Front Page Headlines
883 complaints of violence in ten months
Legal action has only been taken on 12 cases of incidents of violence against women in 2019. Most of the suspects are either ex-husbands, ex-partners or family members.
- “We both experienced fear in the war. We know it is possible to live together” – Residents of Bodamya (Potmia) are proud of setting a good example for co-existence. “Everything here is done jointly. Our coffeeshops, our tavernas, the neighbourhoods. We have a mosque and we have a church. We celebrate our holidays together.”
- Peace bonfire lit by youth
- Prof. Dr Ahmet Sözen: “A serious step can only be taken after a five-party meeting.”
Peace and tolerance won at Dörtyol (Prastio) – Girne Halk Evi match
Plans on Saturday to stage protests in response to the torching of the TRNC by members of ELAM were foiled. Even though tension was expected at the football match between Dörtyol (Prastio) and Girne Halk Evi (GHE), the power of peace and tolerance prevailed. GHE players laid olive branches as well as red and white carnations on the field. Dörtyol (Prastio) Football Club’s deputy president Murat Çalışkan greeted the Greek Cypriot goalkeeper of GHE with a bouquet of red, white carnations and olive branches.
- “Natural gas from the Eastern Mediterranean will be transferred to Europe via Turkey” – Turkish Cypriot Economy and Energy Minister Hasan Taçoy spoke about the natural gas pipeline project between Turkey and the TRNC.
Gross negligence, deep sorrow
Three-year-old Ege Metin Ömerağa was crushed to death under his grandfather’s tractor after falling from his lap in Hamitköy (Hamid Mandres).
- No to the use of cyanide in mining – A group of civil society organizations from both sides of the island held a protest in the buffer zone.
Indescribable sadness
Three-year-old Ege Metin Ömerağafell from his grandfather’s tractor as he was sitting on his lap. The tractor ran over him killing him instantly.
- Cypriots do not want gold extracted with cyanide – A bicommunal protest was held against mining, which threatens the environment. Lefke (Lefka) Environment and Publicity Association from the north, Initiative against gold mining and United Solia Association from the south organized the protest.
The whole country is drowned in sorrow
Three-year-old Ege who went on a tractor ride with his grandfather Hüseyin Ömerağa was crushed to death by the vehicle after losing his balance and falling off his lap.
The wolves wait in ambush…All eyes on Berlin
Mustafa Akıncı and Nicos Anastasiades are going to Berlin today (Sunday). Akıncı who will be attending a trilateral for the first time without consulting Turkish officials will be holding a press conference at Ercan (Tymbou) airport. The trilateral meeting is tomorrow (Monday) night. The UN Secretary-General Guterres wants to meet before dinner. Guterres is being accompanied by his special envoy June Holl Lute. Akıncı will be departing from Berlin at noon Tuesday and will be returning to the island around 8:30 pm. The sides will try to open the way for a five-party meeting. Anastasiades said that he was going to Berlin with the political will to restart talks as soon as possible. The UN Security Council has called on the leaders to display political will for a comprehensive settlement based on political equality.
- Cyanide shouldn’t be used in mining – Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot organisations held a joint demonstration. A great number of organisations gave support to the protest held at the Lokmacı (Ledra) crossing point. The decision to stage the protest came after a company in the south started using cyanide to mine gold.
Main News
“No serious progress should be expected until five-party meeting”
Yenidüzen
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
Prof. Dr Ahmet Sözen said that serious progress on the Cyprus Issue should not be expected before a five-party meeting with the participation of the three guarantor countries takes place.
In an interview published in Yenidüzen on Sunday, Sözen said that an overall picture of the situation will be taken at the trilateral meeting on November 25 followed by the exertion of light pressure on the guarantor countries.
“I’m expecting a statement like the leaders have achieved important progress towards paving the way for a strategic agreement and that we can achieve that agreement if the three countries support this new process,” he said.
Such an outcome would not be bad but it shouldn’t raise anyone’s hopes either, Sözen added.
