Front Page Headlines
Return to the classrooms with many questions raised
The level of difficulty for the opening of schools is rising. Teachers’ unions want clarifications for the prevention measures in schools. (Education Minister) Prodromou gives reassurances that everything provided for by the health protocols will be applied.
- TC workers: The crossings are a ‘headache’
- He insists it was an accident (man who shot his sister)
- Evrychou: A murder over nothing
- Students: They came to… go back again
He caught teachers by surprise
The president assumed the responsibility. Return to schools for everyone with many reactions. Courses on rotation with 12 pupils per classroom.
- “Only the pandemic is keeping them closed”: They are putting pressure on the president for the opening of the crossings
- Turkey roams free the Cypriot EEZ
- Air fights in the Nicosia FIR between the Americans and Russians
Shoddiness over the return to schools
The government decision for the return to schools of all pupils on May 21 has stirred many reactions. The announcement yesterday by the education minister has raised many questions since that is not what he was declaring 24 hours prior to that. A group of people are already gathering signatures online so that pupils do not go back to school.
- Trade unions and employers seek the president’s intervention for the return of TCs to their workplaces
- Domestic violence in both communities: Patriarchy is deeply rooted in Cyprus
Schools to reopen from 21st of May
Two groups to attend on separate days, maximum 12 pupils to a class.
- (Photo caption) Two-year-old TC Olivia Shule stands behind a metal barrier as she greets her grandmother at the Ayios Dhometios crossing point. The two see each other at the crossing point once a week but cannot touch each other. The toddler, who suffers from glaucoma, and her mother have been living in southern Nicosia since lockdown stopped movement between the two sides because Shule needs regular contact with her doctor (Reuters)
Pupils will take turns in classrooms
The road map on education has been announced. Reactions by pupils and teachers on the mass return to schools.
- Government to TCs: It is not us who closed the crossings but the TC side that banned entry through them
Main News
Koushios: When TC workers iron out crossing issues with north, we will address their plight
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
CBMs, Economy, Human Rights, Internal Security
OVERVIEW
All dailies report on the statements by Government spokesman Kyriacos Koushios who said on Wednesday that they have no problem seeking a solution to facilitate TC workers crossing to the south to get to their workplaces as long as the TC side creates the conditions to allow them to do so.
The dailies cite statements by Koushios to the Cyprus News Agency.
They report that Koushios said that the government will discuss the matter of health measures to prevent the coronavirus from spreading and provided the right conditions are in place in order for TC employees in businesses in the free areas of Cyprus to be able to return to their workplaces. Koushios recalled that the government had suspended the operation of four crossing points but had left another five open.
He pointed out that is the TC side which has prohibited people from using all crossing points including members of the diplomatic corps and the UN and that the TC workers’ issue has not been discussed due to the conditions right now.
However, he added, it is certain that once it is possible for TC employees to go to their workplaces in the government-controlled areas, the issue would be discussed and decisions would be made.
“For the government there is absolutely no reason whatsoever for all the crossing points not to resume operations, apart from the problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic,” he said.
Referring to subsidies granted by the government to employees, he said that for TCs who had accounts in the government-controlled areas the money has been deposited in their accounts. For those who did not have such accounts, cheques were issued to the beneficiaries and have been sent to them through the UN, adding that he is not aware at what stage their delivery is.
On the possibility of them losing their jobs, Koushios said that as long as they are covered by the schemes announced by the labour ministry, their employers cannot fire them.
Cyprus Mail quotes Koushios saying that if these workers inform the government that they have overcome obstacles over the crossings with the TC administration, then the coronavirus aspect will be discussed with the health ministry.
Koushios explained that the government will need to get the advice of the epidemiology experts on what protection measures need to be taken for this group of people such as testing, whether they will need to be quarantined, whether it will be feasible for them to cross daily or whether they would be asked to remain in the government-controlled areas.
“We are positively inclined to look into the matter,” Koushios said, according to the paper.
The dailies also report that the head of the employers and industrialist federation (OEV), Michalis Antoniou, said that government ought to facilitate these people get to their workplaces without compromising anyone’s health.
He argued that TCs who work in the south are a distinct group from those on both sides who cross over for shopping or recreational purposes.
The head of PEO, Pambis Kyritsis, sent Anastasiades a letter pointing out that the situation greatly affects both workers and their employers and called for a solution the soonest possible to this issue.
Chairman of Dev-Is, Koral Asham, told CNA that at the moment only cancer patients are allowed to cross for their treatments.
He also said that the money have yet to reach these workers despite that they have opened accounts in banks in the north and sent their details to the labour ministry with help from PEO so that the money is transferred through Hellenic Bank.
Phileleftheros reports that Anastasiades is being pressured by groups in both sides for the re-operation of the crossings but also on the allowance to TCs who used to work in the free areas before the restrictions.
In a comment, the daily also said that Koushios’ statements as regards the crossings do not hold water. Does that government want us to believe that it has closed airports and ports but that five crossings would remain open if the pseudo-state did not shut them down? the comment said.
Politis reports that the way things are now as regards the coronavirus pandemic, the possibility of allowing soon the crossing of around 1,500 TC workers is a remote one.
The daily said it has been told that it would be very complicated since the issue raises many concerns. One issue is that the pseudo-state currently only allows crossing of cancer patients and for humanitarian reasons. An additional issue for authorities is that if they pave the way for exceptions then why shouldn’t other groups be exempt such as relatives of the enclaved or allowing Maronites cross to stay in their villages.
What’s concerning is that none of the two sides has made any reference on plans on when crossings would resume, Politis reported.
Alithia, under the headline, It is not us who closed the crossings, reports that the government responded to the complaints by TCs that it would discuss the issue as long as the conditions are created to allow TC workers go to their workplaces.
