Front Page Headlines
The protocol has been signed but no steps have been taken
No steps have been taken on switching to all-day education at schools despite a provision in the 2019-2020 financial cooperation protocol signed between Turkey and the TRNC. The education ministry points to the shortage of funds and teachers as the reason.
A project to cover the needs of the tourism sector could never be realized
President of the Turkish Cypriot Hoteliers’ Association Dimağ Çağıner highlighted the need for more local employees in the tourism sector, which is the economy’s locomotive sector. He believes the need could be overcome by opening a tourism vocational school.
- The area named fenced-off Maraş (Varosha) has belonged to the Evkaf for 500 years – Evkaf Administration said.
- “I asked Macron since when do you recognize the TRNC?” – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said.
- Özersay: “We must have direct communication not via the media” – Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee hosted Foreign Minister Kudret Özersay.
What will happen to the $1 million worth of losses?
Even the police said they had not come across any evidence of fraud regarding the (TC citrus packaging and processing plant) Cypfruvex 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 operation. Police also did not launch an investigation into $1 million worth of exports to Iran, which ended up rotting in a warehouse. No inquiry was launched into the incident itself.
Economic crisis at our doorstep
The effects of Turkey’s military operation Peace Spring are being felt in the economy. The Turkish Lira (TL) against the US Dollar has reached ₺5.90. The steady loss in the value of the TL against foreign currencies reminds us of the 2018 August economic crisis that hit North Cyprus. Economist Mahmut Sezinler emphasized there has always been the possibility of an economic crisis independent from the Peace Spring operation but now with the military operation added, the chances of a crisis have grown.
It’s too late
In addition to the Turkish Cypriot Chambers of Commerce and Industry, İŞAD (TC Business People’s Association) and GİAD (North Cyprus Young Businessmen Association) have also expressed support in favour of switching to a presidential system so that the TRNC can get back on its feet.
He said he was going to conduct a DNA test on Akıncı
Attacks on Akıncı and the Turkish Cypriot community continue. First Çakar and now the Agriculture Director of Mersin Arif Abalı… “A trustee should be appointed to the TRNC and I should be that trustee,” he said.
- Trade Union platform expresses support to Akıncı – “Akıncı has become the voice and conscious of Turkish Cypriots”
Main News
Evkaf says it supports UNSC decision on Maraş (Varosha)!
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs Postası, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Afrika
Property, Territory
OVERVIEW
The Evkaf Administration on Wednesday expressed support to the UN Security Council’s (UNSC) decision on Maraş (Varosha) which reaffirms previous UNSC resolutions calling for property within the fenced-off city to be returned to its legal owners.
Head of the Evkaf Administration İbrahim Benter reminded in a statement that the Evkaf was a 500-year-old institution and that Maraş (Varosha) has been Evkaf property for the past 500 years.
“There were pious religious foundations in Cyprus long before the British arrived, the United Nations or the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) was established. These properties belong to the Evkaf. As a result, we support the UN’s call for Maraş (Varosha) to be returned to its legal owners which is the Evkaf. These properties should be returned to the Evkaf and put to use by the Evkaf Administration for the service of the community,” he said.
“The government’s policy on Maraş (Varosha) has completely collapsed with the UNSC resolution on the fenced-off town,” Republican Turkish Party (CTP) MP Asım Akansoy said on Wednesday. Speaking on Bayrak, Akansoy noted that the UNSC statement, which repeats it’s call for Maraş (Varosha) to be returned to its pre-74 lawful owners is an affirmation of the international community position that a federation is the only possible solution on the island
KEY ACTORS
Benter (Evkaf)
>> Evkaf supports UNSC decision on Maraş (Varosha) which reaffirms previous resolutions calling for properties to be returned to legal owners.
>> Foundations & Evkaf existed long before the island’s colonial administration. Therefore, these properties in Maraş (Varosha) belong to the Evkaf & should be returned to their legal owner.
Akansoy (CTP)
>> Government’s policy on Maraş (Varosha) has completely collapsed with the UNSC’s latest decision on the fenced-off town, which affirms international community’s position in favour of a federal solution.
Özersay highlights need for a paradigm change in Cyprus
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs Postası, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog
Negotiations Process, Regional/International Relations
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Kudret Özersay said on Thursday that there was a need for a paradigm change in Cyprus because balances in the region were shifting.
Özersay was speaking in Ankara at a meeting with members of the Turkish parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee chaired by Justice and Development Party (AKP) Istanbul MP Volkan Bozkır.
He said that important developments were taking place in the Eastern Mediterranean, Syria and the Middle East which was why the paradigm in Cyprus needed to change.
Özersay also touched on the ruckus that has been taking place in North Cyprus for the past few days following President Akıncı’s ‘anti-war’ comments.
He said that despite the occasional rise in tensions between the two countries, relations between Turkey and the TRNC were hanging on a silk thread as some might claim.
“The relationship between the two countries has historical and emotional foundations. It is a deep-rooted relationship based on a strong bond,” Özersay added.
Özersay underlined the importance of further strengthening relations between the two countries.
He added that the TRNC government and the Turkish Cypriot people fully supported the Republic of Turkey’s war on terror.
KEY ACTORS
Özersay (HP)
>> Need for a paradigm change in Cyprus due to shifting balances in the region.
>> Despite occasional rise in tensions between TCs & Turkey, the relationship between the two is stronger than it looks.
>> TCs fully support Turkey’s war on terror.
