Front Page Headlines
Last chance for vaccination of the vulnerable
They’re either going to book their appointment today with AstraZeneca or they’ll wait for their turn to come around with age criteria.
- Occupied areas: Tension over two states or annexation
- Registration of halloumi: They’re lowering tones and joining forces
- IMF for Cyprus: Gradual rollback of support measures
- Police: Is it investigating Syllouris’ movements in Dubai?
- Only five disagreed: Supreme Court judges driving reform into a crash
€20 million for Phaneromeni
Generous incentives from C. Petrides for student housing – Plans from Archbishop and Mayor. List from Archbishop of 24 buildings that could be turned into housing.
- Turkey planning divorce formula rather than solution
- Registration of halloumi opens up large prospects for the economy: The battle began in 2003 and bore fruit now
- Turkish economy shaken, lira collapsing
- Continuation of confrontation for reference by ‘Os Dame’
- Last-ditch effort for courts reform
- New relaxations to be announced today
- Two health professionals positive for the virus: They got infected two months after their vaccination
- Third vaccine dose might be needed in Autumn
- €40m income for the Cyprus economy: Royal Caribbean to use Limassol as a base for luxury cruises
Road map for how the school year will wrap up
Letter by Andros Kyprianou to President regarding situation at schools.
- “The ‘regime of the south’ fits like a glove with Harris’ ‘new realism'”
- Missing persons: Big delays in the CMP’s excavation work
- Scottish shower… for tourism!
- Coronavirus: Two dead and 439 new cases, with Larnaca taking the reins
Halloumi PDO ‘historic move’
Positive day for economy, farming and ‘shows Turkish Cypriots benefit of working as EU state’
- Four patients and two medical staff at Nicosia cardio ward test positive
- Government plan to revitalise old Nicosia
Halloumi/Hellim=PDO
After battles of many years Cyprus gets what it deserves. New economy horizons opening for the whole island. Anastasiades: Historic day for Cyprus’ economy.
- Parliament briefed: Identification of 35-40 more missing persons over the coming period
- Covering for ‘Os Dame’: AKEL insists on not differentiating its position
- Hoteliers on hot coal
- Yioliti to Irene: Police will provide answers regarding ‘the President’s advisor’ D. Syllouris
- Coronavirus: Increase in cases and positivity rate and two dead
Main News
Borrell: Pending issues between member states and Turkey affect EU
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
EU Matters, Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
The EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell in a blog post dealing with EU-Turkey relations said matters that have been pending with Turkey for decades can no longer be considered bilateral issues between Turkey and certain member states, since they deeply affect the security interests of the EU, Alithia and Haravgi report.
Borrell referred to an improving climate in the Eastern Mediterranean but expressed concern over domestic developments in Turkey, pointing to the crackdown on the democratic opposition party HDP and the announced withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, the dailies report. Borrel noted that he had a long conversation with the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu after the Foreign Affairs Council where we discussed these issues and the Cyprus question, following his recent visit to Cyprus.
Borrell added that the EU must “continue engaging actively with Turkey to ensure we get and sustain a more constructive attitude.” He also wrote that at the European Council, EU leaders welcomed the report he presented together with the Commission as the right basis for their conclusions and they agreed that given Turkey’s more constructive attitude recently, the EU should aim for engagement in areas of common interests, from the functioning of the customs union to migration plus other areas of mutual interests. Borrell said this will be done in a phased, proportionate, but also reversible approach, should Turkey return to a path of confrontation. On this clear basis, he said, he will now work actively on all relevant tracks, including the work on the Eastern Mediterranean Conference and the wider regional aspects.
The papers also report on the visit expected to be paid on April 6 by the Presidents of the European Commission and European Council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel respectively, with the contacts to focus on the entire breadth of EU-Turkey relations, including the Cyprus problem. In statements on Tuesday, President Nicos Anastasiades said Nicosia hopes that the visit will shed light on the role the EU will play at the Geneva meeting.
Phileleftheros reports that at least three of the five parties to participate in the informal meeting in Geneva are seeking to see formal negotiations follow, but, citing a report by the Turkish daily Milliyet, the paper notes that the plans of Turkey and the TC side are to lead the meeting to an impasse in view of ultimately ‘divorcing’ the two sides and moving forward with efforts to secure recognition for the new TC state. Phileleftheros adds that the report featured comments by undisclosed experts, who the paper writes are most likely Turkish or TC officials, who supported the necessity of two states and the termination of the UN good offices mission in Cyprus, claiming that the period in which a compromise could lead to a solution has now ended. The experts also stressed the need for an official proclamation of independence of the ‘TRNC’ as well as the need for Turkey to utilise all its relations in view of securing recognition for the new state.
Politis reports that the model being pursued by Ankara is the one proposed by the formed Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit in 1997, according to which the north would be an autonomous state domestically and answer to Turkey on matters of foreign and defence policy.
Meanwhile, Politis reports that the north is engaging in an intense discussion over the possibility of a future annexation with Turkey or the recognition of two states on the island. The paper writes that the goal is clearly to keep discussions as far away as possible from a federal solution
Phileleftheros reports that at the Geneva meeting, the British are expecting both sides to show their cards. Specifically, they are expecting the TC side to present a detailed analysis of sovereign equality and Anastasiades to fully explain what he means by a decentralised federation.
Phileleftheros reports in a meeting between the British High Commissioner to Cyprus Stephen Lillie and DIKO leader Nicholas Papadopoulos. The paper reports that the meeting touched on Cyprob developments ahead of the informal meeting, as well as consequences stemming from measures to curb the pandemic on areas such as tourism. An announcement by the party after the meeting said Papadopoulos stressed to Lillie that the UN Secretary General (UNSG) should not allow any party to table proposals that alter the basis for negotiations, as defined by UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, noting that this is particularly crucial in view of the Turkish side’s attempt to push for partition and a two-state solution.
