GCC Press Review 7 May 2021

Front Page Headlines

Politis

Coronapass… and the (vaccination) portal closed

They run out of excuses about the malfunctioning of the vaccination appointment system. The electronic vaccination appointment system never opened (yesterday) and the government does not know why with the Minister of Health Constantinos Ioannou blaming Deputy Minister of Innovation Kyriakos Kokkinos.

  • Cyprus problem: Tactical and propaganda moves with IDs and passports
  • Parliamentary elections: Additional problems due to the pandemic

Phileleftheros

The CoronaPass brought a storm

Outrage against the government, lawyers say the measure is unconstitutional. Strong reactions by the owners of the food and beverage businesses and gyms. Reaction, albeit a careful one, also by (ruling DISY leaders) Averof Neophytou.

  • Cypriot-Turkish euro battles ahead of the June European Council – Diplomatic battle.
  • TC (leadership) make use of the RoC IDs when it suits them
  • Tourists only need to use the CyprusFlightPass (Cabinet decided that foreign visitors need only use the CyprusFlightPass to get around & not the CoronaPass or new tests)

Haravgi

The government is using a Coronapass of incompetence

People are paying for the price of the unforgivable incompetence of those in charge. The situation with the vaccination portal has become tragicomic. Endless technical problems. It opens again today.

  • Cyprus problem: Merkel-Erdogan discussed the informal five-party summit in Geneva
  • Reactions & the elections brought a postponement of the installation of the razor wire in Akaki
  • ‘Golden’ passports: They are screaming entanglement from Ayia Napa to Seychelles

Cyprus Mail

Covid pass to be ‘only temporary’

Minister brushes off legal concerns as a matter for the courts, pass will be required in many instances.

  • Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides being greeted by his Lithuanian counterpart Gabrielius Landsbergis in Vilnius on Thursday (photo caption)

Alithia

Where and how coronapass will come into our lives

Vaccination passport from Monday. People over 12 will need to hold it and must be shown in many of our activities, to be able to go to weddings, christenings, funerals, restaurants, malls, cinema, hotels, visit nursing homes, etc.

  • Cyprus problem: The five-party summit is headed for July
  • Talat to Tatar: When Anastasiades calls you his compatriot you should not be offended

Main News

Nicosia, Ankara launch campaigns ahead of June’s EUCO

Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
EU Matters, Negotiations Process

OVERVIEW

President Nicos Anastasiades and Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides are on a mission to brief Cyprus’ EU partners about the results of the Geneva five-party summit ahead of June’s European Council (EUCO), the papers report.

Turkey too started contacts ahead of the EUCO which will discuss EU relations with Ankara.

Alithia reports that Anastasiades will have today and tomorrow important contacts with state leaders and EU officials in Portugal in the margins of the Porto Social Summit hosted by the EU Portuguese Presidency. He will brief them on the results of the five-party summit held last week in Geneva while he is waiting for a telephone call from UNSG special envoy Jane Holl Lute for coordination concerning the new five-party summit which, according to the daily, citing sources, if there is agreement between the parties, it is expected to be held probably in July.

Lute is expected to return to Cyprus in June, after the parliamentary elections but, before that, she must coordinate with all parties based on the new mandate given to her by UNSG Antonio Guterres.

Alithia reports that the parties will be invited to a new summit for the middle, or end of June. The gap between the sides, however remains and no one knows if the UNSG’s effort to ‘square the circle’ will bear fruit, the daily said.

According to Politis, Anastasiades will brief his EU counterparts also on the Turkish side’s positions at tonight’s working dinner. The government’s aim is to ensure that its EU partners have a clear picture of Turkey’s and the TCs’ stance and to call for continued EU support for a solution within the bizonal bicommunal federation (BBF) framework as per the Security Council’s resolutions. The government does not wish a more relaxed attitude by the EU on the requirements for the bloc’s future relations with Ankara, to be discussed at the June EUCO. Since the June EUCO will be after the next five-party summit on the Cyprus problem, Nicosia aims for pressure to Ankara by the bloc to agree to discuss a BBF solution, which for now, does not seem possible, Politis reports.

