. The low profile kept by both sides after Lute’s failure is a positive development.  Akinci: The new procedure on the Cyprob will not be an open-ended one. Tatar: The proposal for the hydrocarbons is not a serious one. Prodromou: The obstacle was due to the Turks. Cavusoglu: Decisive visit to the occupied areas. He is arriving today.

  • Analysis: Back to Crans-Montana or there is nothing
  • (Head of the EOKA fighters association) Thasos Sofocleous: The central prisons must become an EOKA museum

Main News

Guterres to have a say on what happens next on Cyprob

Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
Negotiations Process, EU Matters

OVERVIEW

Following an inconclusive end to UN envoy Jane Holl Lute’s latest round of contacts with the two leaders on the Terms of Reference (ToR) the dailies report that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will be called to decide what comes next. The outcome is also proof that Turkey has the upper hand, most of the papers say.

Cyprus Mail, Haravgi and Alithia, citing the Cyprus News Agency, report that Guterres is expected to have separate meetings with the two leaders in New York at the end of the month to decide the next steps.

During the meetings, Guterres will decide if he will call a tripartite meeting that would likely take place at the beginning of October.

Nicosia was also waiting to hear Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s positions on the matter. Cavusoglu was expected to arrive on the island during the weekend for contacts with TC leader Mustafa Akinci and TC political leaders.

Kathimerini, citing government sources, reported that things changed during consultations with Lute when the TC leader sent the document to Ankara. The daily reported that the two sides did not conclude on a final text while an agreement on the Terms of Reference is expected by October 15, before the two leaders meet with Guterres.

The Turkish side wanted a more specific position on political equality by including the term of effective participation prompting the GC side to raise the issue of guarantees. Turkey was also claiming an active role in the procedure on the ToR referring to a resolution by the UN Security Council that stipulates that this was a matter concerning all involved parties. Therefore, the issue will now be referred to the guarantor powers, the paper reported.

According to Phileleftheros, it has become apparent that it all depends on Turkey, which has already set the next steps on the Cyprus problem through a road map and wants to see results by January.

The first scenario was for the GC side to agree to put up for discussion all options as regards the forms of the solution, which was not accepted by Anastasiades during the August 9 meeting with Akinci, the daily reported.

The second scenario will be put in force in the case the talks progress; it is a road map providing for setting a time frame, arbitration by the UN on everything on which no agreement has been reached,  and separate referendums. Turkey also brings back its position on the need for the recognition of the status of the TC community in the case of a new talks failure, Phileleftheros reported.

In another article, on Brexit, Phileleftheros reported that circles of the outgoing European Commission that had an exchange of views with Foreign Office representatives were said to believe that the stage is being set for the solution of the Cyprus problem with the start being the consultations headed by Guterres that will take place within the framework of the UN General Assembly.

Politis citing GC diplomatic sources reported that mobility on the Cyprus problem suits Akinci, who wants to reach an agreement on the ToR since this would help him win the ‘elections’ next year.

The same sources said that Turkey put pressure on Akinci not to accept the text on the ToR as it had been shaped by Tuesday.

In another article, an analysis piece, Politis said that Turkey has completely decrypted Anastasiades’ tactical moves and has now the upper hand. The Cyprus problem will be put again on the table when Turkey wants to and on her own terms, the paper said.

Simerini reported that Akinci was unable to act as per the two leaders’ agreement of August 9 and did what Turkey told him to. Cavusoglu is the only one calling the shots and he is the one to decide if there will be ToR and what they will include.


Turkey’s East Med energy game is underway

Kathimerini
Energy, Regional/International Relations, Negotiations Process

OVERVIEW

The daily reported that diplomatic sources refute claims that the Turkish drillship Yavuz that is searching for natural gas off Paphos has moved to a second target nearby.

According to information, however, Ankara wants to launch operations in the north part of the occupied areas the coordinates of which the Republic of Cyprus had submitted last May to the United Nations, the paper reported.

On the other hand, Turkey has yet to respond to Anastasiades’ proposal for a hydrocarbons deal although according to Hurriyet, the proposal was rejected on the grounds that the TC side would have no say in the management of drilling and energy planning in the Cyprus sea area, the paper reported.

It said that unofficial sources in the Turkish capital have also spoken of a non-existent proposal that aims, not at the TCs, but to continue Turkey’s isolation as regards the Eastern Mediterranean energy equation. Sources in Nicosia said that even in such a development, the Turkish side’s attitude would be diplomatically capitalised mainly at EU level and in the case of any possible pressures on the GC side.

The daily, citing sources from Ankara, also reported that Turkey’s stance as regards the energy issue reveals that her actions in the Cypriot exclusive economic zone (EEZ) have nothing to do with safeguarding the TCs’ rights. What Turkey is after is safeguarding her own rights in the area, the paper said.

Citing sources in Ankara, the paper reports that Turkey’s aim is the big energy picture concerning the entire region and not just the Cypriot EEZ, since the current situation in the Eastern Mediterranean does not serve her strategic goals which are none other than control of the energy corridors to Europe.

Behind Ankara’s provocative actions in the area is the strategic goal of the passage of the energy corridors of the East Med to Europe through Turkish soil hence Turkey’s similar moves also within Greece’s continental shelf, the daily reported.

Efforts to reach an agreement with Libya to delimit their EEZs are also part of Turkey’s long term plans to affect plans for the transport of energy resources to European markets, the paper reports.


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