Front Page Headlines
An uprising in prison over virus fears
Inmates at the central prison and their families outside staged a protest over fears of being infected by refusing their meals. Riot police were called in as the chants of slogans by inmates rose behind the prison walls. The prison director allowed a group of the protesters outside into the prison where he informed them on the hygiene and coronavirus measures in place.
- Shops opened, police intervened – Businesses in many of the areas did not abide by the decision adopted by the Council of Ministers late Friday night to shut all public and private establishments for the exception y of supermarkets and pharmacies until March 27. While many businesses and their employers found about the measures in the morning others ignored the decision and opened shop.
- Five new cases in the south – Five new cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) was confirmed in south Cyprus. As a result, the total number of cases on the island reached 31, 25 of them in the south.
- New measures announced – Private clinics, banks, supermarkets, butchers and bakeries to remain open.
- Ercan-Istanbul flight cancelled –Turkish Airlines cancelled its Ercan-Istanbul and Istanbul-Ercan flights for today (Sunday).
- Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader Tufan Erhürman: “The European Union (EU) has allocated €25bn. Contact should be made with EU officials”
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Market shelves totally empty
The measures and restrictions adopted caused the public to panic. Preparing for the possibility of the implementation of a curfew, people rushed to supermarkets and to butchers, emptying shelves. Supermarkets ran out of the basics such as bread, milk, eggs, yoghurt, meat and chicken within hours.
- New measures against coronavirus implemented – Reopening of schools postponed to 27 March. All public transport ceased until 27 March. All mass congregations prohibited until 1 April. New opening hours for pharmacies announced. Food-delivery for restaurants stopped. Flour, milk and dairy product manufacturers to remain open. Banks will operate only to facilitate the needs of operating businesses.
- 700 prisoners on hunger strike with their families – The prisoners are asking for an ‘amnesty’ claiming that the physical conditions at the Central Prison are inadequate and claim they fear the coronavirus pandemic.
Measures adopted at night, only to reverse them at noon
The Council of Ministers softened the measures adopted on Friday night on Saturday claiming they are elaborating and detailing the implemented measures.
- Prisoners want corona amnesty – Güven Bengihan, head of Turkish Cypriot Public Servants’ Union (KTAMS) said the prisoners started a hunger strike at all ten wings of the central prison.
- No one is crossing – There is barely any traffic at the Metehan (Agios Dhometios) crossing point as a result of the measures implemented on both the north and the south. Only those who need to cross are using the crossing point.
Thousands of employees left without work
Following the government’s decision to shut down all businesses until March 27, restaurants, cafes, hotels, hairdressers, jewellery shops, clothing stores and manufacturers all closed shop.
- 29 new decisions –The government has allowed pharmacies, test labs, bottled water distributors, hellim (halloumi) producers, butchers and banks to continue working.
- ‘State of emergency’ panic –The public rushed to the supermarkets following the government’s decision to shut all public offices and private sector establishments until March 27 as measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
- 600,000 cancellations – TUI which transports tourists to South Cyprus from the UK and Germany gave the bad news to the Greek Cypriots.
- There will be collapse – İŞAD (Turkish Cypriot Businesspersons Association) warns the government over its failure to take economic measures.
Those who cross south placed under quarantine in north
29 new measures adopted by the Council of Ministers against the spread of coronavirus. Those working at the British Bases Area in the south were not able to go to work after learning they will be placed under quarantine for 14 days upon their return. The Council of Ministers announced that they will assist those who cross over to the south for urgent medical reasons on the condition that they document their health condition. The authorities said they will show flexibility on the issue of stating under observation for 14 days.
- 26 cases in the South – Five new cases have been confirmed in the south. One of the infected was in intensive care at the hospital in Paphos. He has been placed in quarantine with the rest of the patients. Two of the five new cases had recently travelled to Italy.
- Those in quarantine will be counted as on leave will be receiving an aid salary – While this practice will in force for public servants, students will be exempt from compulsory attendance.
Main News
No new cases reported, cabinet continues to adopt new measures
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Afrika
Internal Security
OVERVIEW
No new cases of coronavirus reported in the north on Saturday, a day after the Turkish Cypriot cabinet introduced a series of stringent measures such as restricting entry into the north by all foreign nationals, including Greek Cypriots.
The Turkish Cypriot health ministry said that no cases of suspected cases had been reported as of 5 pm except for the five cases currently being treated.
It said that all five patients were responding well to treatment
Meanwhile, additional measures were adopted by the cabinet on Saturday afternoon to complement the measures taken on Friday.
Despite the government measures announced late Friday night, many workplaces opened shop on Saturday.
While some just chose to ignore the measures, others said they had not been informed about the new measures, because of the late-night announcement.
While there were some reports of panic shopping at supermarkets over the possibility of the declaration of a state of emergency in the coming days, there were also those who were out and about on the streets, defying the government’s call.
Later in the day reports came in that inmates at the Central Prison in north Nicosia, triggered by reports of the spread of coronavirus around the island, had started a hunger strike protesting overcrowded and unhygienic conditions.
Family and friends of the inmates gathered outside the prison, calling on authorities to take action, some even demanding that the inmates be granted pardons or their sentences reduced.
Riot police were called in but the situation returned to calm after the prison director received a group of the protestors gathered outside the prison wall, informing and reassuring them that the necessary measures were in place.
According to the new measures, assistance will be provided to those who require urgent medical treatment abroad including South Cyprus and will be shown flexibility upon their return concerning a mandatory 14-day self-isolation period.
The measures include assistance to Turkish Cypriots living in Pile (Pyla).
Necessary steps will also be taken to enable UN Peacekeeping personnel and diplomats to cross in and out of the north.
