Front Page Headlines
“Vault is empty”
The minimum wage has yet to be determined. The representatives of employees and employers agreed on a 12.75 per cent increase on the condition that social insurance premium support was to be given. However, when the promise to provide support didn’t materialise, the minimum wage stayed the same. It has now been pushed to a new committee.
The grey economy is growing!
According to the representatives of economic organisations, the economic recession caused by the pandemic, the inability to pay debts and bad management policies has resulted in the growth of the grey economy and unregistered employment. The representatives urged the authorities first to implement “measures and then carry out inspections.”
- The UBP to discuss its by-laws today – The National Unity Party (UBP) could not reach a conclusion on the amendments proposed to the party’s by-laws, following its day-long meeting yesterday.
- (Economic) Organisations to wait for the government’s decision – Prime Minister Ersan Saner said the recommendations made by the economic organisations during the meeting held yesterday will be evaluated thoroughly.
More to come
The details of the decision adopted by the Anastasiades government to revoke Republic of Cyprus (RoC) passports for 14 Turkish Cypriots, started to emerge. Politis (Greek Cypriot daily) claimed President Nicos Anastasiades acted according to the demands made by the anti-solution parties ELAM, EDEK and DIKO. The daily also claimed that these parties advocate for revoking the passports for all the politicians in the TRNC as well as senior-level civil servants.
- Don’t scratch the wound – Hakkı Müftüzade, the Turkish Cypriot member of the Committee of Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) in his evaluation of CMP’s work, urged not to politicize CMP’s work as it would dredge up the pain of the families.
- The UBP is focused on its congress – The National Unity Party (UBP) convened yesterday to discuss whether the congress will be held at the district level or not. The party assembly is expected to discuss today the outcome of yesterday’s meeting.
They should be returned
Former President Mehmet Ali Talat gave out a message to President Tatar and the cabinet after the Greek Cypriot administration decided to revoke passports. The announcement concerning the passports caused reactions among the public. While almost all political parties criticized the Greek Cypriot government for its decisions on the passports, former President Mehmet Ali Talat gave a different reaction. “I would return these passports. You will demand two separate states but continue to use the Republic of Cyprus passports. Isn’t that swell. Once stripped of these passports you will accuse the Greek Cypriot authorities of racism and violating human rights, Shame!” he said in a post on social media.
- 75 in critical condition – 196 people are receiving treatment for Covid-19 in hospitals in the south.
We will be poisoned more with this fuel
It has not been possible to determine the quality of the fuel oil believed to have been sold by the jihadists and delivered from Syria. Permission has not been granted to carry out quality tests on the fuel either. The Chamber of Engineers under the Union of the Chambers of Cyprus Turkish Engineers and Architects (KTMMOB) announced that the quality standards of the fuel oil brought from İskenderun (Turkey) via 40 tankers to be used at KIBTEK’s (Turkish Cypriot electricity authority) Teknecik power plant is not yet known.
- One in three women is a victim of violence – Women’s organisations from the Famagusta area demand the police to establish its unit for prevention of violence against women in districts as well as in villages.
- Maraş (Varosha) retaliation – Revoking the passports is the main agenda in the south.
- The South is waiting for Europe’s decision – South Cyprus is waiting for the decision from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and from the European Medicines Agency to apply the third-dose vaccination.
Main News
Decision to revoke RoC passports continues to stir debate in the north
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process, Property, Territory
OVERVIEW
The reactions given to the decision taken by the Greek Cypriot cabinet on Monday to “rescind or to refuse renewal or issue Republic of Cyprus (RoC) passports to a number of Turkish Cypriots politicians and bureaucrats due to the Maraş (Varosha) Initiative continued for a second running.
While supporters of the current Turkish Cypriot leadership rallied behind Turkish Cypriot Ersin Tatar, former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat criticized the Turkish Cypriot authorities for their reactions.
Tatar on Tuesday condemned the decision to rescind the passports, including his own, saying it was anachronistic and racist. In a written statement, Tatar said Monday’s decision by the Anastasiades cabinet has no legal basis and goes against human rights. Making such a distinction between people cannot be accepted, he added.
Tatar accused the Greek Cypriot side of using the issue as a weapon against Turkish Cypriots. “The decision proves the RoC has turned into a Greek Cypriot state and is a stark evidence of Greek Cypriot administration showing no respect for the Turkish Cypriots’ rights,” Tatar stressed, arguing that the Greek Cypriot side’s attempts to exert its authority throughout the island is the root cause for not being able to find a sustainable federal settlement on the island.
A second statement by the Turkish Cypriot presidency later on in the day said that the mentality behind the government’s move is at the root of the Cyprus problem, and the reason why a federal partnership based on equality is neither possible nor sustainable.