Sözen said his impression was that Turkey was currently not in a rush on the Cyprus Problem and had no intention of acting swiftly or entering a speedy process.
“I believe Ankara is waiting for the upcoming presidential elections in the north set to take place in April of 2020 before taking any steps,” he said.
Sözen, in response to a question, said he believed the UN Secretary-General was aware of the rising voices on both sides in support of alternative solutions to the Cyprus Problem.
“The international community is supporting the idea of another effort. They’re planning another attempt at a bizonal, bicommunal federation. Nevertheless, Guterres has made it clear that any new process will be nothing like previous processes. In other words, in the end, they will either succeed or announce that the Cyprus Problem will not be solved this way. I believe this is what Guterres is implying,” he said.
Sözen said that a deadlock was being experienced on two issues in the Cyprus Problem, political equality which includes effective participation in decision-making processes and the issue of security and guarantees.
“The Turkish Cypriot side has nothing to fear because political equality and effective participation in decision-making processes are established UN parameters. Both are included in UN documents and resolutions,” Sözen said.
He added that the Turkish Cypriot side had no authority to decide on its own when it came to the issue of security and guarantees.
“The Greek Cypriot side has no other choice but the accept political equality but it wants to see what it will get on the issue of security and guarantees, Sözen added.
That is why we shouldn’t expect any major development or progress until a five-party meeting is held, Sözen said.
On the issue of Maraş (Varosha), Sözen said that reopening the fenced-off city was not an easy feat as the town’s infrastructure was in a poor state.
“Currently the Turkish Cypriot authorities have not violated UN Security Council resolutions on Maraş (Varosha) nor have they taken any actual physical steps. But the UN is constantly warning the Turkish Cypriot side that there will be grave consequences should it violate its resolutions,” he said.
A two-state solution under EU umbrella is unrealistic
Yenidüzen, Havadis, Kıbrıs Postası, Kıbrıs
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
“A two-state solution under the EU is not a realistic option,” Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader Tufan Erhürman said during the party’s dinner event in Nicosia on Friday.
He added there were waiting anxiously for a failure in Berlin to push their agenda for alternative solution proposals. “They believe they can convince the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades, who could not even persuade his own community to accept political equality, to recognize the north,” Erhürman said.
He also said it was not possible to convince the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council or the 28 European Union member states for a such a solution model either.
The CTP leader argued those who insist on alternatives want the status quo to continue on the island. “The CTP will not allow it!” Erhürman concluded.
Speaking to Kıbrıs Postası, UBP MP Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu said President Mustafa Akıncı was going to Berlin without any joint vision or consensus as to what would be discussed following the collapse in Crans Montana.
“If the Greek Cypriot side maintains its intransigence in Berlin, the trilateral meeting could be an opportunity for the Turkish Cypriot side to ask the UN to announce that all efforts for a federal solution have been exhausted completely,” Hasipoğlu said.
He argued that such a request would have been impossible two years ago but given the current state of play in the talks it would be a reasonable demand.
“Nobody can accuse the Turkish Cypriot side of running away from the talks now,” UBP MP argued.
Hasipoğlu reiterated his view that the Greek Cypriot side does not want to share power or wealth with the Turkish Cypriot side and claimed they will not agree to any solution based on political equality.
KEY ACTORS
Erhürman (CTP)
>> The two-state solution under the EU is not a realistic option.
>> Not possible to convince the GC leader to recognize the north.
>> CTP will not allow the status quo on the island to continue.
Hasipoğlu (UBP)
>> Akıncı is heading to Berlin without any joint vision or consensus as to what would be discussed following the collapse in Crans Montana.
>> If the GC side maintains its intransigence in Berlin, the trilateral meeting could be an opportunity for the TC side in asking the UN to announce the Cyprus negotiations process for a federal solution has collapsed.
>> Such a request would have been impossible two years ago but given the current state of play in the talks, it would be a reasonable one.
