Front Page Headlines
Minutes to say goodbye
After three years in custody, a young Cypriot finally gave up and allowed himself to be extradited to the US.
- Business: What the Chevron buyout means for Cyprus gas
Pressures for immediate sharing of natural gas income
Germany also recently urged for such a deal.
- Greek navy spread all the way to Cyprus – Turkish wrong tactics and the background to the crisis
- 46 years later: How Makarios, Kissinger were responsible, fake documents and half truths
- Fever for Sirte: Egypt’s readiness and Turkey’s “third” way
- New dynamism for EastMed: Noble displaced and change of guard with Chevron in the EEZ
- Hagia Sophia: Turks don’t know how to build, only how to take apart
- New document: The UN, systemic injustice and the “bizonal detail” in the details
- (Editorial): The gravestone of Lausanne…
- Andreas Theophanous (opinion): Federal models and Cyprus
- Savvas Iacovides (opinion): The loudest admission of the failure of the Turkey appeasement school
- Christodoulos Giallourides (opinion): Greek strategy, as Turkish net closes
- Marinos Sizopoulos (opinion): De-escalation through the increase of preventive strength
- Christos Iacovou (opinion): What Turkey achieved with the invasion
Why our hotels ignored Cypriots
“We expected hoteliers, who accumulated wealth for the past five years when tourism was getting better and better, to give back more to Cypriot citizens through better offers”. Measures support employment but are also in the hoteliers’ interests because the alternative would be dismissals that would tear their businesses apart. In self-criticism after the fact, the government believes that the incentives given to support hotel employees were geared more to keeping hotels closed than open. The hoteliers.
- Geopolitics: Do Greece and Cyprus have bordering EEZs?: Beyond Macron, Oruc Reis and Hagia Sophia, Turkey’s strategy has depth, good planning and substance. What about ours?
End tension with solution package
Dialogue according to Turkey’s agenda for Aegean Sea, energy and Cyprus at the end. Ankara “committed” to the Germans over Crete, but not over Kastelorizo!
- Global lament over Hagia Sophia: Erdogan wants Istanbul to be new sacred place for Muslims
- Americans and Russians in Eastern Mediterranean
- Theodoros Karyotis (analysis): Why does Athens fear an EEZ delineation with Cyprus?
- Occupied areas: Conflict on all fronts in final reckoning
- Nicos Charalambous: The treason and its effects
- Chrystalla Chadjidemetriou: “As if I was born ten years old…”
- Kyrenia 1974: “The trapped of Dome hotel”
- Erdogan is preparing a hot incident
- Nostalgic of the Diaskeptiki conference
What is required is end of tension through dialogue
Theoretical scenarios on how Turkey will move the day after and what this crisis means for the Cyprus Problem.
- Hagia Sophia a hostage to megalomania
- Geopolitics: Triangle in Mediterranean not for faint of heart
- Cyprus – France: They set up a triptych of cooperation
- Consensus for the national front: Germany a catalyst
- Editorial: When the going gets tough
- Andreas Mavrogiannis (interview): Settling of Varosha under way
- Ankara: The new Turkish strategic aims
Daily wage… 5,354 euro for big bankers!
- International: Turkish President in constant search for new tensions
- (Aris Constantinides interview) International law does not allow unilateral moves in Kastelorizo area
- (Kostas Kortas interview) Aglandjia needs stability, development, social solidarity
- Minister of Energy keeps expectations for “Aphrodite” low
- New adventures for halloumi – The patenting of “Cypriot white gold” becomes more and more complicated. New cases cast doubt on Cypriot trademarks. Hungarian company in UK wants to make “Hadju Halloumi”. Discussions over 25% of sheep milk return
OAY (health insurance organisation) tightens the leash
Puts a roof on patients that specialist doctors will receive every day. Gynaecologists and dermatologists will be able to receive up to 20 patients a day and urologists 15. Doctors are warned they of heavy fines up to 3,400 euros per day if they do not comply. Doctors warn of inconvenience and health effects on patients by the postponement of a set appointment.
- Niyazi Kizilyurek (interview): I have been “bicommunal” for a long time, I have equal pain for G/Cs and T/Cs
- Analysis: Erdogan against Greece or Kemal Ataturk?