Phileleftheros reports that DISY leader Averof Neophytou also continued his rounds of contacts with foreign diplomats on Tuesday, when he met with the Australian High Commissioner Samuel Beever to discuss Cyprob developments. The party’s deputy press officer said that the meeting showed that “Australia too supports efforts being exerted involving our national issue and aiming for the liberation and reunification of our country.”
The dailies also report that GC and TC parties discussed Cyprob developments in a teleconference on Tuesday with UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas Miroslav Jenca, who is paying a three-day visit to Cyprus.
KEY ACTORS
Borrell (EU)
>> Matters that have been pending with Turkey for decades can no longer be considered bilateral issues between Turkey and certain member states, since they deeply affect the security interests of the EU
>> East Med climate improving but domestic developments in Turkey (HDP, Istanbul Convention) concerning
>> EU must continue engaging actively with Turkey to ensure and sustain a more constructive attitude
>> At EUCO summit EU leaders agreed that given Turkey’s more constructive attitude recently, the EU should aim for engagement in areas of common interests, which will be done in a phased, proportionate and reversible approach
DIKO
>> In meeting with British High Commissioner, DIKO leader stresses need for UNSG to block any party from tabling proposals that alter the UN-prescribed basis for negotiations, especially Turkish + TC ideas for a two-state solution and partition
Republic reports Turkey to UN over airspace violations
Haravgi, Phileleftheros
External Security
OVERVIEW
Cyprus has reported Turkey to the United Nations for violating its airspace and infringing its Flight Information Region (FIR), the dailies report.
Cyprus Permanent Representative to the United Nations Andreas Hadjichrysanthou sent two documents to the UN Secretary General (UNSG) recording airspace violations and infringements of international air traffic regulations by Turkey in January, with the letter dated March 17 being released as an official document of the UN Security Council (UNSC) General Assembly.
Hadjichrysanthou said Turkey continues to systematically harass civilian and military aircraft within the Nicosia flight information region with radio calls, while the north purports to issue notices to airmen relating to exercises conducted by the Turkish Air Force.
He added that Turkey’s actions aim to undermine the sovereignty of Cyprus, consolidate the ongoing de facto division of the island, and attempt to upgrade the status of the north. He stressed that “there is only one Cypriot state, which is the Republic of Cyprus,” making the Republic of Cyprus the sole internationally recognized state responsible for the provision of air traffic services within the Nicosia flight information region in its entirety.
Hadjichrysanthou said the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recognises only the Republic of Cyprus and its government as the sole representative of the whole island. The diplomat added that the airport in the north is illegal, rendering its activity null, void and operationally not taken into account by international air navigation and the civil aviation community.
Anastasiades: Halloumi PDO proves to TCs advantages of single state
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
EU Matters, CBMs
OVERVIEW
President Nicos Anastasiades hailed the registration of halloumi cheese as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) product as historic, which he said also sent a strong message to TCs on the advantages of operating as a state inside the European Union, the dailies report.
Anastasiades said the development marked a historic turning point for the econonmy, farming, cheesemaking, and and in general the efforts that the Republic of Cyprus made for years to register one of the most important GDP contributors. Anastasiades said he hoped the PDO would multiply the financial benefits from halloumi exports, which reached €225m in 2019.
“These benefit a primary sector that will not only benefit Greek Cypriots but also our Turkish Cypriot compatriots,” he said. “And it is a strong message regarding the advantages we could have when we operate as a state.”
Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis said cheese from the north would be traded under strict conditions, rejecting suggestions animals and milk would be imported from Turkey without checks. Turkish Cypriot halloumi producers will start trading their cheese in one year, after ensuring the area is clear of animal illnesses, he said. Kadis said the decision also conveyed the message to TCs that through a reunified country they would reap more benefits.
The adoption and publication of halloumi/hellim as a PDO product are expected mid-April, European Commission spokesperson Miriam Garcia Ferre told the Cyprus News Agency. She said that following the positive votes of member states, the adoption procedure of the legal text can be launched, which she said is expected to wrap up by mid-April.
CMP to identify 35-40 more missing persons in near future
Alithia, Haravgi, Phileleftheros
Human Rights
The Committee for Missing Persons (CMP) is expecting to complete the identification process for 35-40 more missing persons in the coming period, the parliamentary committee on refugees heard on Tuesday during a visit at the CMP’s anthropological laboratory, the dailies report.
In a written statement, the committee’s chairwoman Skevi Koukouma said MPs were also informed about the problems and delays in the process of finding and identifying remains, including the negative impact the pandemic has had on it. Koukouma said the pandemic and restrictive measures have contributed to a loss of about five months of productive time, with work having resumed in the beginning of March.
Koukouma said data showed that in 2020, 25 remains were identified and remains belonging to 10 people have been located through various excavations. The percentage of excavations during which remains were located is 11%, she added.
Koukouma said that MPs stressed that the number of crews working excavation sites should be increased, as well as the number of experienced and trained researchers.
She also spoke of the need to take all necessary steps in order for excavations to take place in areas which categorised as military by the Turkish military, adding that so far excavations took place in only eight out of the 30 locations on which an agreement has been reached that excavations will take place.
Phileleftheros reports that delays mainly have to do with a lack of new information and excavations at military zones. Alithia reports that the Irish Ambassador to Cyprus Deirdre Ni Fhalluin expressed her country’s support to Cyprus’ efforts to resolve the issue of the missing persons. Citing an official press release, the paper reports that Fhalluin met with Presidential Commissioner Fotis Fotiou in the context of the latter’s meetings with Ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions to Cyprus on issues concerning his competencies and especially the issue the missing persons.