Front Page Headlines
‘Lost semester’ conundrum in education
Despite the different arrangements made, both public and private schools could not prevent the loss of half a semester of the school year. Even the education ministry does not know how it will be making up for the loss in education. Education experts stress that it is necessary to make up for the loss semester and underline the need for serious work. While education expert Salih Sarpten says that nothing can replace classroom education, another expert in the field Kemal Akkan Batman drew attention to the shortcomings of distance learning as many children did not have access to smartphones or tablets during this period. “This has led to inequality in opportunity,” he said.
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The number of lifeguards not enough
Three people drowned as soon as the swimming season opened in the north. The curse of the coronavirus, which turned both the economy and health sector upside down, has now been extended to the seas. Due to the pandemic, lifeguards or lifeguard trainers could not be brought from abroad.
- Rescue package from the EU worth €750bn – Von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, proposed long term financial assistance from the European Union budget from 2021 to 2027 to overcome the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. €500bn of the rescue package will be in the form of grant money.
- South Cyprus to introduce quarantine exemption to 19 countries.
- The north will be chosen as a safe destination in terms of health – Tourism professionals are hopeful.
School’s apathy outraged the parents
Parents at ‘Levent Primary School’, who organised themselves on social media to protest a rise in the price of school fees, argue that the school had raised tuition fees by switching to Turkish Lira from Euros at a time when families were expecting a discount due to the coronavirus pandemic.
- The latest situation: North 108 cases, four deaths; South 939 cases, 24 deaths; Turkey 159,797 cases, 4,431 deaths.
It should not be used for election purposes
The opposition which evaluated the decision by Turkey to provide ₺2.3bn (€307.8m) in assistance warned that the money should not be used by the ruling party for elections purposes. The leader of the main opposition Republican Turkish Party (CTP) Tufan Erhürman said, “The important thing at the moment is for this resource to be used correctly. The money must first be used for the health sector and then for the economy in a planned manner.” Democrat Party (DP) leader Fikri Ataoğlu said that priority should be given to the tourism sector. The leader of the Rebirth Party (YDP) Erhan Arıklı for his part said that the money had been sent by Turkey to help the country recover from the negative impact of the Covid-19 lockdown. Arıklı said that they will be following up on the government’s activities until the end of the year.
- There is high demand – A promotion campaign has been launched to draw tourists to South Cyprus.
Now he remembers
Former minister and CTP MP Erkut Şahali chose to remember the official name of the state, which he had forgotten two years ago. Şahali in a social media post criticised the error in the agreement signed by Ersin Tatar and Fuat Oktay. At the section for signatures, the text read ‘Cyprus Turkish Republic.’ Şahali asked: “Has the state’s name been changed with the agreement?” He invited those in the office to maintain a certain level of seriousness. However, Şahali was not this sensitive during his term in office when the former Turkish Minister of Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli repeatedly referred to the north as ‘North Cyprus Turkish Republic’ during a foundation laying ceremony on December 26, 2018.
- Zero cases for 14 days – The Turkish Cypriot side’s conditions for the crossings. Turkish Cypriot health minister Ali Pilli said there must not be any new cases in the south for consecutive 14 days for the crossings to be opened.
- Let’s return to our rights in the Republic of Cyprus – KTÖS (Turkish Cypriot Teachers’ Union) said the most correct thing to do is to demand our rights in the Republic of Cyprus.
Main News
Zero cases for 14 days needed for crossings to open, says Pilli
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs Postası, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Afrika
Internal Security, CBMs
OVERVIEW
“We will open the crossing points when there are no new cases of coronavirus in the South for 14 consecutive days,” Turkish Cypriot Health Minister Ali Pilli said on Wednesday.
Pilli, speaking on Bayrak, pointed out that there were still new cases being reported in the south.
“If the cases continue until June 8, and the situation is like as it is today, we are not in favour of opening the crossings. The public’s health is our priority and we have to think of the people’s health first,” Pilli said.
Dr Okan Dağlı from the Mağusa (Famagusta) Initiative said on Wednesday that he did not take the statements made by Turkish Cypriot authorities on the reopening of crossing points seriously.
He said they had grown accustomed to different statements made by different members of the government within a short span of one to two hours.
Dağlı pointed out that the political friction between the government and the president was continuing.
“There is no consensus on this issue within the government either. We saw this during the pandemic lockdown,” he said, criticizing the authorities of failing to manage the crisis from one coordinating centre.
Meanwhile, President Akıncı’s office announced on Wednesday that the bicommunal Technical Committee on Health will convene for a meeting on Monday, June 1.
