GCC Press Review 8 May 2021

Front Page Headlines

Politis

We’ll go through a Large Portal if it opens and if we’re on time

The opening and closing of the vaccine portal making beneficiaries jump through hoops.

  • A. Pittadjis to investigative committee: This is Cyprus, but… I meant it
  • Amazon: In Cyprus through a subsidiary
  • Indices improving: The lockdown paid off, hopes for coronapass too

Phileleftheros

Vaccination cards a shambles

Stickers aren’t being stuck on all discreetly – Problems in view of the Coronapass. Pfizer vaccines the main problem. Alarm raised at Health ministry.

  • President to send it next week: A last look before the letter leaves for the UNSG
  • Athens chooses the USA, Ankara chooses Germany
  • Pittadji’s testimony on ‘Al Jazeera’: Not a cent from corruption, he told the investigative committee

Haravgi

Pressure and strategies for the modification of basic convergences

The steady insistence on the agreed-upon framework a shield.

  • ‘Golden’ passports: The Interior Ministry’s tolerance gave the message that they could violate criteria
  • In practice they’re messing it up… They’ve turned to a Safepass now
  • Tourism: Hopes ending for tourists from Britain. Cyprus in the ‘orange’ category

Cyprus Mail

‘Three more weeks lost’

Cyprus fails to make it on to UK’s ‘green’ travel list and no guarantee it will make it next time.

  • Lifestyle: Film shot in Nicosia and set in buffer zone takes on masculine society
  • People: TC businessman on restoring a cemetery and huge new statue

Alithia

Fever over Great Monday

Sentonas: Cyprus on a course of de-escalation of strict measures. Lockdown gradually being terminated and we’re returning to conditions of stability. The economy is coming alive again and everyone is preparing for the resumption. ‘Safe pass’ the correct term instead of ‘corona pass’. Averof: We’re pulling up our sleeves, firing up the engines of the economy.

  • Fuss continuing: Saner too declares his readiness to return his passport
  • Turkey: Erdogan calling on Istanbul Greeks to return to their homes
  • Revelations: Who killed Kutlu Adali?
  • Flirt between Turkey-Egypt begins
  • I was also shocked by the video: Pittadjis before the Investigative Committee on naturalisations

Main News

AKEL to launch Cyprob initiatives

Alithia, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
Negotiations Process

OVERVIEW

AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou announced that his party would be launching initiatives targeting the TC and international communities with the aim of getting the Turkish side to return to the agreed-upon solution framework, the dailies report.

Kyprianou said that responsibility for the lack of success at the informal Geneva summit held in late April undoubtedly falls on Turkey and the TC side due to their insistence on two states, which left no room for a positive outcome. He said that as long as they insist on such “partitionist positions”, every subsequent effort will also be doomed to fail. He added that it is important with the UN and the international community reject a two-state solution, but said this should not lead to complacency, nor is it something to be satisfied about, since a rejection of a two-state solution is still very far from securing a solution that will reunify the island. Kyprianou stressed that the GC side can only shield itself by remaining consistently in support of past convergences and the agreed-upon framework.

Haravgi reports that Kyprianou also said it was very wrong of President Nicos Anastasiades to raise the issue of TCs holding Republic of Cyprus (RoC) passports, since he said TCs are citizens of the RoC with the same rights as all other citizens. Though he said Anastasiades should have clarified that he did not mean that TCs should not hold RoC passports but that he was responding to Tatar, Kyprianou said that the unfolding discussion on the matter d in the north also shows the degree of hypocrisy among certain TC officials. The dailies also report that ‘prime minister’ Ersan Saner continued the RoC passports issue, stating that if Anastasiades believes that the RoC is a GC state, then he will return his passport.

Alithia reports citing information that during Anastasiades’ briefing of state leaders and EU officials in Portugal in the margins of the Porto Social Summit hosted by the EU Portuguese Presidency, Anastasiades discussed the ‘unacceptable’ claims tabled in Geneva by the Turkish side for a two-state solution and the firm stance held by the GC side. The paper adds that Anastasiades also thanked EU officials for their efforts to secure EU representation at the informal summit, noting that efforts fell through due to strong reactions by Turkey. He also stressed the need for the EU collectively and practically support the Republic, particularly at the upcoming EUCO in June.