Wrangling over joint declaration crisis continues
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs Postası, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog
Governance & Power sharing, External Security, Regional/International Relations
OVERVIEW
The wrangling over the coalition government’s failed attempt on Tuesday to issue a joint parliamentary declaration expressing support to Turkey’s operation in Syria continued for a second day running.
“It is wrong for the political parties to claim that I, as the acting speaker of the parliament, violated the parliament’s bylaws by reading out the declaration,” UBP MP and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Zorlu Töre said in a written statement on Wednesday.
Töre rejected all the allegations made against him by the political parties.
He justified his claim by stating that similar statements which did not have the support or approval of all the parties in parliament had been read out in the past.
He said that those statements could be found on the parliament’s website.
CTP MP Asım Akansoy on Thursday argued that the Turkish Cypriot community was now faced with a serious problem due to the National Unity Party’s (UBP) irresponsible behaviour and the decision it adopted on Monday night.
Speaking on a news programme on Bayrak, Akansoy said the political parties must be extremely careful during such sensitive times as society was deeply divided on certain issues.
“What we are saying is that political parties must maintain a political balance in the community. But then we saw UBP unilaterally issuing a statement expressing support to Turkey’s military operation and ostracizing President Mustafa Akıncı,” Akansoy said.
He pointed out that the UBP assembly’s decision rendered ineffective all efforts to prevent polarization and tone down tensions within the community.
Akansoy said that two mistakes had been made in the past few days.
“The first was UBP’s decision condemning Akıncı’s remarks. This statement was made while the party was talking about unity and solidarity. The second mistake was Zorlu Töre’s behaviour as the acting speaker of parliament. Töre, at a time when the speaker of the parliament is out of the country, literally stoked tensions in the parliament causing chaos,” Akansoy added.
Akansoy noted that CTP urged everyone to calm down. He added, “However, the CTP will never accept defamatory statements against elected representatives of the Turkish Cypriot community, particularly the president.”
“CTP will continue with its responsible politics,” Akansoy stressed.
He said CTP has adopted this viewpoint not because the president was Akıncı but because the office of the presidency represented the political will of the Turkish Cypriot community.
Suffering must end for relatives of missing persons
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs Postası, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog
Human Rights
OVERVIEW
Sixty participants from more than 27 countries are taking part in a two-day specialized workshop on missing persons.
The workshop is being hosted at Ledra Palace Hotel in the buffer zone and is organized by the CMP (Committee on Missing Persons) in Cyprus and ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross).
The workshop titled “Mechanisms for Missing Persons: Clarifying the fate and supporting families” brings together actors directly involved in the search for missing persons, management of the dead and identification of bodies and support for the families, representatives of the families or family associations and experts and leading institutions on the matter.
Head of the ICRC’s Central Tracing Agency Florence Anselmo, the Turkish Cypriot member of the CMP Gülden Plümer Küçük, the Greek Cypriot member of the CMP Leonidas Pantelides, the third member of the committee Paul-Henri Arni and the head of the EU Cyprus Settlement Support Office Kjartan Björnsson delivered opening speeches at the event.
Anselmo said that the success of the operations of the CMP in Cyprus was the mechanism in place.
She said that the ICRC had developed a mechanism in both world wars for contact with families which was still in place today.
Küçük underlined the importance of political will, financial support and technology for the work on missing persons.
“These three factors have played a key role in our work,” she said.
She added that experienced and technical know-how was extremely important in locating and identifying the remains of missing persons.
Kuçük said that developing a mechanism for determining the fate of missing persons and achieving positive results from that mechanism was extremely important.
Also speaking, Pantelides said that the committee did not seek to determine the cause of death of missing persons found as a police investigation would attempt to do.
“Our aim is to determine the burial sites of missing persons,” he said, adding that a detailed comparison of old and current information on missing persons was not being carried out while conducting investigations.
“These handwritten documents are not very useful which is why we are working to transfer these old documents onto map-based scenarios,” he said.
Arni in his speech said that the only wound that never healed was the wound caused by a loved one gone missing and never returning home.
He said that they have learned four important lessons in the 13 years the CMP has been operating in Cyprus.
“These are the importance of a political will, a central structure to coordinate the mechanisms in place, the inclusion of police and military decision-makers and financial support,” he said.
Operations that fail to include police and military decision-makers are doomed to fail, he added.
Björnsson who delivered the final opening speech said that locating, identifying and returning the remains of missing persons to families was an extremely important confidence-building measure (CBM).
He said that the EU had so far donated €25 million to the CMP’s operations.
“The uncertainty over the whereabouts and fate of missing persons can continue for a long time after the conflict has ended. This can have a negative effect on relations and could make it harder to reach an agreement,” he said.
Björnsson said that ending the pain of the families of missing persons for stability in Cyprus is of key importance.
KEY ACTORS
Anselmo (ICRC)
>> Success of CMP in Cyprus is the mechanism in place.
Küçük (CMP)
>> Political will, financial support & technology important for CMP’s work.
>> Experience & technical knowhow extremely important in locating & identifying the remains of missing persons.
Pantelides (CMP)
>> CMP seeks to determine burial sites of missing persons not determine the cause of death.
Arni (CMP)
>> Political will, a central structure to coordinate the mechanisms in place, the inclusion of police & military decision-makers & financial support important.
>> Operations that fail to include police & military decision-makers is doomed to fail.
Björnsson (EU)
>> Locating, identifying & returning remains of missing persons to families is an extremely important CBM.
>> Uncertainty over the fate of missing persons can effect relations negatively making it harder to reach an agreement.
>> Ending the pain of the families of missing persons for stability in Cyprus is of key importance.