“The road map ahead in light of the agreement reached by President Mustafa Akıncı and the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades during their telephone conversation on 21 May,” the statement read.
The members of the technical committee will evaluate the epidemiological data from both sides and will discuss the gradual reopening of the crossing points.
The statement also noted the general coordinators of technical committees on both sides, Meltem Onurkan Samani and Adrianos Kyriakides will also attend the meeting alongside with health experts.
In another development, National Unity Party (UBP) Famagusta MP Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu said an application should be made to become a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Hasipoğlu told Kıbrıs Postası web TV that he had examined the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) rules and regulations.
“There is no clause in the WHO’s rules or regulations for the applicant nation to be a recognised country. Therefore is nothing that says that the TRNC as an unrecognised country can apply to become a member,” Hasipoğlu said.
He also argued that a recognised country like Turkey could also apply on behalf of the north for membership.
Hasipoğlu also noted the WHO member states do not have the right of a veto unlike in the European Union (EU).
“As a result, once the north applies, we can become a member of the WHO if the majority of the member states approve,” Hasipoğlu concluded.
The Turkish Cypriot Teachers’ Union (KTÖS) said the Turkish Cypriot community must demand its communal rights emanating from the founding agreements of the Republic of Cyprus (RoC), Afrika reports on Thursday.
In a written statement, KTÖS responded to various statements made on the Turkish Cypriot community’s international rights and specifically on the possibility of its membership to the WHO.
The KTÖS argued the international rights of the Turkish Cypriot community emanates from the 1960 Republic of Cyprus.
“According to the founding agreements, the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots are defined as ‘communities’ and they are politically equal. They also share sovereignty on the state equally,” the KTÖS said.
The KTÖS also pointed out that the Turkish Cypriot community as a result of Turkey’s and the Turkish Cypriot leadership’s secessionist policies have been deprived of utilizing its rights emanating from the RoC.
“As long as the Turkish Cypriot community demands its rights from the RoC back, it will be included in the international community and it will be possible to achieve results from the negotiations processes under the auspices of the United Nations’ Good Offices Mission in Cyprus,” the KTÖS concluded.
Opposition sceptical of economic protocol, coalition defends it
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs Postası, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Afrika
Economy, Regional/International Relations
OVERVIEW
The opposition parties on Wednesday continued to express scepticism regarding the financial and economic protocols signed between the north and Turkey.
Leader of the main opposition Republican Turkish Party (CTP) Tufan Erhürman said the protocol had saved the day but would not be able to address the deeper economic crisis and recession caused by the Covid-19 lockdown.
In a social media post, Erhürman said the main problem was the economic fallout in the private sector.
“As long as the economy’s broken wheels are not repaired, the support sent will only be wasted,” Erhürman argued.
He said it is necessary to establish a sustainable structure and for the money to be used wisely and correctly.
Erhürman also warned the National Unity Party (UBP) not to use the money through backchannels to fund its candidate’s election campaign.
“The money must first be used for the health sector and then for the economy in a planned manner,” the CTP leader said.
He pointed out the money from Turkey will be divided up with ₺1.038bn (€139.9m) will be in the form of a grant and the remaining ₺1.25bn (€168.4m) for the current budget will be in the form of loans.
Erhürman noted the loan, which is foreign borrowing, is recorded in foreign currencies to protect the value of the amount given as a loan.
“The new economic protocols should be based on Turkish Lira as the value of the foreign currencies fluctuate, making it difficult for the north to pay the money back,” Erhürman concluded.
Democrat Party (DP) leader Fikri Ataoğlu said that priority should be given to the tourism sector. The leader of the Rebirth Party (YDP) Erhan Arıklı for his part said that the money had been sent by Turkey to help the country recover from the negative impact of the Covid-19 lockdown.
Arıklı said that they will be following up on the government’s activities until the end of the year to see whether the money will be used for the purposes intended.
Abdullah Korkmazhan, head of Left Movement, was far more sceptical of the protocol, slamming Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ersin Tatar for signing it.
“The agreement is nothing more than an imposed economic destruction package, which is unacceptable,” Korkmazhan said, accusing Tatar of preparing the economic protocol agreement in secret.
“The imposed economic packages, which their contents are kept hidden from the Turkish Cypriot community, only serve to erode the very existence of Turkish Cypriots while handing over their assets to those close to the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey,” Korkmazhan argued.
He said that they rejected Ankara’s economic packages and orders.
