Front Page Headlines
Publication of list of ‘golden’ passports
Window of transparency by publishing the names of those naturalised as Cypriots. The government does not object to the approval of a bill proposal by MPs Perdikis-Efstathiou. The opinion of the Commissioner for the Protection of Personal Data is decisive.
Foggy picture on Cyprob
Guterres holds his cards close – Possibility of going directly to a five-party conference. All scenarios on the table, Akinci continues accusations.
Everything is fluid, with Guterres deciding
TC leader Mustafa Akinci, who met last night with the UN Secretary-General, gave indications that there will be progress on the agreement on the Terms of Reference. (Government spokesman Prodromos) Prodromou said, “we cannot prejudge negotiations with the Terms of Reference.” Mr Guterres has listened to all stakeholders in the Cyprus problem and is expected to announce his next steps.
- We draw conclusions and we march on (article on the anniversary of the RoC Independence)
- Haravgi and Yeni Duzen among the winners of bi-communal cooperation awards
Private jet use was ‘fully legal’
Government defends use of private plane for president’s trip to UN in New York.
Lawsuit by a judge against a lawyer
Unprecedented for Cypriot justice. Well-known lawyer Andreas Papacharalambous had criticised in an article Supreme Court judge Leonidas Parparinos for not recusing himself from a trial in which the appellant was a company founded by his father-in-law and in which relatives of his wife have shares. The judge found the article defamatory and filed a lawsuit while the lawyer insists on his position. Justice now will decide.
- Guterres: And now… decisions
- The Republic of Cyprus turns 59
Main News
Prodromou: No to reference on political equality in ToR
Alithia, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
Negotiations Process, Regional/International Relations, Property
OVERVIEW
According to the papers, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will have the final say on what will follow on the Cyprus problem.
Guterres met with TC leader Mustafa Akinci on Monday, the last in a round of contacts with stakeholders on the Cyprus problem and is now expected to announce what comes next, the papers report.
Government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said on Monday Nicosia was ready for a trilateral meeting in order to conclude the Terms of Reference that will pave the way for the resumption of settlement talks but that it was expecting to hear from Guterres on how to proceed.
Citing Prodromou’s statements to the Cyprus News Agency, the papers report the spokesman said that beyond the three elements that will be included in the Terms of Reference there is no issue of including a reference on political equality.
On the possibility of an informal
five-party meeting, Prodromou said that Nicosia is not negative since the
guarantor powers would also be called to discuss the international aspects of
the Cyprus problem.
Nicosia is working together with the UN Secretary-General, who is the one to
judge and decide how to proceed, Prodromou said.
On the issue of Varosha, he said, it may be brought up for discussion at the Security Council within the coming days. He said Nicosia sought recourse to the UN Security Council, in a bid to reaffirm resolutions 550 and 789 on Varosha.
“All prior arrangements have been made, there is positive ground,” he said, adding that Nicosia is not after a new resolution since the existing ones on Varosha are quite strong.
Phileleftheros, citing diplomatic sources, reports that Guterres is not sure if he should convene a trilateral meeting with the two leaders and is thinking of directly calling for a five-party conference.
Citing also diplomatic sources at the UN, the paper reported that if there is strong objection by the Turkish side for a trilateral meeting it is not ruled out that Guterres will invite the parties for an informal five-party conference.
The daily also cites diplomats of permanent members of the Security Council arguing that there might be a prospect of reaching a comprehensive agreement on the Cyprus problem if all issues related to political equality, return of land, security and hydrocarbons were discussed at the same time, by setting a timeframe for a give-and-take process.
Haravgi pointed to the fact that Akinci said before meeting Guterres, the TC side was in New York for the sake of peace and stability and that he also focused on the three points that would be included in the Terms of Reference (2014 Joint Declaration, prior convergences and the Guterres Framework). The above points indicate that there will be an agreement on the ToR, said the paper.
Alithia, Haravgi and Phileleftheros also report that the Minister of State for Europe Christopher Pincher said the British government will continue supporting the efforts towards a negotiated settlement of the Cyprus issue.
The minister’s statement followed a ‘Conservative Friends of Cyprus’ reception on the sidelines of this year’s Conservative Party conference, which began on Sunday in Manchester.
“Britain stands ready to help resolve what has been a very difficult, a very personally difficult, intractable situation over 40 to 45 years. We want to de-escalate the situation, we want to play our part in making sure that the issue is resolved,” Pincher told the Cyprus News Agency.
KEY ACTORS
Prodromou
>> Nicosia is ready for a trilateral meeting to conclude the ToR but is also not negative to an informal five-party conference where the international aspect of the Cyprob could be discussed by guarantors.