Phileleftheros reports that Anastasiades’ letter for the UNSG is ready and will be sent once Anastasiades returns to Porto and takes one final look at it. In the letter, the paper reports, Anastasiades puts the positions he expressed at the recent informal Geneva summit in writing and responds to positions tabled by the TC leader Ersin Tatar on historical details relating to the Cyprus problem. Phileleftheros notes that it remains unclear whether Anastasiades will also respond to the Turkish claim for sovereign equality and a two-state solution. The paper writes that the issue of whether the GC should respond to these claims was also a source of frustration in Geneva, since a response might be interpreted to mean that the GC side is ready to discuss them, which Anastasiades has repeatedly stressed that he is not. Phileleftheros also expects that Anastasiades will express his readiness to engage in talks with Tatar in the presence of Guterres in the period leading up to the next informal five-party summit.

Alithia reports that the UNSG’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric avoided in his statements to respond to a question on Guterres’ view on Tatar’s proposal for a two-state solution and on occupational troops, noting that he had nothing to add to Guterres’ own statements issued at the end of the Geneva summit. He added that the issue of security and guarantees will have to come out in a comprehensive settlement.

Politis and Haravgi report on an article by TC daily Hurriyet that refers to a standoff between Anastasiades and Turkish Foreign Minister Melvut Cavusoglu in Geneva. The article reported that after a 40-minute defence of a federal solution by Anastasiades, Cavusoglu raised the issue that Anastasiades had said in Crans-Montana that GCs would never be willing to share power, or even hospitals, with TCs. Cavusoglu also reportedly tabled a document that showed that Anastasiades had rejected a rotating presidency, with Anastasiades remaining silent. Politis reports that the information, that was leaked by Cavusoglu, is nothing but Turkish propaganda games. The paper cites sources that stated that the document submitted by Turkey did not involve the GC side’s final positions in Crans-Montana, since it is well known that the GC side said it would accept a rotating presidency under certain conditions and in conjunction with other issues.

Phileleftheros reports that TC chief negotiator Ergun Olgun said conditions on and around the island have changed, with the Cyprus problem now having been moved beyond the island’s borders. Olgun said the Cyprus problem is no longer an issue that affects only GCs and TCs, and has been transformed into an issue that concerns regional players. The paper writes that Olgun also said that data need to be tabled that will motivate the GC side to consent to a solution, since it currently has no incentive to reach an agreement on equal terms. In Geneva, Olgun said, the TC side supported that peace, stability and cooperation in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean could be achieved through the equal status of the TC side, which he said is not up for negotiation. Olgun also said that the TC side did not demand the recognition of the ‘TRNC’ as a precondition for negotiations to resume but said that by accepting the sovereign equality of TCs, results can be secured faster.

Alithia reports that Tatar said Friday in an online discussion on the informal Geneva summit and visions for a two-state solution on the basis of sovereign equality, that the ‘TRNC’ is an integral part of the Turkish nation, noting that as technology advances, so does the TC community’s relationship with Turkey. Reiterating his support for a solution involving two states that will cooperate, Tatar said there is no future in the idea of a federation or a united Cyprus. He also said that in Geneva, the TC side made clear that it is a separate people that shares strong bonds with Turkey and has a distinct history and its own energy resources.

KEY ACTORS
Kyprianou (AKEL)

>> Turkish side must return to agreed-upon solution framework
>> Responsibility for lack of success at Geneva 5+1 lies with Turkey & TC side due to insistence on two-state solution
>> As long as Turkey & TC side insist on partitionist positions every subsequent effort will also be doomed to fail
>> UN’s & international community’s rejection of a two-state solution important but not cause for complacency or satisfaction, since it’s still very far from securing a solution that will reunify the island
>> GC side can only shield itself by remaining consistently in support of past convergences and the agreed-upon framework

Olgun
>> Cyprus problem is no longer an issue that affects only GCs and TCs, has been transformed into an issue that concerns regional players
>> Data needs to be tabled that will motivate the GC side to consent to a solution between two equal sides
>> In Geneva, TC side supported that peace, stability and cooperation in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean could be achieved through the equal status of the TC side, which is not up for negotiation
>> TC side did not demand the recognition of ‘TRNC’ as a precondition for negotiations to resume but accepting the sovereign equality of TCs can bring results in faster

Tatar
>> ‘TRNC’ is an integral part of the Turkish nation
>> As technology advances, so does the TC community’s relationship with Turkey
>> There is no future in the idea of a federation or a united Cyprus
>> In Geneva, the TC side made clear that it is a separate people that shares strong bonds with Turkey and has a distinct history and its own energy resources


Translate »