Front Page Headlines
Two outings (per day) with SMS and… unknown support measures
Strict lockdown with huge financial consequences and no budget. The 8998 will be back in operation with eight options for three-hour outings while there is concern over a ninth option, concerning rapid tests. The lockdown is a one-way street for the government. Dramatic appeal by the president and the finance minister to party leaders for approval of the revised budget to support employees and businesses. The construction sector and public works will continue to operate while schools, except kindergartens that will remain open, will implement distance learning.
- Cyprus problem: Lute is determined for an agreement
Lockdown with the suspension of two (loan) instalments
The president will seek urgent approval of the new budget by the party leaders. Six-month suspension of instalments for businesses that will be forced to close and borrowers who did not make use of this measure before.
- ‘Deputy’ pseudo-prime minister Erhan Arikli is wanted – What the justice minister says. Who are the 10 wanted people for the murders of Tasos Isaac and Solomos Solomou.
- They are warming up with letters to Guterres
- Back in quarantine as of Sunday – Decisions today in Cabinet. The 8998 and the SMS are back. Only essential services, supermarkets, pharmacies, bakeries, kiosks and confectionaries will remain open. Primary & high school pupils do not return to their classrooms, the churches will remain closed to the faithful.
- Employers want to bring vaccines on their own
The schools are a mess while (Education Minister) Prodromou keeps making waves
The Ministry of Education is still unprepared for distance learning while the competent minister, Prodromou, continues to fail to see the realities and live in his own world, still insisting on the four-monthly exams. At the same time, thousands of parents of students of all levels of education are in uncertainty as there is no comprehensive plan for the educational process.
- Priority is the comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem
- Josep Borrell called for a speedy restart of the negotiations
Cyprus braces for lockdown
Public awaits full extent of added measures as hospitals fill up.
Fears for the economy from today’s lockdown
The consequences under the economists’ lens. Company bankruptcies are expected and rise in unemployment. All the measures that will be announced today. A 63-year-old man with no underlying condition, died.
- Towards a dynamic involvement of the EU in the talks – Contacts by the FM.
- Coronavirus patient: He refused treatment and died the next day
Main News
UN determined to see informal summit take place
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
According to Politis, UN Secretary-General’s special envoy Jane Holl Lute will hold separate meetings on Monday with the two leaders and is determined to ensure the sides go to the informal five-party summit without terms and preconditions. Lute returns with proposals on the time and place but also the structure of the summit which is to take place in the second half of February.
Citing sources, the daily reports that this stance mainly concerns the TC side which has been repeatedly calling for a two-state solution. By accepting the UN terms, TC leader Ersin Tatar and Ankara will have to consent to discuss a bizonal, bicommunal federal (BBF) solution despite what they have been declaring. At the same time, this means that the GC side must not rule out anything including the possibility of a timeframe for the completion of the talks.
Lute will also hold telephone contacts with the guarantors.
The UN are launching this initiative based on the logic that nothing must be ruled out beforehand and that the two sides will go to the summit determined to find common ground, the paper reports.
It adds that sources from New York gave the impression that the UN is not willing to hold discussions for the sake of discussions, nor follow the 2017 logic with constant meetings, but wants to see political will from the sides.
Politis also reports that among the confidence-building measures (CBMs) President Nicos Anastasiades suggested in his letter to UNSG Antonio Guterres is the supervision and management of the fenced area of Varosha by the UN so that it can open. He suggests a similar move for Tymbou airport to pass under UN control. If this happens, then the GC side will agree to direct international flights to Tymbou. At the same time, Anastasiades calls for the cessation of Turkish actions in the Cypriot exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and for Ankara to agree to delimit its EEZ with the Republic of Cyprus (RoC). He also suggests a joint fund to safeguard the TCs’ rights. According to the reports, Anastasiades additionally calls for an end to Turkish actions on the opening of Varosha and a continuation of the talks from where they left off in Crans-Montana.
The paper also reports that Guterres’ reports on UNFICYP and his Good Offices in Cyprus are expected to be delivered to UN Security Council members within the day, ahead of the vote on the renewal of the peacekeeping mission’s mandate on January 28.
