Front Page Headlines
Both doctors and patients complain
The polyclinic service at the Dr Burhan Nalbantoğlu state hospital in Nicosia is extremely busy in the mornings. It’s extremely quiet in the afternoon.
- Erhürman: “Political equality must ensure effective participation in decision-making processes”
- “Who is going to compensate us for the damage?” – It’s been nearly a week since the explosion at the ammunition depot in Çatalköy (Agios Epiktitos) but local residents are asking who will compensate them for the damage caused by the blasts.
Turn on! Turn off!
Over the past few days, water pumps for citrus orchards are turned on and then off for different reasons.
- Akıncı hands over the flag delivered by the Greek Cypriot family to the school principal after kissing it
- Yavuz drilling ship completes its first round of drilling off the coast of Cyprus
- Oktay: “We will be on the side of the Turkish Cypriots until the end.”
Akçiçek Hospital falling apart
The growing population of Kyrenia is consuming the country’s tourism capital. Neither its sewage infrastructure nor the schools nor its hospital can cope with the growing numbers. The number of doctors and nurses is inadequate. Much of the vital medical equipment is not working and the hospital is experiencing shortages in medicines and supplies.
- Beach damaged twice – Municipal workers loaded trucks of sand from the Environmentally Protected Area in Tatlısu (Akanthou). Following reactions from the environmentalists, Mayor Hayri Orçan in an attempt to correct the mistake ordered the sand to be returned to the beach. In the end, the trucks and excavators damaged the area twice.
The only way is an amnesty on the unpaid interest
The two-year deadline given to the municipalities to restructure their workers’ unpaid social security premiums is about to end. Mayors are losing sleep over the one per cent interest on unpaid premiums, which amount to millions. Seventeen municipalities owe ₺140,530,392.14 to the provident fund and ₺111,162,036.48 to the Social Security Department.
- Six municipalities sufficient for the TRNC – Kyrenia Mayor Nidai Güngördü said six municipalities would be sufficient in six districts in the north. He spoke radically regarding the local administrations’ reform package.
We’re flying
2,497 court cases have been filed in the past nine months as a result of traffic and other offences committed in the Nicosia area. There is an alarming growth in the crime rate and the courts aren’t able to cope.
- Of course, we’ll succeed – Torture at crossing points continue. The civil service officers are waiting for the 15 per cent allowance promised by the government in July for those who work shifts. The long queues and congestion experienced at the Metehan (Agios Dometios) and Beyarmudu (Pergamos) crossing points for months were witnessed at the Lokmacı (Ledra) crossing yesterday (Tuesday). Tourists wanting to cross to the north waited for hours in long queues.
What is this? Is it real or is it a fake?
Has a court in Turkey decided on the suspension of Netkent University’s activities? A lawyer in Turkey sent the Turkish Cypriot media a copy of the Istanbul court’s ruling, requesting that all publications and adverts related to the university be removed. The general secretary of the university Cavit Tuna claimed that the decision was a sham and that legal action would be taken against those who produced such false documents.
- Akıncı hands over items to school headmaster – Akıncı handed over the flag and a photograph delivered to him by the Greek Cypriot family to Dr Fazıl Küçük Primary School headmaster Sözer Özkaramehmet.
Main News
Akinci: Apologising is a virtue
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs Postası, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Afrika
Internal Security, Human Rights
OVERVIEW
Akıncı met with the headmaster of the Dr Fazıl Küçük Primary School in Akdoğan (Lysi) on Tuesday and delivered to him a flag and a photo of former Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş.
The two items were sent to him on Monday along with an apology letter from the father of the 16-year-old boy who stole the items.
Speaking during the visit, Akıncı said that the incident had sparked outrage within the Turkish Cypriot community.
“Apologising is a virtue,” he said, adding that this was how he would like the Turkish Cypriot community to view the apology by the 16-year-old’s family.
Noting that the father of the headmaster of the Dr Fazıl Küçük Primary School is also listed as a Turkish Cypriot missing person and his remains have not yet been identified, Akıncı said that those who have gone through this pain know the value of peace and do not want the younger generations of Cyprus to have similar experiences.
The Turkish Cypriot leader said that it was very important to show respect, individually and collectively, to each other’s symbols and values.
“This is only possible by building a culture of peace,” he said, adding that the Technical Committee for Education was working in this direction.
For his part, the headmaster Sözer Özkaramehmet said that the flag and photo were not the ones the boy stole from the school but the important thing was the apology and remorse expressed by the boy and his family.
He pointed out that flags were the symbol of a nation’s independence and sovereignty and that the incident had deeply upset the school administration, the villagers and the Turkish Cypriot community as a whole
“As the child of a missing person and as a teacher for the past 30 years I have never taught a child to disrespect another’s religion, ethnicity, nationality or flag,” he said, adding that the Turkish Cypriot education system did not promote such views.