>> There is no issue of including a reference on political equality in the ToR document.
>> Nicosia believes it will get a reaffirmation of the existing UN resolutions on Varosha by the UNSC.
Pincher (UK Minister of State for Europe)
>> The UK is ready to help resolve the Cyprob & de-escalate the situation.
GCs mark Independence Day
Alithia, Haravgi, Phileleftheros
Governance & Power Sharing, Human Rights
OVERVIEW
The dailies report on various events taking place on Tuesday to mark the 59th anniversary since the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus.
Haravgi reports that a military parade will take place at 11am in Strovolos which will also be attended by the Greek Defence Minister Nikos Panayiotopoulos and his Serbian counterpart Alexandar Vulin.
According to Phileleftheros, a series of events will take place throughout the day organised by resistance veterans. These include a church service in memory of the Republic’s first president, Makarios, and those who fell fighting for Cyprus’ freedom.
Alithia gives an overview of how the Republic of Cyprus was established. While the Republic was declared as an independent state on August 16, 1960, following the 1959 Zurich-London agreements, it was decided that Independence Day would be celebrated on October 1, the daily said. On the morning of August 16, 1960, the new flag, designed by TC Ismet Guney, was hoisted in all public buildings, the daily reported.
Alithia reported that the reason the anniversary date was changed, was because it was in the midst of summer holidays and it was not easy to have proper official celebrations since many were away, including many foreign ambassadors stationed on the island. Thus, three years later, Cabinet, consisting of seven GC and three TC ministers, unanimously decided to set October 1 as Independence Day.
According to Alithia, one of the myths that the change in the anniversary date was so as not to clash with celebrations for the Dormition of Mary are not confirmed. The daily reports that there is no evidence backing the theory that the change was due to the fact it was not easy for Makarios, who used to spend August 15 at the Kykkos monastery to mark the Dormition of Mary, to be in Nicosia the day after for independence celebrations.
Turkey rejects RoC court ruling on Kyrenia properties
Phileleftheros
Property, Human Rights
OVERVIEW
According to the daily, the Kyrenia district court awarded €71m to two refugees from Kyrenia as compensation for the loss of use of their properties in occupied Kyrenia.
Turkey, however, refuses to acknowledge the decision arguing it does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus and its organs.
The case concerns a lawsuit against Turkey filed by Ioannis Shekersavvas and his sister at the Kyrenia district court which is temporarily based in Nicosia.
The court awarded Shekersavvas €33.4m and his sister €38.37m for the loss of income from the use of their property in Kyrenia between July 1974 and 2014 and compensation for inability to exploit and develop it.
According to the daily, Turkey was served with the lawsuit but returned the documents claiming that it does not recognise “the GC administration of Southern Cyprus” and does not maintain diplomatic, political, judicial and economic relations with it.
The Court also invited the Attorney-general to participate in the procedure and offer his opinion if he wished to do so but he replied through a representative that it was not necessary for him to participate in such procedures. He said that the Republic of Cyprus has, through the Attorney-general, undertaken many proceedings before international courts to uphold the rights of its citizens, through transnational appeals and other proceedings, therefore his own participation in the proceedings in question was not useful, the daily reported.
Natalie Christopher’s projects among Stelios Awards’ winners
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi
Human Rights
OVERVIEW
The dailies report that the winners of this year’s Stelios bicommunal awards, 50 bicommunal teams, will be announced next week. The teams will win a prize of €10,000 each.
Despite the particularly negative political climate in Cyprus, the number of applicants this year fell only by 15 per cent, the papers reported, adding that one third of the 600 participants were new applicants, one third are previous winners and the rest are past applicants who have not yet won.
More than half of the awards will be given to new applicants, as part of the organisation’s efforts to encourage a change of attitude towards the other community on the island of Cyprus. The awards will be given for the 11th consecutive year by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.
Cyprus Mail reported that a sad tone in the list of hundreds of applicants was the name of astrophysicist Natalie Christopher, who passed away unexpectedly in the summer. She had submitted three different applications in the categories of science and sport. Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, honouring Natalie’s memory and her will for peaceful coexistence in Cyprus, decided to award €30,000 for the three projects she had dreamt of with her TC partners: Yenal Ogmen, Evren Cazil and Umrenil Umral, the daily reported.
Haravgi said that it will be among the award recipients along with TC daily Yeni Duzen for their cooperation in peace journalism aimed at bringing the two communities closer through joint interviews and stories contributing towards that goal.
The award ceremony will take place on October 8 at the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation Headquarters near the Ledra Palace.