The dailies report that Christodoulides, after a meeting with his Lithuanian counterpart Gabrielius Landsbergis in Vilnius on Thursday expressed his conviction that the country’s European partners would deliver “a clear and unambiguous message” to Turkey at the upcoming European Council  (EUCO) summit in June during which the prospect of a positive agenda in the EUs relations with Turkey will be discussed.

Christodoulides said his visit to Vilnius comes a week after the informal meeting on Cyprus held in Geneva under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General and that he briefed his counterpart on the discussions and the outcome of the meeting. “We are deeply disappointed that we did not have the desired outcome,” he said, adding that the positions put forward by the Turkish side run contrary to all relevant UN Security Council resolutions and to the common EU position as clearly set out on a number of occasions in relevant decisions and conclusions. He said the Turkish side’s positions were outside the agreed framework as they aim openly at partition and not reunification of Cyprus.

Referring to the bilateral relations between the two countries the minister said they had the opportunity to extensively review the state of play across bilateral relations and he was pleased to note that there was a joint conviction on the importance of injecting new momentum into cooperation. They agreed to take concrete steps in creating additional opportunities benefiting the people of the two countries in the areas of trade, economy, education and tourism.

The dailies also report that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the Geneva summit on Wednesday among other things during a teleconference. Merkel reiterated the importance of extensive and more constructive relations between the European Union and Turkey, the dailies report.

Politis and Phileleftheros also report that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was in Berlin where he had contacts with his German counterpart Heiko Maas. Cavusoglu chastised the fact that Turkey-EU relations are being held hostage by the irrational and maximalist demands of the Greeks and Greek Cypriots. This, he said, “jeopardises our enormous potential for cooperation.” Maas said the German government wants to encourage Turkey and, of course its partners in the EU, including  Greece and Cyprus, to find solutions and this can only be done through dialogue.

Phileleftheros reports that Nicosia and Ankara have left the Geneva chapter behind them and are now putting their weight on June’s EUCO. The daily reports that the euro-battles between Nicosia and Ankara have begun with both of them launching efforts to win points ahead of the EUCO. Christodoulides has started a campaign to brief his EU counterparts while Cavusoglu has rushed to friends for support, the daily said.

Politis and Phileleftheros also cite a statement by the Foreign Office that UK’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and EU High Representative and Vice President of the Commission, Josep Borrell, during a meeting in the margins of the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers Meeting held in London. As regards the Cyprus problem, they stressed the need to build the momentum for a next meeting of the two sides and underlined their full support to the UN efforts in the process.

KEY ACTORS
Christodoulides

>> Calls on EU make it clear to Turkey at the June EUCO that its positions on Cyprob are contrary to all UNSC resolutions & EU position & needs to change stand.
>> Geneva talks failed due to Turkish side’s positions that are outside the agreed framework & openly aim at partition and not reunification of Cyprus.

Cavusoglu (Turkey)
>>
Turkey-EU relations are held hostage by the irrational and maximalist demands of the Greeks & GCs which jeopardises enormous potential for cooperation.

Maas (Germany)
>>
Calls on Turkey, Greece & Cyprus to find solutions to their unresolved issues through dialogue.

Raab, Borrell (UK, EU)
>>
Stress their full support to UN efforts in Cyprob process & call for need to build the momentum for a next meeting of GC & TC sides.


RoC passports issue continues to raise controversy

Alithia, Phileleftheros, Politis
Migration & Citizenship

OVERVIEW

Politis reports that a conflict has started between the GC and TC sides with the government pulling the IDs and passports held by TCs as a card to thwart attempts to weaken and deconstruct the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) in the form of propaganda by TC leader Ersin Tatar and his associates.

One example is ‘foreign minister’, Tahsin Ertugruloglu who reacted to reports that he too was a holder of an RoC ID and that his children have benefitted from this as they studied abroad with reduced tuition. He made clear that the ID he had was from when he was a child and that he did not try to ask to get any document from the RoC and pointed out he was a citizen of the ‘TRNC’.