Citing sources, the daily reported that the UNFICYP report will record violations in the buffer zone by both sides, stressing that they have increased during the reporting period. The difficulties faced by the peacekeeping mission in safeguarding the buffer zone and fulfilling its mandate will be recorded both due to the pandemic and the attitude of the TC side in some cases. There will also be references to the moves in Varosha and the fact that the occupying authorities proceed without any approval in the reconstruction of buildings and roads, Politis reports.
Phileleftheros reports that both Anastasiades and Tatar are warming up ahead of new movement on the Cyprus problem with letters to Guterres. On the one hand, they want to submit their positions and on the other hand to submit suggestions, in a bid to convince about their good intentions.
Haravgi reports that Lute is expected to meet both leaders on Monday. And while serious preparations are underway for the restart of the talks, Anastasiades has yet to convene a National Council to brief party leaders.
Alithia reports that the Cypriot government has already intensified its actions for the involvement of the EU in the efforts for the solution of the Cyprus problem. Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides has already briefed Portugal, which assumed the EU presidency, on the RoC’s positions while the Portuguese Foreign Minister, Augusto Santos Silva, had contacts later on with his Greek and Turkish counterparts. Silva discussed with Greek FM Nikos Dendias, among other things, the Cyprus problem and expected developments, the daily reported.
The paper also reports that Christodoulides discussed with Silva the EU’s involvement in the Cyprus problem talks, a position already expressed by the EU leaders in the conclusions of the December European Council (EUCO) that referred to the appointment of an EU envoy to the UN Good Offices mission for this purpose.
Nicosia believes that the EU’s involvement in the negotiations is very important, the paper reports.
According to the paper, while in Lisbon last Tuesday, President of the European Council Charles Michel reiterated the European position on the need for Turkey to prove its respect to the EU.
He referred to the EUCO’s decision to discuss the issue of Turkey in March. “We encourage direct talks between Greece and Turkey and also discussions on the Cyprus issue within the UN framework. And we were absolutely clear, we want to see respect for the EU and the member states,” Michel said, according to the paper.
Phileleftheros and Haravgi also report that Christodoulides expressed Cyprus’ sincere appreciation for Portugal’s solidarity and support in its efforts for reunification. “It is our common belief that the EU provides the best guarantee for a reunited Cyprus. In this regard, the active involvement of the EU in the negotiation process is of the utmost importance,” Christodoulides said.
In another article, Haravgi reports that the EU Commission Vice President, Josep Borrell, stressed, in response to a letter by AKEL MEP Niyazi Kizilyurek, the EU’s readiness for an active role in the case of the restart of the talks under UN auspices for a comprehensive settlement of the problem based on UNSC resolutions and EU principles.
Alithia, Haravgi and Phileleftheros also report that main opposition AKEL said Anastasiades did not brief political parties before sending his letter to Guterres nor did he respond to AKEL’s proposals on what the GC side ought to do from now on.
On information that Anastasiades suggested a series of CBMs, AKEL spokesman Stefanos Stefanou recalled that this type of recipe, with the implementation of grand gesture CBMs without simultaneous discussion on the essence of the Cyprus problem, had been attempted in the past in the 1993-94 period and had led to an impasse.
AKEL’s position is that any measures must assist the solution process and not replace it, he said. He added that just suggesting CBMs undermines UN efforts for the restart of substantive talks with the goal of reaching a strategic mutual understanding on the Guterres Framework which would make inevitable the comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem.
The dailies report that Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay is expected to visit the north for a workshop on business and politics.
KEY ACTORS
Michel (EUCO)
>> EU encourages discussions on the Cyprob within the UN framework.
>> EU expects respect from Turkey to the bloc and its member states.
Christodoulides (RoC)
>> EU provides the best guarantee for a reunited Cyprus so its active involvement in the negotiation process is of the utmost importance.
Borrell (EU Commission)
>> EU is ready to assume an active role if talks restart under the UN for a comprehensive solution based on UNSC resolutions & EU principles.
Stefanou (AKEL)
>> Submitting CBMs without substantive talks could lead to an impasse like in the 1993-94 period while it undermines UN efforts for the restart of talks to reach mutual understanding on the Guterres Framework.