>> Nobody can accuse the TC side of running away from the talks now.
>> GC side does not want to share power or wealth with the TC side and they will not agree to any solution based on political equality.
Bicommunal protest against mining with cyanide
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs Postası, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Afrika
Human Rights
OVERVIEW
Civil society organizations from the north and the south of the island held a joint protest on Saturday in the buffer zone demanding to put an end to use of cyanide in mining activities on the island.
The Lefke (Lefka) Environment and Publicity Association from the north, Initiative against gold mining and United Solia Association from the south organized the protest when it emerged that a mining company in Skouriotissa (Fugassa) in the south was using cyanide in mining waste to produce gold.
The organizers also note that the Fugasa Hellenic Copper Mines company has started to import tons of mining waste to process with cyanide, as its use has still not been banned.
Ahmet Hızlı, from the Lefka Association, said Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots held the first joint anti-mining protest in 71 years. He added, “It is a historic day to see people from both sides of the island unite once again against mining activities that pollute the environment.”
Peace and tolerance prevails at football match
Kıbrıs Postası
Human Rights
OVERVIEW
Peace and tolerance was the winning side at the at Dörtyol (Prastio) – Girne Halk Evi (GHE) football match on Saturday rendering ineffective plans by the home side to hold a protest in response to recent flag burning incident by the far-right ELAM.
Despite concerns that tensions could flare at the match between the two local clubs because GHE’s goalkeeper is a Greek Cypriot, the stance adopted by the players and managers turned the atmosphere on the pitch to a positive tone.
GHE players, who were wearing t-shirts with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s words ‘Peace at home, peace in the world’, laid olive branches as well as red and white carnations on the field.
Dörtyol (Prastio) Football Club’s deputy president Murat Çalışkan greeted the Greek Cypriot goalkeeper of GHE with a bouquet of red, white carnations and olive branches. The home ground of Dörtyol (Prastio) Football was however decorated with Turkish and the TRNC flags.
Speaking to Kıbrıs Postası, Çalışkan said the intentions of their protest was distorted by Yenidüzen newspaper and denounced that they did not plan anything against the GHE’s Greek Cypriot goalkeeper.
“We only wanted to show we will protect our flag against ELAM,” Çalışkan concluded.
Bodamya (Potamia) good example of co-existence
Yenidüzen
Human Rights, CBMs
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots have been living peacefully and side-by-side in the village of Bodamya (Potamia) located in south Cyprus providing the island with an excellent example of co-existence.
Yenidüzen and Haravgi, in a joint report, spoke with the village’s former Turkish Cypriot Muhktar Hüseyin Hami and current Muhktar of 32 years Yiannos Mina.
The village is unlike the mixed village of Pile (Pyla) which has separate coffee shops and mukhtars, the daily reported.
Until 2016 the village would elect one Greek Cypriot and one Turkish Cypriot mukhtar but this was later changed, with a single mukhtar being elected now.
Members of both communities can run for the post.
Hüseyin Hami who had lived in London between the ages of six and eleven had served as the village’s Turkish Cypriot Mukhtar from 1978 to 2011.
“When the fighting broke out we fled to London only to return seven months later. Since that day I have been living here,” he said.
The village’s current Muhktar Yiannos Mina who is 37-years-old, said that 600 people lived in Bodamya (Potamia), 15 of which were Turkish Cypriots.
He recalled that half the village’s population were Turkish Cypriots before 1974 and that this figure gradually decreased.
Mina said that mixed marriages were common and that members of the two communities had established strong family bonds.
“Everything here is jointly done. We go to the same coffee shop, the same taverna, we live in the same neighbourhood. We have a mosque and a church. We even celebrate our holidays together. We’ve never had any problems,” said Mina who was born after 1974.
He said that despite not being old enough to see the intercommunal fighting, no clashes had taken place in the village in 1974.
“A solution in Cyprus is for the benefit of both communities. As the mukhtar of this village I can clearly say that we are the best proof and example of co-existence,” he said.