Korkmazhan also argued the statements that Turkey was providing support to the Turkish Cypriot community in the fight against Covid-19 were nothing more than lies.
“The financial support is nothing more than a means to financing the status quo,” Korkmazhan stressed.
He argued the financing reassures Turkey’s economic, military and political presence in the northern part of the island.
“We will on one hand reject imposed economic packages and on the other will continue to work towards the goal of self-governance and towards the goal of reaching a federal solution,” Korkmazhan concluded.
Meanwhile, the coalition partners defended the package.
The leader of the People’s Party (HP) Yenal Senin on Wednesday said all 17 provisions in the protocol agreement, which were accepted by the HP’s administrative body, were precautionary measures rather than reforms.
“The fact that the work on the three-year program will commence by October, in my opinion, is the most important provision in the protocol agreement,” Senin said.
He expressed the view that the next protocol agreement will be crucial to see how the higher-education, the construction, and the tourism sectors will be shaped in the post-coronavirus era in light of the increasing value of the foreign currencies.
Tatar on Wednesday responded to accusations that the government had kept the opposition and rest of the country in the dark on the economic protocol agreement.
Speaking on Bayrak, he recalled an earlier agreement for the previous year had been signed on July 20 2019 and the remaining ₺750m (€101m) was gradually released starting from the beginning of 2020.
“Since the signing of the first agreement, Ankara has transferred nearly ₺3bn (€405,4m) to the north,” Tatar noted.
He said he had refrained from announcing the date for the signing of the protocol to avoid embarrassment in the event there was a delay
“The economic protocol agreement not only ensures a flow of funds to the north but also strengthens the basis for economic activities in the north,” Tatar concluded.
The Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce (KKTO) on Wednesday also welcomed the signing of the economic protocol agreement.
In a statement issued, KTTO said the agreement will facilitate the transfer of the much-needed funds for the Turkish Cypriot community.
Emphasizing the importance of utilising the funds effectively, KTTO said the north must learn its lessons from the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is in our hands to establish a more stable and stronger economic structure supported with good infrastructure, better health and education sectors,” the KTTO concluded.
Kızılyürek marks his EP anniversary with a written statement
Yenidüzen
EU Matters
OVERVIEW
Akel MEP Niyazi Kızılyürek on Wednesday pledged to continue working for a federal settlement in Cyprus.
In a statement issued on the 1st anniversary of his election into the European Parliament (EP), Kızılyürek recalled that his election was the first joint political success of the two communities.
He added his goals remained to bring the two communities closer, to further integrate Turkish Cypriots with the European Union (EU), to wage a struggle for justice, human rights and democracy.
Kızılyürek explained that he had launched an initiative for the recognition of Turkish as an official EU language as his first act as MEP.
He said he had raised the issue in his first address at the EP, pointing that Turkish was one of the two official languages of the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) but that he had been unable to address the EP in Turkish because it was not an official EU language.
“Thus, I submitted a written question to the European Commission (EC) on the matter,” he said.
The Akel MEP added that the office he had opened in the north had also increased the Turkish Cypriot community’s visibility within the EU.
“After the President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) Luca Jahier visited me at my office in the north, a similar visit was planned by the head of the United Left Group in the EP Martin Schirdewan and an accompanying EP delegation. However, we were forced to cancel the visit due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
Kızılyürek also said that he had launched an initiative for the preparation of an aid package for Turkish Cypriots to deal with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I reminded the President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen in a letter that Turkish Cypriots who were EU citizens were unable to benefit from direct EU assistance as the Acquis is suspended in the north. I pointed out that the issue was urgent and thus after various efforts, the EC announced its assistance to the Turkish Cypriot community on March 13,” he said.
Kızılyürek expressed the view that the Turkish Cypriot community needed to be integrated with the EU to preserve its identity and to continue to exist.
He said that the issue was raised and discussed at a conference held in Nicosia in December last year which was attended by 100 participants and experts.
Precious fountains to receive a facelift
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs Postası, Kıbrıs, Havadis
Human Rights, CBMs
OVERVIEW
The bicommunal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage announced on Wednesday that four water fountains, three in Kyrenia and one in Larnaca have been placed among the current list of important monuments that will benefit from EU-funded conservation with the support of UNDP.
“The fountains date back to 1740s, 1820s and 1830s, and were important in providing town dwellers water for drinking and washing. They reflect the richness of our #OurSharedHeritage,” a post on social media by UNDP Cyprus read.
It has been reported that work will be done to safeguard the structures, which have suffered damage due to vegetation growth and humidity.