According to Haravgi, the inability of TCs to return to their workplaces also causes problems to hundreds of businesses, mostly in the construction sector but also the wider economy.
The daily also interprets Koushios’ statements as ‘if and when…’
In another article, Cyprus Mail reports on a piece by Reuters on the experience of TCs greatly affected by the restrictions in place, including a representative of the workers in question but also a mother who was forced to move to the south before the restrictions were introduced because her two-year-old daughter needs to see her doctor in the south.
The mother, Deniz Birinci, told Reuters that two months on, they are still living out of suitcases and have moved three times, even though their home is just five minutes away, in northern Nicosia.
The Reuters piece also spoke to a man who was forced to separate from his GC girlfriend because he could not take the risk of checkpoint closures keeping him away from work in the north. He said that what has been lacking since the beginning, was cooperation between the two sides on the matter, the daily reports.
KEY ACTORS
Koushios (RoC spokesman)
>> The government is willing to try find a solution for TC workers who work in south as soon as the TC side does its own part as regards the ban on movement through crossings.
>> The GC side has only suspended the operation of four crossings whereas the TCs have banned entry through all of them, including for diplomats and UN personnel.
>> The GC side has no other reason for all the crossing points not to resume operations, apart from the problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Turkey is the sole actor in EEZ after postponement of RoC’s energy plans
Phileleftheros
Energy, Regional/International Relations
OVERVIEW
The daily reports that the postponement by at least a year of Nicosia’s energy programme due to the global consequences of the coronavirus pandemic allows Turkey to roam free the Eastern Mediterranean.
The absence of any deterrent possibility on the one hand restricts the ability of the Republic of Cyprus to react and on the other, gives Turkey the right to freely roam.
Turkey’s aims are to prove the inability/lack of support to Cyprus from various sides and show that she cannot be stopped from claiming her ‘rights’, the paper said.
At the same time, with the postponement of the RoC’s energy plans, the Turkish movements in the region emerged. This is something that Nicosia never saw coming when preparing its worst-case scenarios during the pre-coronavirus era since it was estimated that Turkey would be carrying out activities at the same time as the foreign energy companies but not that Turkey would be active in the area, all alone.
Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis told Alpha TV that Total/ENI consortium will come back in a year while the ExxonMobil/Qatar Petroleum in a year and a half.
What matters for the Cypriot government for now is what Lakkotrypis said, the daily reports, which is that the energy companies have taken a stance many times against Turkish provocations and express their support to the Republic of Cyprus and their commitment to continue their drilling schedules despite the difficulties faced due to the pandemic.
Despite the questions as regards Turkish provocations and the fact that Turkey is the only one currently operating in the Cypriot exclusive economic zone, the government has no answers, the daily reported.
The government side indirectly admits that Nicosia is now paying the cost because for years, none of the successive governments had dealt seriously with the Republic’s defence in a way that the country could protect its EEZ, the daily said.
In another article, the daily reports that Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said that Nicosia and Athens would not rush to discuss the delimitation of their EEZs since at the moment, Greece is in consultations with other countries for the delimitation of its EEZ with them.
Dendias told Greek media outlet Real that Athens is now in consultations with Italy and Egypt and that, at some point, the issue would also be discussed with Cyprus and Albania.
KEY ACTORS
Dendias (Greek FM)
>> Athens and Nicosia will discuss delimitation of their EEZs in due time.
US-Russian air fights in Nicosia FIR
Phileleftheros
External Security, Regional/International Relations
OVERVIEW
According to the paper, there have been serious incidents in the southeast part of Nicosia
Flight Information Region (FIR) involving US and Russian warplanes related to the activity in Syria.
According to observer reports, which are also confirmed by the actual flight data, during the last week of April, an interception process of two American reconnaissance aircraft by Russian fighter jets that took off from bases in Syria was recorded inside the Nicosia FIR near its borders with the Damascus FIR.
The daily reports that the presence of the American reconnaissance aircraft has been regular, almost daily, in recent months south and southeast of Cyprus, but was discontinued for a while after that incident.
The American reconnaissance aircraft take off either from Souda, Crete or from Sigonella in Italy and operate flights south and southeast of Cyprus with their obvious aim the forces on land, sea and air in relation with developments in Syria.
While the US reconnaissance aircraft are being detected by most of Cyprus’ air traffic controllers, the Russian fighters flying low on the borders of the Nicosia-Damascus FIRs go unnoticed since they have activated the systems against their detection.
However, most of the time these flights are picked up by the military radars of the National Guard.
Citing sources, the daily reports that such incidents between American reconnaissance aircraft and Russian fighter jets have been recorded in the past, but not at such proximity and dangerous levels.
Domestic violence on the rise in both sides due to lockdown
Haravgi, Politis
CBMS, Human Rights
OVERVIEW
The dailies report that the Technical Committee on Gender Equality raised the issue of domestic violence which has increased in both sides due to the coronavirus crisis.
The committee said in a statement that in any crisis, domestic violence gets worse, and Covid-19 is no exception, adding that isolation, alongside with health and economic problems that pile up, caused globally an upsurge of violence against women and girls which is also true for the whole of Cyprus.
Citing civil society sources, the committee said that incidents of domestic violence in the GC community increased by 58 per cent since the lockdown, between mid-March to April 22 while in the TC community the situation is even worse, as calls to helplines increased up to 10 times since the lockdown.
The committee said they were greatly concerned that they are observing no increase (in the GC community) or even a substantial drop (in the TC community) in the number of domestic violence cases dealt by the police.
Furthermore, patriarchy in Cyprus is deeply rooted and women are not generally encouraged by society to take life into their hands, they said.
The committee said that it was of utmost importance that the gendered impact of the pandemic as well as of the measures taken to combat it, are recognised and addressed.