Front Page Headlines
Open window to start dialogue
Josep Borrell attempted to de-escalate tensions in Ankara. Cavusoglu asked for a moratorium on drillings and further assistance for Turkey on migration. Commitment by Borrell that EU will intervene for sharing of natural resources in Eastern Mediterranean.
- Lakkotrypis: The media didn’t let him be
Turkey also threatens the EU
Cavusoglu warned Borrell of reprisals in the case of new sanctions. Republic of Cyprus is a member of the EU, the Vice President of the Commission declared.
- A moratorium in the EEZ would be destructive: Stocktaking by Lakkotrypis with political messaging
- Loss of two children made for shocking life story: Papalazaros an imposing figure in modern history of Cyprus
Borrell: Dialogue over energy in Eastern Mediterranean
Borrell: A solution on energy that will satisfy both sides. Cavusoglu: Sharing of income needs to be ensured. Ankara asked the EU to fulfil its commitments.
- Protest by residents of Pyrgos Tyllirias
- Cyprus, resistance members and AKEL say goodbye to Papalazaros. Funeral will be at 5 pm on Thursday
- Naturalisations not only for the sheikhs but also for the whole family, including the in-laws
Drilling ban would end energy hopes
Lakkotrypis: moratorium would break contractual obligations.
- Kato Pyrgos residents protest
- Approved, but ferry service still a way off
AKEL – DIKO love affair can’t be hidden
2023 presidential elections swallowed up AKEL’s ideas. Backtracking: Changes for institution of Auditor General: AKEL SG takes it back after DIKO reaction. Andros Kyprianou: Full support to Odysseas Michaelides: He is an honest, capable official. DISY: Endless daily credentials by DIKO to Ezekia Papaioannou (street).
- Changes by the occupied areas “government” at checkpoints: They ask a new test every 15 days for everyone – Obstacles to movement of T/C workers, enclaved, Maronites and residents of Pyrgos and Pyla – They took Turkey down to category B, brought Greece up to category A
- Borrell: I ensured the beginning of negotiations between Greece and Turkey
- Lakkotrypis opposes moratorium in EEZ: It would be the end of our energy prospects
Main News
Borrell and Cavusoglu speak of need for East Med dialogue
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
EU Matters, External Security, Energy, Regional/ International Relations, Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
EU High Representative Josep Borrell said after a meeting Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that there needs to be a dialogue regarding energy issues in the Eastern Mediterranean, which could start between Greece and Turkey, Turkey and the EU and could also cover the issue of the two sides on Cyprus sharing proceeds from hydrocarbons.
Borrell said that during the meeting he ensured the beginning of negotiations between Turkey and the EU, between Turkey and EU member-states, which could include the Republic of Cyprus, Turkish Cypriots, Greece, Turkey and the UN.
Borrell also pointed out that despite the fact that Turkey doesn’t recognise the RoC, the RoC is still a member of the EU and there still needs to be a discussion and a solution that is to everyone’s benefit.
The European official also said that the Eastern Mediterranean is key for the EU and that his mission was to ask the EU to de-escalate tensions. He said he was satisfied by Turkish assurances that the country does not intend to create new tensions.
Cavusoglu said that Turkey expects the EU to become a part of the solution instead of merely displaying solidarity with Greece and Cyprus. He said that Turkey is ready to be flexible regarding the Eastern Mediterranean as long as T/C rights are guaranteed.
Cavusoglu also said that the sharing of hydrocarbons proceeds on Cyprus does not necessarily have to happen with a direct agreement between the sides, but could happen through an EU mechanism.
Cavusoglu repeated his country’s position that the EU had allowed its relations with Turkey to be taken hostage by the policies of the Greek Cypriots and Greece, adding that France has lately also joined that group.
The Turkish Foreign Minister also underlined that if the EU takes decisions against Turkey during the next European Council, then Ankara will have to respond.
In a statement before the meeting, Cypriot Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides said that the next Foreign Affairs Council is the beginning of the road regarding EU – Turkey relations and not an end point. Christodoulides told CyBC that Cyprus is waiting for the results of the meetings and to be officially informed of its content, and pointed out that what Cyprus seeks is de-escalation of the current situation. He also said it is a positive development that the EU is now paying attention to the situation in the region and that Germany intends to act as a mediator.
