Front Page Headlines
EU flounders over tourism
EU indecision holds up Cyprus tourist industry’s moves to reopen.
Turkey’s economy takes a plunge
Country’s Central Bank is out of dollars and Erdogan is looking for a lifeline. Is there or not a civil war scenario for Turkey? What money has the EU given for health. Ankara’s problems and the Turkish threat.
- Energy: Hydrocarbons – EEZ at the mercy of Turkey’s rapaciousness
- Savvas Iacovides (opinion): Occupation’s checkpoints as Trojan Horse for recognition of pseudostate
Majority wants schools closed
Poll by RetailZoom for “P”. Bordeline majority of 52% of respondents disagree with opening schools. Satisfaction by public employees, police officers, but not teachers. How many lied and took a walk?
- Alexandra Attalidou (interview): Cyprus would be in danger without the EU
- Buffer Fringe Festival: The “dead zone” festival returns and shows versatility concerning the challenges of the coronavirus and closed checkpoints
Road map an uphill road
Return to normality passes through epidemiological situation. Opening schools a gamble, all possibilities open to the last moment.
- Russian ambassador on “Ph” (interview): Situation in Cypriot EEZ dangerous – Responds to Americans and talks about imaginary excuses – “It’s time to rethink the structure of international relations”
- Ankara’s plans: Sets sail for next nightmare scenario
Education permanently in the same class and with track record
Decision for schools to reopen created reactions, with government taking a step back.
- “K” at the surveillance headquarters at Evros
- “Golden” passports: Naturalisations caught in American tailspin
- Turkey: Erdogan looking for a lifeline
- Ozlem Gurkut: We have to be ready for the second wave
They do not put up with any other voice
- Port Authority and natural gas companies at each other’s throats
- Stagnation in Cyprus Problem and its effects: Is there ground for the two leaders to communicate? – Changes in relations between Turkey and occupied areas
- Turkey: Upheavals in political and economic scene
Entering critical period on the right foot
The only one case yesterday confirms that we are getting closer and closer to point “zero”, but the next week is the big test.
- Checkpoints: T/C side sees their opening around 15 July
Main News
Osadchiy: Situation in Cypriot EEZ dangerous, CyProb stagnated too long
Phileleftheros
External Security, Energy, Regional/ International Relations, Negotiations Process
Russian ambassador to Nicosia, Stanislav Osadchiy, told Phileleftheros in an interview that Moscow considers the current situation in the Cypriot EEZ dangerous, and called on all sides to refrain from rash actions and chose dialogue. Osadchiy also repeated the RoC has rights in its EEZ according to international law.
He also expressed concerns that the period of recollection following the failure of the Crans Montana conference has lasted too long.
The Russian ambassador said that his country calls for restraint, reason and political wisdom regarding the hydrocarbons issue, and added that the tension should be descalated through dialogue within the constraints of international law.
He added that as far as Russia is concerned, the best way to de-escalate the situation is through a comprehensive solution of the Cyprus Problem, and underlined that it is necessary that negotiations restart as soon as possible.
Osadchiy also reiterated Moscow’s position that the Berlin agreement between the two leaders and UNSG Guterres at the end of 2019 was a positive development, since it would lead to a new conference in the Crans Montana format.
Osadchiy said that the deepening of Russian – Turkish relations should be seen in the context of Moscow’s relations with all other countries in the region, and noted that the two countries cooperate bilaterally in several fields but disagree on others.
Regarding reactions by the US on the continued relations between Cyprus and Russia, Osadchiy said that bilateral relations between Moscoa and Nicosia are based on mutual respect and interests and cannot be influenced by external intervention.
Osadchiy accused the US of always attempting to promote their interests over those of other counties and added that Washington is introducing “imaginary excuses” that are not in the interest of the Republic of Cyprus.
In other developments, Phileleftheros reports that Nicosia is concerned over the possibility that Turkey will move from exploration to drilling in the Cypriot EEZ. The newpaper points out that the government had been concerned that Turkey would send a drillship in the Cypriot EEZ, both in contested areas as well as in areas south of Cyprus and in plots that had already been licensed to international companies.
Since both of these fears have now materialised, Nicosia now is concerned that Turkey will actually start drilling, which could give the country an advantage especially if its drillships find natural gas.
The newspaper points out that all possibilities are open, since in the past Turkey has overcome technical obstacles and has acquired drillships. Phileleftheros also notes that especially in the current situation, the country has more room to maneuver.
Phileleftheros also reports that Nicosia is now aiming for a teleconference of the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Greece, Cyprus and France. Egypt is reported to have asked for this meeting due to its own disagreements with Turkey’s behaviour in the region.
