Front Page Headlines
N/A due to Eid al-Fitr holiday
Health system in a gordian knot
Our ‘inadequate’ health infrastructure which has been struggling since Covid-19 entered our lives a year ago is giving out an S.O.S. Since the fight against the pandemic has become a priority, other patients are struggling to receive proper health care. Surgeries are postponed, services moved around, and shortages are experienced in medicines. This situation is not only making conditions harder for the public but health care experts as well.
Residents revolted
Seven Nigerian and Zimbabwean nationals who held a drug party in Erdemit (Trimithi) the other night were arrested after complaints filed by neighbours. Police found 41grs of drugs during the raid. Residents who spoke to Diyalog expressed their anger over the incident. “We’ve had enough of these people. What kind of (university) students are these people?” they told the paper.
- First hearing on May 26 – The trial concerning the ‘Golden Passport’ scheme is starting
- He’s on the offence – Anastasiades said he wants to meet with Tatar in the presence of Guterres.
Denktaş had told Ankara to “turn Cyprus into Hong Kong”
Here is that document. We’ve gotten hold of the 44-year-old document with Rauf Raif Denktaş’s signature on it and we’re publishing it. Take a look to see how we got to where we are today. In a letter written to the late Turkish Cypriot Speaker of Parliament Osman Örek before a visit to Ankara by a delegation of the parliament of the Turkish Cypriot Federated State, the late Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş made several suggestions for issues that should be discussed with Turkish officials. Denktaş had argued that work should be carried out to grant the north a Hong Kong-style status.
Main News
Tatar says Ercan (Tymbou) is being upgraded to accommodate direct flights
Kıbrıs, Diyalog
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar on Friday announced that work was underway on upgrading Ercan (Tymbou) airport’s infrastructure and standards to allow international flights. He said Ercan (Tymbou) could be ready and capable to operate direct flights very shortly.
Speaking during an event in Kyrenia to mark the 100th anniversary of the Royal British Legion, Tatar added the required applications to accommodate direct international flights will soon be made once the new modern terminal building and runway is completed. Tatar also noted that the expat community in the north was important in efforts to end embargoes imposed on Turkish Cypriots.
“The plight of the TRNC has to be raised internationally to challenge the wider issue of resolving the recognition of the TRNC, which is the key to unlocking, amongst other things, the direct flight issue,” Tatar stressed.
Meanwhile, in a statement to condemn the Israeli attacks on the Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Tatar blamed the UN Security Council (UNSC) for remaining a mere spectator while civilians – especially women and children – were being killed.
In a statement issued from his office, Tatar likened the developments in Israel to the atrocities committed against Turkish Cypriots from 1963 to 1974. He underlined that remaining silent meant becoming an accomplice to the crimes Israel was committing against Israel.
Tatar stated that Turkey’s intervention on the island to stop the attacks was a great service to humanity, justice and law back in 1974 while the entire world is just watching the attacks on Gaza today without doing anything.
“This showed how important Turkey’s effective and active guarantees were including the presence of the Turkish troops,” Tatar said, arguing that the reasons as to why the Greek Cypriot side and Greece want to end Turkey’s guarantees are clearer now.
“The world needs to understand that Turkey’s guarantees will not be annulled, nor will the Turkish troops withdraw from Cyprus and TRNC will not become the Gaza,” Tatar concluded.
Late Denktaş had proposed the Hong Kong model for north
Avrupa
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriot daily Avrupa on Sunday published a 44-year-old document letter revealing his proposal to introduce a system in the north similar o Hong Kong. In a letter dated March 31, 1977, written to Osman Örek, who was then the speaker of the Turkish Cypriot parliament (of the Turkish Federated State), Denktaş encouraged Örek to convince Ankara to “work on transforming the north into a new Hong Kong.”
He further adds that “It is not possible to open to the Greek Cypriot side until the Turkish Cypriot community reaches the same economic and political level as the Greek Cypriot side.”
Denktaş in his letter also asked for the “efforts to balance the population across the divide to continue,” urging the administration in Ankara to provide financial support for rehabilitation efforts (for the transferred population.)
Turkish Cypriot daily Avrupa urges its readers to look at today’s situation in the north and understand how the north have reached the situation it is in at the moment by reading the letter penned by Denktaş.