The new measures include creating special arrangements for the import of goods and services into the country.
Taxis and shuttle services will also be shown flexibility according to the new measures transporting tourists and foreign nationals departing from the country.
While all buses services will be suspended, taxi drivers will be allowed to continue to operate.
Private hospitals, clinics, laboratories and veterinarians will remain open to allow the normal flow of life.
Pharmacies which are to remain open will only serve customers between 8 am and 1 pm.
On-duty pharmacies will remain open until 1 am.
In addition to supermarkets, it was decided that butchers will remain open and bottled water companies will continue their delivery services.
Restaurants and take-a-away services will also be allowed to operate.
Citrus picking and packaging will also be allowed in some areas.
Homes for the elderly will remain operating
Other arrangements made by the cabinet included postponing unpaid social security payments of all travel agents registered with Turkish Cypriot Hoteliers’ Association and the Travel Agents’ Association for the period covering March 1 and 30 June to 2021.
All Social security and provident fund payments for February which need to be made by March 20, 2020, will be postponed, it was announced.
It was said that arrangements will also be made to enable citizens to conduct their social security transactions online.
Banks will remain open but will only operate at minimum capacity with minimum personnel.
The banks will also operate half-day and will focus mainly on transactions of establishments and businesses that will remain open and continue operating.
A limited number of customers will be allowed to enter banks at any period of time, and the public was advised to use ATMs, online banking or credit cards instead of cash when carrying out monetary and payment transactions.
A number of steps were agreed upon by the Turkish Cypriot Banks Association have to postpone, extend or skip loan installment payments of the businesses which will remain closed during the partial lockdown.
The cabinet also announced that efforts were underway to ease interest payments of these establishments.
While it was announced earlier that all public services, for the exception of essential services would remain closed, Saturday’s measures introduced new exceptions.
The cabinet announced that personnel and staff at municipalities, the Labour Department and Provident Fund would be working but their numbers would be lowered to a minimum.
The cabinet also said that the state had the authority to call all public servants into work if the need arose.
Civilian personnel for the Turkish Cypriot Security Forces will also be working, it was announced.
The cabinet also warned that anyone who refused to implement the Council of Minister’s decisions would face legal prosecution.
In the meantime, all court hearings have been postponed to after April 1.
Only bail and remand hearings will be held during this period, it was announced.
Late on Friday night, the cabinet had banned entry to the north to everyone except citizens and ‘legal residents’ until April 1.
TRNC citizens who do arrive in the north by land, sea or air, will be asked to isolate themselves for 14 days.
Legal action and prosecution will be launched under section 48/2018 of the Law on Contagious Diseases.
The government also said that it would reassess the situation 48 hours later as to whether or not it will evoke Article 156 for a partial or full curfew.
The measures include shuttering the public service with the exception of basic services (police, hospitals etc.) and ordered the closure of shops, companies, with the exception of those listed by the cabinet.
Authorities have also urged the public to avoid going out and to remain home unless absolutely necessary.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Republican Turkish (CTP) Party Tufan Erhürman pointed out on Saturday that the European Union (EU) has created a €25b fund for member countries to help tackle the economic and financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a post on social media, Erhürman said that even though the north was not an EU state, it should get in touch with the EU immediately within the framework of the Financial Assistance Regulation.
In a post on social media on Saturday, Turkish Cypriot Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kudret Özersay urged the public to remain calm and to refrain from engaging in panic shopping at supermarkets.
“There is no need to rush to the supermarkets and overcrowd such places. Imports continue to come in and supermarkets continue to resupply and will do so. Supermarkets will continue to remain open so everyone should please remain calm,” he said.
Democratic Party MP Serdar Denktaş on Saturday argued that imposing a curfew was the most effective way of preventing the spread of the virus.
Denktaş in a written statement criticized the authorities of exploiting the coronavirus threat for election purposes.
He also said it was important that the public abides by the measures introduced by the cabinet in an attempt to prevent the virus from spreading.
“The heat of the moment and panic that ensues has prevented anyone from thinking about the economic results of the pandemic. Failure to take measures now will inevitably lead us to a catastrophic economic crisis,” he warned.
Denktaş expressed the view that the government had refrained from declaring a state of emergency being aware of the negative impact it would have on public finances and salaries of public servants as well as the loss of votes it would create for it.
He argued that delaying or postponing public revenues will not be enough to avert a crisis and that it was important to take swift decisions concerning all segments of the private sector.
Denktaş also argued that it will not be possible for the state to overcome the problems that will arise on its own and that external and unconditional financial support was essential.
He underlined the need for everyone to take on responsibility and show solidarity in overcoming the crisis the country was going through.
Denktaş said that it was always possible to hold elections but that if our livelihood was a stake there was no need for elections.
“It could be useful to examine the other socio-economic measures adopted in other countries such as the US,” he said.
Similar concerns regarding the economy were also issued by the Turkish Cypriot Businesspersons’ Association.
A statement issued that failure by the government to take measures aimed at protecting the economy during the 14-day partial lockdown would spell economic disaster for the country in the coming months.
The government’s refusal to declare a state of emergency was also criticized by the leader of the Rebirth Party (YDP) Erhan Arıklı.
While praising the cabinet’s measures, Arıklı said that the measures failed to address several issues.
He argued that the government could not be successful without declaring a state of emergency.
Arıklı, in a written statement, said that a number of economic measures were required, particularly for the private and banking sector.
“A series of radical measures are required on issues such interest rates, social security payments and provident fund instalments. It is not possible to take action on these issues without declaring a state of emergency,” he added.
Arıklı also expressed concern over the differences in views between President Mustafa Akıncı and the government.