AKEL and DISY politicians call for quick return to negotiations
Alithia, Haravgi, Politis
Negotiations Process, CBMs
Haravgi reports that in a recent event by think tank OPEK honouring the passing of former Attorney General Alecos Markides, former Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides suggested that President Anastasides should call on T/C leader Mustafa Akinci to unofficially discussed all Cyprus Problem issues that are still open.
In that way, Kasoulides points out, the two leaders could create the conditions towards a succesful outcome to negotiations when they restart.
An anonymous government source told Haravgi that this suggestion cannot be implemented since there are no issues left to discuss on the level of the community leaders. This is because the aim is for negotiations to restart from where they had left off after the failure of the Crans Montana conference, which means that what is needed is a negotiation of all issues, involving also Turkey.
The same sources said that the T/C side itself is also not willing to move to negotiations before the elections for the position of T/C leader in October.
However, persons that have participated in the G/C negotiating team told Haravgi that in fact there are issues that concern the two Cypriot sides where significant moves can be made in order to facilitate the resumption of negotiations right from the point where they stopped.
During the same event, AKEL official and member of the G/C negotiating team Toumazos Chelepis, said that this is not the time for political parties to accuse each other over the Cyprus Problem or the coronavirus, and added that AKEL is currently in talks with parties that believe in a federal solution over adopting a joint position regarding checkpoints and the future negotiations.
Haravgi notes that both speakers rejected the notion that there can be no talks while Turkey continues to provoke, calling it a fake dilemma. Chelepis said that when talks restart, Turkey will find a way to step back from its current behaviour, and if that Turkey insists on intransigence then this is also in the interest of the G/C side.
Two politicians from the two major parties in the Greek Cypriot community spoke to Politis about the need for the two sides to cooperate against the coronavirus, the lost opportunities of the pandemic period and what lessons Cypriots should learn regarding the future of the efforts for reunification.
Opposition AKEL MEP Niyazi Kizilyurek told the newspaper that both sides failed to show solidarity and coordination. He said that citizens should not accept the inaction displayed by the authorities in both sides and called on the leaders to apply suggestions and proposals made by the bicommunal Technical Committee for Health.
Kizilyurek pointed out that Cypriots have worked together for public health in the past, as well as that neither community can by itself face issues related to climate, health and the environment. He added that all in the future there should be cooperation between organisations on all these issues, contributing to a federalisation from the ground up.
The MEP also said that the two leaders ought to listen to the advise of the bicommunal Technical Committee on Health before taking decisions regarding the reopening of checkpoints, and that there should be an effort to re-establish contact between regular citizens without putting public health at risk.
Kizilyurek also underlined that he hopes it won’t take protests like those that took place in 2003 to lead to a reopening of the checkpoints. He advised everyone not to create the impression that the checkpoints are hard borders.
Governing DISY MP Xenia Constantinou said that the pandemic has affected the relations of the two sides and that T/C workers and students that can’t return to the north have been victimised by decisions taken by the T/C side.
Constantinou points out that the way out this moment is the cooperation through the bicommunal committee. However, she points out that the main problem is that the Turkish army and the T/C side have completely closed down the checkpoints. She added that the G/C side should be ready to discuss with all side in order to reopen the checkpoints, but that unfortunately the key remains with the Turkish side.
The MP also said that the G/C side currently has no other tools to help the T/C workers and students that have been victimised, and added that the G/C side should be preparing itself so that it’s ready to oversee the reopening of the checkpoints when the pandemic has died out. She also noted that despite the fact that everyone today focuses on the coronavirus, the Cyprus Problem should not be forgotten.
Alithia: T/C side unwilling to consider opening checkpoints before summer
Alithia
Internal Security, External Security, CBMs
Alithia reports that Mustafa Akinci believes that checkpoints will not reopen before July 15th, citing sources from the T/C leader’s office. Akinci reportedly expects that more than two months would have to pass before the reopening of the checkpoints, and that for this to happen the two sides will have to coordinate with each other and with the United Nations.
Alithia reports that according to the same sources, the delay is not related to the epidemiological situation in either side but is a political issue. Both sides believe they have been successful against the spread of the coronavirus, but that everything depends on when the T/C authorities will once more allow travel from and to Turkey. Turkey, as opposed to the two sides in Cyprus, is still in the midst of the pandemic.
Alithia‘s sources note that no politician would dare reopen the checkpoints before opening airports and ports for Turkey, because this would anger Ankara and also affect the pre-election campaign in the north.
The newspaper notes that given this situation, the RoC government is not in a hurry to discuss the reopening of the checkpoints, but has sent the message that it is ready to move forward quickly once the T/C side is ready.
Alithia also reports that a temporary solution could be found regarding the 1,500 T/C workers that need to return to their employment in the south. This though would be difficult due to the current policy in both sides of requiring a 14-day quarantine for anyone entering their area of control.