>> Any measures must assist the solution process, not replace it.
Arikli still wanted by RoC for Isaac’s murder
Phileleftheros
Internal Security
The daily reports that the justice ministry said the current ‘deputy prime minister’ in the north, Erhan Arikli, continues to be on the list of the Republic’s wanted persons for the murder of Tasos Isaac in Dherynia on August 11, 1996.
The paper criticises the justice ministry for taking three months to respond to a relevant question by the Greens’ MP, Giorgos Perdikis, who submitted the question on Arikli last September when the latter was a candidate for the leadership of the TC community.
Arikli was identified by the authorities as one of Isaac’s murderers, along with four other people. He was among the group of thugs who beat Isaac, 24, to death during an anti-occupation rally near the Dherynia crossing point in 1996, the daily reported.
Three days later, Kenan Akin, the then ‘agriculture and forestry minister’ of the north and Turkish secret agent shot and killed 26-year-old Solomos Solomou who had climbed the mast of the occupation flag during a wreath-laying ceremony in the place where Isaac was killed, said the paper.
Ten people in total were identified as responsible for the two murders, for whom international arrest warrants were issued, the daily reported. As regards Arikli’s appointment as ‘economy and energy minister’ and ‘deputy PM’ there was a lukewarm reaction by GC politicians, noted the paper, with the exception of Perdikis and DIKO MP Pavlos Mylonas.
In a letter sent last September, Perdikis called on the justice minister to brief parliament as to why her ministry had not succeeded so far to have Arikli arrested and extradited, especially when he was arrested in Kyrgyzstan in 2012.
Arikli was arrested in Kyrgyzstan on September 17, 2012, based on the international arrest warrant issued by the Republic of Cyprus. Nicosia sent extradition documents to Kyrgyzstan but by the end of October 2012 the Kyrgyz authorities had informed the RoC that his arrest had been deemed illegal by the court so his extradition process was terminated and he was released.
Perdikis requested from the justice ministry to brief parliament on what it planned to do given that Arikli was now a public figure, allowing an opportunity to bring the issue back to light.
In a confidential letter sent to parliament on December 14, 2020, the ministry’s permanent secretary briefed the deputies on the murderer Arikli but did not provide extensive answers to Perdikis’ questions, such as why the ministry was not successful in achieving his arrest and extradition and what it was planning to do, the daily reports.
The justice ministry did clarify, however, that “Arikli continues to be a wanted person internationally”.
The paper also recalls that Kenan Akin recently posed proudly for a photograph with newly-elected Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the fiesta organised on November 15, 2020, in Varosha.
The paper notes that 24 years have passed since the last murders by Turkey on Cypriot soil and the families of the two men are calling on the leadership to mobilise. Four presidents, 10 justice ministers and four attorney-generals later, no one was able to rise to the occasion and turn the world upside down for these two heroes, the paper said. It further noted that there is not a single plaque at the Dherynia checkpoint to remind that Tasos Isaac and Solomos Solomou fell there in the fight against occupation.
Phileleftheros also gives the names of the 10 people sought by the RoC through Interpol in connection with the two murders, most of them Turkish settlers. Those wanted in connection with the murder of Isaac, as announced on November 22, 1996, are: Hasim Yilmaz, former Turkish secret service (MIT) member as well as owner in 1996 of a coffeeshop in Kyrenia; Neyfel Mustafa Ergun, then member of the illegal TC police; Polat Fikret Koreli, a TC from Famagusta who was 17 at the time; Mehmet Mustafa Arslan, then head of the Grey Wolves in the north; and Erhan Arikli, originally from the former Soviet Union, arrived to the north in 1986, now a ‘deputy PM’.
The five wanted in connection with the murder of Solomou, as announced on 30 October 1996, are: Kenan Akin, then ‘agriculture and forestry minister’ and former MIT agent; Erdal Hadjiali Emanet, then commander of the so-called ‘special forces’ of the occupied areas; Hasan Kundakci, former commander of the occupation army; Attila Sav, then ‘chief’ of the so-called police in the north; and Mehmet Karli, then general of the occupation army.