- Turkey about Hagia Sophia: Greeks, remember what happened to you in the Aegean
- For Greece and Turkey: A possible military conflict would be catastrophic
- Coronavirus: The chain lengthens, the situation goes out of control
Main News
Diplomatic efforts to end tensions include formula for Cypriot natural gas
Haravgi, Kathimerini, Phileleftheros, Politis, Simerini
Energy, External Security, Regional/ International Relations, CBMs
Phileleftheros and Simerini report that there the RoC’s partners are pressuring Nicosia to accept Turkey’s position that it should move towards sharing the income from hydrocarbons with the T/Cs before a solution of the Cyprus Problem.
Phileleftheros reports that Germany is actively working to avoid a conflict between Greece and Turkey, and that the intention of Turkey is to put all open issues with Greece on the table. The newspaper also says that Turkey wants to see a five-party meeting after the October elections for T/C leader, and that it expects that meeting to focus on energy. The newspaper asserts that the two parallel processes will eventually join up into a package deal.
Simerini cites information that the EU’s High Representative Josep Borrell put forward this proposal to Cypriot Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides during the Foreign Affairs Council on July 13th. The newspaper notes that this proposal concerns gas field in the Cypriot EEZ in areas where Turkey is conducting research on behalf of the T/Cs, and not areas that Turkey claims are part of her own continental shelf.
The newspaper adds that calls to move towards sharing the income from natural gas before a solution are also coming from Germany, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Simerini recalls that the Turkish position is that all negotiations regarding natural gas should take place between Christodoulides and T/C “foreign minister” Kudret Ozersay (as a response to the RoC’s proposal to negotiate EEZ delineation with Turkey)
Kathimerini reports that the situation around Kastelorizo remained tense on Saturday. The newspaper points out that political and military circles do not believe there is an immediate reason for concern, but that the lack of progress keeps Greece and Cyprus on alert. It is also noted by military sources that there is a hyper-concentration of military forces from Evros all the way to the west of Cyprus.
Kathimerini also reports that France’s and Germany’s intervention lead to the assessment that the way out will be sought through dialogue, which will start focusing on Cyprus after the T/C elections in October.
Meanwhile, Haravgi reports that the government has low expectations regarding the “Aphrodite” gas field, citing statements made by Energy Minister Natasa Pelides to CyBC radio. Pelides told public radio that during a teleconference with the heads of Chevron and Noble Energy on Friday, both companies said they maintain their interest in the gas fields of the Eastern Mediterranean.
However, Pelides said, the government “is holding a small basket” regarding developments following the recent purchase of Noble Energy by Chevron, due to the situation in the international natural gas market following the pandemic.
The two companies assured Pelides that there has been no change in their strategic plans, which involve block 12 of the Cypriot EEZ which had been licensed to Noble Energy.
Pelides said that Chevron’s buyout of Noble is still ongoing and that the process will be completed in four to six months. She also said that it is too soon to tell whether the new state of affairs will delay work at the “Aphrodite” gas field.
Developments expected in September over halloumi certification
Haravgi, Simerini
Economy, EU Matters, CBMs
Haravgi reports that the effort to give halloumi the EU’s protected designation of origin (PDO) status are becoming more and more complicated, citing a recent case in the UK. According to the newspaper, a Hungarian company is attempting to register a product called “Hadju Halloumi”. The Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus challenged the naming, but the Hungarian company insists that its trademark is sufficiently different due to the stress on the word “Hadju” on the packaging.
The newspaper recalls that the initial PDO application was submitted by Cyprus six years ago, and points out that the main problem is the inability of producers to conform to the milk ratios submitted by the government itself which amount to 51% of goat or sheep milk.
Haravgi points out that Cyprus’s PDO application remains inactive in Brussels due, mainly to political reasons (note: these are connected to disagreements over the file with the T/C community). However, the government understands that the application should proceed in time to be included in a trade deal between the EU and the UK. The RoC’s Agriculture Ministry is pointing out that there will be developments in September.
The EU’s Commissioner for Agriculture had said he would visit Cyprus after the pandemic, according to a letter sent by the Health Ministry in April, the newspaper points out. It is also noted that the EU’s Health Commissioner is also involved in the discussion.
Haravgi recalls that according to the currently active government decree, halloumi can have only 20% sheep/goat milk, which means that to reach the aim of 51% by 2024 (which is the deadline put by the Commission), sheep/goat milk production needs to increase by 6.5% per year.
The newspaper recalls also that the Minister for Agriculture has been pushing for an increase of the ratio to 25% and that this has brought intense disagreements with cow milk producers as well as cheese makers who point out that there is insufficient amounts of sheep/goat milk to cover these needs.