It also called the decision “another threat against the rights and liberties of Turkish Cypriots”. The statement said that the decision to revoke the passports will not deter the Turkish Cypriot side from pursuing the Maraş (Varosha) initiative.
Speaking during a programme on Bayrak on Tuesday evening, Tatar argued that the Greek Cypriot leader was trying to make personalize a political issue.- Noting that the decision on passports is not right, Tatar also argued that the citizenship of thousands of EOKA members should also be revoked.
The Turkish Cypriot Foreign Ministry also issued a written statement on Monday, defending Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu.
The statement pointed out that reports in the press that Ertuğruloğlu’s name was on the list of those whose passports were revoked were not true as he had not obtained any such documents since 1974.
Echoing Tatar’s viewpoint, the statement said there are two states on the island as a result of the inter-communal fighting which started in 1963. It added that the Turkish Cypriot side has been subjected to international embargoes and isolations since 1963, which forces the Turkish Cypriots to apply for RoC passports.
“Nonetheless, the Greek Cypriot administration is now using the 1960 Republic passports as a threat against the Turkish Cypriot community,” the foreign ministry argued, adding that this proves that the RoC has turned into a Greek Cypriot state.“The decision on passports has shown once again that the only feasible and realistic solution model is the one based on two states and their sovereign equality,” it said.
Former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, who had pushed for a federal settlement during his term, was critical of these reactions.
“You brag about wanting a separate state, but have been using a Cypriot passport, isn’t that swell!” he said in a post on social media. “Once they take it out of your hands you start calling them racist, their behaviour contrary to human rights and are unable to accept the consequences of pushing for secession. Shame!”
Former Rebirth Party (YDP) MP Bertan Zaroğlu also criticized Tatar along with other Turkish Cypriot officials for not recognizing the RoC but using its passports. In a social media post on Monday, Zaroğlu said his criticisms were directed at the Turkish Cypriot officials and not at ordinary citizens.
“I believe the Turkish Cypriot officials must return their passport if we claim to be a separate sovereign state,” he said, adding that he did not blame the Greek Cypriot cabinet for adopting such a decision.
Leader of the United Cyprus Party (BKP) İzzet İzcan echoed similar views with Talat, arguing that it is not right to revoke the RoC passports nonetheless it is also being double-faced to complain about the Greek Cypriot cabinet’s decision.
Speaking during a web TV programme, İzcan added that the Turkish Cypriot officials who are advocating for a two-state solution do not have any right to complain about the Greek Cypriot cabinet’s decision. Accusing the Turkish Cypriot officials of being insincere with the Turkish Cypriot community, İzcan said Tatar, Saner and foreign minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu, who claimed not to have the RoC citizenship, all have their passports in their pockets.
CMP carries out a humanitarian task, not a political one, says Müftüzade
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Human Rights
OVERVIEW
The Turkish Cypriot member of the Committee for Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) Hakkı Müftüzade on Tuesday said that the duty of the committee was to carry out a humanitarian task and not carry out politics.
He pointed out that the efforts to locate burial sites for missing persons was becoming harder due to changes in topography and ageing witnesses. In an interview with the Turkish Cypriot news agency TAK, Müftüzade reminded that the CMP’s duties and responsibility were to research, locate and identify the remains of missing persons before returning them to their families for proper burial.
He said that it was important not to politicize such a humanitarian issue so as not to lead to mistrust between the two communities or dredge up the pain of the families of the missing persons. Müftüzade repeated a call to anyone who might have information concerning missing persons.
The Turkish Cypriot member of the CMP who also provided an update on the work being carried out by the committee said that work in the field was hampered by the summer heat.
He said that 56 excavations had taken place in the last few months resulting in the location of the remains of nine individuals. “We dug one location in the UN-controlled buffer zone, one in South Cyprus, a total of seven locations. These were in Yeşilırmak (Limnitis), Mehmetçik (Galatia), Gönyeli (Geunyeli), Zeytinlik (Templos), Tuzla (Egkomi), Meriç (Mora) and Kaymaklı (Kaimakli) in South Nicosia,” he said.
Müftazade pointed out that there were a total of 2002 missing persons and that a total of 1435 sites had been dug since 2005.
He added that a total of the remains of 1171 persons had been discovered, 1006 of them identified and returned to their families. Müftüzade also denied claims that no excavations were taking place in military zones due to a lack of cooperation.
“We are currently digging at a military site. We carried out another excavation in a military zone last month,” he said. The Turkish Cypriot CMP member also said that mono-communal excavations had taken place at the Tekke Bahçesi in north Nicosia in 2019 and 2020 to identify those buried at the martyrs’ cemetery.
“Natural that work was also affected by the Covid-19 pandemic but the process is continuing. Work to identify those exhumed from the graves will be completed this year and returned to their families to be placed in marked graves,” he said.