Front Page Headlines
Government mess… would have blown up the deal
Lenders bill withdrawal blunder after budget was approved. Even DISY MPs incensed. Justice Minister’s stance unacceptable to say the least, president of parliament’s legislative committee, G. Georgiou, says. Emily Yiolitis rushed to parliament and took responsibility, attributing withdrawal of legislation to miscommunication. Lifeline from Finance Minister. Opposition pointed out there was an issue with government’s credibility, speaking of a mockery after EDEK’s vote in favour of budget.
- Lockdown – Relaxations: Concerns over schools
- Investigative (Committee): KEP (Cyprus Investment Programme) abuses came from providers
- Nicolas (Papadopoulos): He remained alone and picked fights with everyone
- 17 year old T/C: Ozer a candidate for Young European Citizen
New round of being dragged through the mud
Testimonies by ministers at investigation committee disclose inexcusable and guilty shoddiness and corruption. Hasikos was pleading with the EU to put up with the naturalisation programme until the memorandum was over and the Cyprus Problem was solved.
- Red lines for relaxing of measures: 61 people died over 20 days in January
- Turkey pushes the five-party meeting close to European Union summit: Behind the scenes on resolution and meeting dates
- Property of investor worth 6 million euro frozen – His whole family was naturalised but he is wanted in China for gold bars scam.
Yes, the son-in-law… applied for multiple naturalisations
“Archbishop also had his own interest.” They responded to the (EU) Commission’s pressure by putting forward the Cyprus Problem. They took invitations for luxury hotels.
- Ankara got invite for five-party meeting
- Coffee… is being made at DIKO to welcome Averof Neofytou
- Great interest for Outlying Areas Housing Plan for Deryneia
‘No easing of measures’
February will only be a ‘transition’ to relaxations, team meeting on Monday with the president.
- Service providers were ‘main problem’ with passport scheme
- Analysis: Athens and Ankara try again on Aegean
Budget with FIVE strategic pillars
Televised statement by Nicos Anastasiades. The President of the Republic thanks the parties that voted in favour of the budget and accuses DIKO of voting down the budget to increase its role as opposition, leading the country into chaos. We need to overcome toxic conflictual climate.
- Germany-Spain react over new sanctions against Turkey: Cavusoglu: “There is progress regarding the five-party meeting” – “The EU will attend as an observer.”
- Averof-Nicolas: The next day after the budget and the coffee saga
- Socrates Hasikos: “I was never recipient of any interference“
Main News
Cavusoglu: EU expected to take part in 5+1 meeting as observer
Alithia, Haravgi, Politis
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
The dailies report on statements made by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu after a series of contacts in Brussels. Cavusoglu said that the UN are working for the informal 5+1 conference on the Cyprus Problem (two communities, three guarantors plus the UN) to take place at the end of February or the beginning of March.
Cavusoglu pointed out that the preparation of the conference is progressing and that Turkey has been invited by the UN Secretary-General. Regarding the possible participation of the EU in the conference, Cavusoglu said that Brussels has expressed the desire to participate as an observer. Cavusoglu pointed out that the EU had participated as an observer in the past, but added that after Crans Montana it has been ignoring the Turkish Cypriots, and that for that reason it needs to regain their trust.
Cavusoglu added that it was useful that the EU was in the same room as everyone else during the Crans Montana conference, because its representatives were able to see who wanted a solution and who didn’t.
Meanwhile, Haravgi reports that during Monday’s Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), the EU’s Foreign Ministers are expected to reiterate that sanctions on Turkey are still on the table, but that first there needs to be clear indications whether Ankara will sustain the de-escalation of the past few weeks.
The FAC is not expected to officially decide on adding new names on the list of sanctioned persons, despite proposals supported by Cyprus, Greece and France. Politis reports that the decision has been taken, but that the process has not been completed on the technical level because there is a lack of unanimity on this by the member states.
Alithia reports that Germany and Spain have particularly expressed their disagreement over the addition of new names on the sanction lists, arguing that this would torpedo the Cyprus peace process.
Haravgi also reports that on Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg and discussed the efforts to create a mechanism within the alliance to avoid accidental conflicts in the Eastern Mediterranean. Cavusoglu also met with European Council President Charles Michel.
According to officials that spoke to CNA, Michel told Cavusoglu that Turkey should sustain its moves towards de-escalation and that this should be reflected by specific actions on the ground. He also told the Turkish Foreign Minister that the country should avoid any acts that might lead to further escalation, and that the EU is looking forward to seeing progress in the Greece-Turkey exploratory talks as well as in the Cyprus settlement process.
According to the same sources, Michel told Cavusoglu that a possible positive agenda in EU-Turkish relations could include migration, the customs union and sectoral dialogue at a high level.
KEY ACTORS
Cavusoglu (Turkey)
>> The EU could participate as an observer as it has done in the past but it should stop ignoring the Turkish Cypriots as it has done after Crans Montana.
>> It was useful that the EU was in the room in Crans Montana because its representatives could see for themselves who wanted a solution and who didn’t.
T/C teenager runs to represent Cyprus in European Youth Parliament
Politis
EU Matters
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriot 17-year-old activist Ozer Sahoglu is running to represent Cyprus in the European Youth Parliament, a non-profit organisation which promotes political engagement of the youth, Politis reports.
In an interview with Politis, Sahoglu also talked about his research on gender discrimination in schools in the north, which also led to him being proposed for the Charlemagne Award which is given by the European Parliament to young activists in Europe.
Sahoglu’s research looked into how sexist rules are still followed in Turkish Cypriot schools despite the fact that they contravene legislation on child welfare, and brought proposals to local authorities.
Hasikos had asked EU to give Cyprus time over passports until solution
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Politis, Phileleftheros
Migration & Citizenship
OVERVIEW
The dailies extensively cover the testimony of former Interior Minister Socrates Hasikos to the Investigative Committee on the golden passports scandal, focusing especially on his statement that he was pleading with the European Commission to show patience until the Cyprus Problem was solved.
Hasikos testified to the committee in a closed meeting, but minutes of the meeting were made public on Friday.
Hasikos said that when the European Commission expressed concerns over Cyprus’ investment programme as early as 2015, he had explained that the country needs the programme due to the fact that it was under a memorandum, and promised to push through changes after the Cypriot economy was no longer under the troika’s monitoring.
Hasikos said in his testimony that he had told EU officials that the country was properly vetting investors and that “as soon as the memorandum is over we are ready to sit and discuss with you, see where you want adjustments”.
When the memorandum ended, Hasikos had told the Commission that it should wait before taking further steps as the country was really close to solving the Cyprus Problem. The former minister said in his testimony that he had asked the European Commission to be patient since “we are very close to solving it, but also don’t think that we are trying to fool you”.