Özkaramehmet said that this problem needed to be addressed with the Greek Cypriot education system.
KEY ACTORS
Akıncı
>> Apologising is a virtue. This is how the TC community should view the apology.
>> Both communities & their members should respect each other’s symbols & values, which is only possible by building a culture of peace.
Oktay: “We will be with the Turkish Cypriots till the end”
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs Postası, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Afrika
Energy, Regional/International Relations, External Security
OVERVIEW
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay on Tuesday said Turkey will not allow anyone to usurp the rights of the Turkish Cypriots and will protect its interests on natural resources at all costs.
He added that Turkey will stand together with the Turkish Cypriots until the end.
Oktay spoke to Anadolu News Agency (AA) on the sidelines of the eighth meeting of the Turkey-Azerbaijan Joint Economic Commission in Baku on Tuesday.
Oktay recalled that the Greek Cypriot side had been admitted into the European Union (EU) before a settlement to the Cyprus Problem.
“We now see an approach attempting to disregard the Turkish Cypriots from the natural resources,” Oktay stressed, adding that Turkey will not be a mere spectator to such developments.
“We are speaking very clearly and giving a direct message, we as Turkey will never allow anyone to usurp the rights of Turkish Cypriots’,” Oktay concluded.
It was reported on Tuesday that the Turkish drillship Yavuz which had been operating off the Karpaz (Karpas) peninsula since last July completed its first round of drilling and was now anchored off the coast of Taşucu in southern Turkey.
According to the reports in the Turkish Cypriot press, the Yavuz is in the area for refuelling while awaiting instructions on whether to return to Cyprus or not.
It is the second drillship sent by Turkey to the seas around Cyprus.
In the meantime, the Turkish military on Monday launched the ‘Determination 2019’ live-fire exercise which is taking place in the Mediterranean and the Aegean.
The exercise will end on September 22.
KEY ACTORS
Oktay
>> Turkey will protect rights of TCs on natural resources at all costs.
>> Turkey will stand together with the TCs til the end.
>> Turkey will not be a mere spectator to attempts to disregard TCs from the island’s natural resources.
Erhürman: Political equality is an assurance for a federal state
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs Postası
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
The leader of the main opposition Republican Turkish Party (CTP) Tufan Erhürman on Tuesday said that political equality and effective participation in decision-making were the assurances of a functional state structure.
He said that the debate on political equality should end once and for all.
In a post on social media, Erhürman said that the Greek Cypriot side’s argument that the positive vote will lead to deadlocks in a future partnership state rendering its functionality ineffective was not valid.
“To the contrary, this should be seen as a means to reflect the political will of both communities on decisions taken in a federal state,” he said.
Erhürman added that if decisions only reflect the will of one of the two communities, it will inevitably be harder for the other to embrace the decision adopted.
“This will strengthen the perception that the federal state only belongs to one of the two communities,” he argued.
The CTP leader said that functionality would be only possible if both communities voluntarily participated in the decisions taken.
“Therefore, political equality and effective participation in decision-making processes are assurances of a functional state contrary to other claims,” he said.
Erhürman also said that what needs to be done is to contribute to efforts to resume results-oriented talks that will not be open-ended.
“We need to close this debate on political equality which is a recognized UN parameter,” he said, adding that the UN Security Council endorsed this view through its resolution 2483, dated 25 July 2019.
KEY ACTORS
Erhürman (CTP)
>> Political equality and effective participation in decision-making are assurances of a functional state structure.
>> The debate on political equality should be closed once and for all.
>> GC side’s argument that the positive vote will lead to deadlocks & create a dysfunctional state not valid.
>> Positive vote is a way to reflect the political will of both communities on decisions taken in a federal state.
>> It will be inevitably harder for a community to embrace decisions which it did not effectively participate in.
>> Functionality in a federal state is only possible if both communities voluntarily participate in decisions taken.
>> Results-oriented talks which are not open-ended needs to be launched.
Staff shortages causing long queues at crossing
Diyalog
CBMs
OVERVIEW
Diyalog newspaper reported on Wednesday that shortages of immigration officers at the Lokmacı (Ledra) crossing point led to long queues forming at the Turkish Cypriot side of the checkpoint.
Similar problems have been going on at other crossing points for months, the daily added.
Speaking to the paper, the immigration officers at Lokmacı (Ledra) also known as Civil Service Officers who carry out ID and passport controls at the crossing points complained that the government failed to keep its promise to pay the 15 per cent allowance it promised in July for those who worked shifts and to hire new staff.
The officers said it was not possible to cope with the traffic at the crossing point with the current number of staff.
The paper reported that hundreds of tourists had to wait in long queues to be able to cross over to the north.
Some tourists who saw the long queues turned back, the paper added.