Phileleftheros, citing TC media reports, reported that the TC leadership publicly declares they do not hold IDs or passports of the Republic of Cyprus but in reality, their family members and especially their children use the RoC IDs for trips and to study in Europe.

The daily said that though they are sworn enemies of the RoC, everyone has in their wallets an ID in order for them but also their family members to take advantage of the benefits offered to them as Cypriot citizens.

Citing TC website Bugun Kibris, Phileleftheros reports that Ertugruloglu is one of those, who in their effort to refute the facts, were left more exposed. Bugun Kibris, in response to Ertugruloglu’s statements that he does not currently have an RoC ID asked whether an ID with the number 4655… was not his, and If that was not the case then how come his children also had an RoC ID and passport and studied abroad just like many other children of TCs who benefited from the RoC passports and studied abroad with lower tuition up to 75 per cent, the daily reported.

Phileleftheros also reports that TC leader Ersin Tatar gave more excuses through a statement that many TCs were forced to use those IDs for various reasons but that it did not mean they were citizens of the RoC and that it was natural for him to have one as all TCs born prior to 1974 but that he was not using it.

In another article, Phileleftheros also reports that EDEK said that it had submitted in the past proposals for the revocation by the government of passports of officials of the occupation regime but was not heard. The party called for a probe “into this scandal” citing the possibility that some TC officials may have been given the RoC passports in an irregular way.
Far-right ELAM called for the revocation of the passports of those who undermine the RoC.

Alithia reports that former TC leader Mehmet Ali Talat criticised Tatar for his strong reaction against President Nicos Anastasiades’ address to TCs as his compatriots. Talat referred to a ‘president of the TRNC’ who is fighting for a separate state while he has in his pocket the passport of the RoC. Talat argued that though it was Tatar’s right to get it, by doing so, he accepted the RoC citizenship and thus should not get offended when Anastasiades calls him a compatriot. He added that when he was a university student, he too had the RoC ID and passport but did not renew them later. Despite that, he said, he is still a citizen of the RoC and that is no insult.

Talat also said that the reason Turkey changed its stand on the Cyprus problem was because it was deceived by Anastasiades at the Crans-Montana talks in 2017. He added that Anastasiades spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for a two-state solution to deceive the Turkish side and succeeded, he added. “Turkey believed this lie and changed its policy,” Talat said, according to Alithia.


DIKO proposes new strategy on Cyprob

Alithia, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
Negotiations Process

OVERVIEW

The dailies report that DIKO leader Nicolas Papadopoulos said on Thursday during an online press conference on the Cyprus problem that the Geneva summit was a calamity for the GC side because it showcased the failure of the policy the government has been following.

Papadopoulos, who said President Nicos Anastasiades will go down in history as the “president of the island’s partition”, suggested a new strategy.

The DIKO leader also said this five-party summit will go down in history as the meeting during which the proposal for two states was tabled and launched the debate about Cyprus’ partition. He blamed Anastasiades and those who have been supporting his policy for the last 13 years such as ruling DISY and main opposition AKEL.

Papadopoulos presented his party’s proposed six-point ‘New Strategy’ on the Cyprus problem.

1. Insistence on clarifying the basis of negotiations.

2. Avoid ‘squaring the circle’ by changing the solution basis to a confederation

3. Make efforts so that Turkey’s demand for a discussion on sovereignty in the next report of the UN Secretary-General to the Security Council is not accepted.

4. Take initiatives with the permanent members of the Security Council to overturn the Geneva results.

5. Intensify efforts to incur costs on Turkey, forcing it to compromise.

6. Continuation of the government’s energy programme to form alliances in the European Union and in the eastern Mediterranean that will upgrade Cyprus geostrategically.

Answering to a question, Papadopoulos said the president invited the National Council in Geneva just for PR purposes and not for substantive discussion.


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