Outgoing Energy Minister warns that freezing drillings would end prospects
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
Energy, Economy, External Security
OVERVIEW
The dailies report that outgoing Energy, Trade and Industry Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis took stock of his tenure during a press conference on Monday.
The coverage focuses on Lakkotrypis’s warning that if Cyprus was to declare a moratorium on energy related activities due to Turkey’s behaviour or due to the reactions of the Turkish Cypriot community, that would destroy the country’s energy prospects as it would mean breaking contractual obligations.
Lakkotrypis was responding to a question as to whether Cyprus could unilaterally declare a moratorium within its EEZ, Cyprus Mail reports. He pointed out that “the answer is clearly no”, based on the contractual obligations between the government and the companies licensed to operate in the country’s EEZ.
He also pointed out that Turkish officials have been clear that the country would not stop hydrocarbon exploration in areas claimed by Ankara.
Lakkotrypis underlined that one should distinguish between the interests of international companies and the reactions of other countries regarding Turkey’s actions in the Cypriot EEZ. He asked journalists not to conflate geopolitical developments with the obligations taken by the companies themselves. He added that the government’s strategy is to coordinate Cypriot interest with the interests of the whole European Union.
The newspaper recalls that the companies themselves postponed works due to the coronavirus situation, informing the government of its intention to restart operations in spring 2021.
According to the minister, if the pandemic situation improves and market conditions allow, then the works scheduled by the international energy companies should be able to continue unimpeded. Lakkotrypis repeated that 5 to 8 new exploratory or confirmatory drillings are expected to take place in 2021.
Lakkotrypis also said that the government’s strategy to create a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Vasilikos is the best solution commercially and geopolitically. The terminal, he said, would help reduce electricity prices and produce clean energy, and pointed out that works are being financially supported by the EU.
He also pointed out that there is always an effort under way to move forward with a new round of licensing, and that the most complicated part of this equation is the state of the worldwide energy market.
Residents of Kato Pyrgos protest over new checkpoint guidelines by T/Cs
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
Internal Security, External Security, Human Rights, CBMs
OVERVIEW
Residents of the isolated region of Kato Pyrgos protested the decision by the T/C “government” to present a coronavirus tests taken in the last 72 hours, with a new one requested every 15 days, the dailies report. The protest consisted of Kato Pyrgos residents blocking the road leading to the Turkish military enclave of Kokkina for a short time.
Community leader Nicos Cleanthous told the CyBC that the decision has already impacted residents, as people that had been returning from Nicosia through the Astromeritis checkpoint were not allowed to cross from the north.
The Cyprus News Agency reports that five or six cars and a bus carrying workers returning to the town had been turned back from the Astromeritis checkpoint and had to return to the area through a different road. It had been arranged that residents of the area would only need to show a negative tests during their first crossing, but the new guidelines have complicated the situation once again.
Cleanthous said that the community protested by blocking the way to Kokkina because it is used by Turkish military vehicles escorted by UNFICYP, Cyprus Mail reports. He told CNA that the T/Cs cannot allow the Turkish army to bring provisions to the military base at Kokkina while residents of the area are not allowed free movement.
Alithia reports that the new guidelines announced by the north on Monday, after the “cabinet’s” decision to rule all previous measures invalid, have caused new problems for T/Cs who work in the south, G/C enclaved and Maronites living in the north and their relatives, as well as the residents of Pyrgos and Pyla.
The dailies report, citing T/C media, that the “government’s” decision to change the legal basis of its measures against the coronavirus, by giving all authority to the health “ministry”, was taken to prevent the “supreme court” from cancelling all measures that had been taken as illegal.
T/C doctors union KTTB had appealed to the courts against the measures, accusing the “government” of not following epidemiological criteria.
In coronavirus developments, the RoC announced on Monday that a further case had been detected in the government-controlled areas after a total of 1,259 tests. The infected person arrived to Cyprus from the US, travelling through Germany and has been self-isolating. In the occupied areas, the authorities announced that there was no new case on Monday, but that there have been five new cases since airports were reopened on July 1st.