TCC Press Review 29 Aug 2021

Front Page Headlines

Yenidüzen

The cost is ₺24.5 (€2.49), the price is ₺100 (€10.15)

The chaos over PCR and rapid tests continue. The decision to charge everyone vaccinated and non-vaccinated for PCR and rapid tests as of September 1 continues to draw criticism from the public. All eyes have been turned to the cost of the tests now. According to the decisions published in the official gazette, a total of 650,000 PCR and 250,000 rapid test kits have been purchased since January 2021. The public will be charged ₺100 (€10.15) per PCR test and ₺40 (€4.06) per rapid test. The head of the Laboratories Initiative Salih Ruso said that the cost of a rapid test for the private sector was ₺25-28 (€2.54-2.84) and ₺80-85 (€8.21-8.63) for PCR tests. Finance Minister Dursun Oğuz: Everyone signed the decision. Tourism Minister Fikri Ataoğlu: I propose to offer free tests for the vaccinated to encourage people to get vaccinated. Education Minister Olgun Amcaoğlu: The decision concerning tests is not set in stone. We shall reconsider the issue at the Council of Ministers.

Kıbrıs

Price hikes to bread and coffee

News of price hikes just continues to come in non-stop. A loaf of bread will cost ₺3 (€0.30) at the beginning of the month. The price of coffee which Turkish Cypriots enjoy is also going up. A kg of coffee costs around ₺20 (€2.03), a two (€0.20) to three (€0.30) TL rise in the price of a packet of coffee is expected.

Diyalog

Change your decision

Who is going to pay ₺100 (€10.15) every week? As daily case numbers continue to climb, the decision to end free testing has drawn reactions from everyone. Citizens speaking to Diyalog, “We can’t accept such a decision when we are struggling to make ends meet. No one can afford to pay for their tests every week. These must change this decision. Restaurant owners warn that the new decision will only make the conditions worse, adding to their problems and causing bankruptcies. Business owners speaking to the daily said that the number of customers keeps dropping by the day and that now they will find no one because tests cost money.

  • ‘Unacceptable’ –The purchasing of car tyres by the Greek Cypriot administration from Turkey has led to reactions.
  • Tomatoes €2 – The price of electricity and fuel in South Cyprus went up by 38 per cent over the past year; food prices have also gone up.

Avrupa

He demanded two states in response to the proposal to return to the Cyprus Republic (RoC)

According to Tatar who responded to Anastasiades’ proposal to return to the 1960 constitutional order, the Greek Cypriot leader made this offer to dissuade the Turkish Cypriot side from its position in favour of a two-state solution. Everyone is wondering if Anastasiades will be taking his offer to the UN. Anastasiades does not want the (Greek Cypriot) opposition to comment before he reveals the details of this proposal. The National Council will convene on Wednesday. The left in the north chose not to speak about Anastasiades’ offer. Tatar on the other hand said that the era of empty words and statements that are meant to look cute is over in Cyprus. Tatar: “Anastasiades has lost all credibility with his nonsense about returning to the so-called Republic of Cyprus particularly after throwing around ideas such as a two-state solution, confederation, and loose federation.

Main News

Tatar dismisses Anastasiades’ proposal, says GC leader has lost his credibility

Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process

OVERVIEW

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Saturday in somewhat of a late response hit back at the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades regarding an offer he made earlier this week to allow Turkish Cypriots to return to the 1960 constitutional order.

Tatar said Anastasiades “by any means necessary” was trying to neutralise the Turkish Cypriot side’s proposal for two states, which he had submitted at the Geneva talks in April.

In a written statement, Tatar accused Anastasiades of trying to change the agenda with his latest proposal and to shift focus away from his tarnished reputation rather than focusing his efforts on launching result-oriented talks based on the realities on the island to achieve a settlement that will safeguard the equal and inherent rights of the two sides

On the one hand, he said Anastasiades himself spoke of two states, a confederation, a loose federation and now was talking about the return of the Turkish Cypriots to the Cyprus Republic. “Mr Anastasiadis has lost all credibility,” Tatar added.

“The Greek Cypriot leader with his inconsistencies and with his latest proposal that is impossible to implement has proved once again how insincere he is regarding a settlement,” Tatar stressed.

The Turkish Cypriot also recalled the Turkish Cypriot MPs’ plight following the 1963 incidents and the political developments that followed. He said the Turkish Cypriot MPs were told by the late House President Glafkos Clerides that they either had to accept the constitutional amendments proposed by the Greek Cypriots or be kicked out of the Greek Cypriot parliament.

“The era of empty words and statements that are meant to look cute is over in Cyprus. It is time for action for reconciliation, cooperation and stability,” said Tatar, adding that the only way to do that was to take courageous steps towards a sustainable agreement in line with the realities on the island, the region and the world and by not returning to the past. He added that even though the 1960 Republic had affirmed the two communities’ equal sovereignty and equal international status at the time, what had happened afterwards changed the way these rights were exercised.

“The only way to find the common ground for the launch of the official negotiations process and to prepare for the conditions for an agreement is for the Greek Cypriot side and the UN to recognize the sovereign equality and the equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot side, which had been accepted by the 1960 Republic,” Tatar stressed, adding that actions and not words are needed to demonstrate equality. 

Instead of Anastasiades wasting his time on meaningless statements that are so far removed from reality, he should think about how to move forward, Tatar concluded.

The left and opposition have yet to comment on Anastasiades’ remarks.

KEY ACTORS
Tatar
>> Anastasiades’ proposal aimed at dissuading the TC side from a two-state solution & shifting focus from his tarnished reputation.
>> Latest offer by the GC leader reveals his insincerity towards a solution in Cyprus.
>> The time in Cyprus has come for reconciliation, collaboration & stability.
>> Only way to find common ground for new official talks is for the GC side & UN to recognize the sovereign equality & equal international status of the TC side.
>> Actions and not words are needed to demonstrate equality.
>> Anastasiades should stop wasting time on unrealistic & impossible proposals & focus on a two-state solution.


No link between the new list of persons & Maraş (Varosha) Initiative,” says Sözen

Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process

OVERVIEW

Prof Dr Ahmet Sözen from the Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta said the Turkish Cypriot community need not be concerned about the Greek Cypriot cabinet’s passport decision as it could only be extended to a few people.

Speaking during a web TV programme on Saturday, Sözen given the latest developments following the decision by the Greek Cypriot leadership to rescind passports of Turkish Cypriot politicians involved in the Maraş (Varosha) initiative, said he believed that the move could only be extended to include people who earn a significant amount of money by investing on Greek Cypriot properties in the north.

He pointed out that the media across the divide had claimed that the head of the Turkish Cypriot Hoteliers’ Association Dimağ Çağıner and head of the Cyprus Turkish Building Contractors’ Association Cafer Gürcafer had also been included in the list of persons who had their Republic of Cyprus (RoC) passports revoked.

He added that he cannot see any direct links between Çağıner, Gürcafer and the Maraş (Varosha) Initiative. Sözen moreover argued that the passport decision lacks a legal basis as it is not possible to revoke anyone’s citizenship for their political viewpoints or their actions in the EU.

“I only see a process of political repercussions emerging after the passport decision. The Greek Cypriot administration decided to revoke their passports in response to the Turkish Cypriot side’s position in favour of a two-state solution model and its initiative to reopen the fenced-off town, ” Sözen argued.

He warned that more people, perhaps those benefitting extensively from Greek Cypriot properties in the north could be included in the list in the future. “The secessionists in the north feed the Greek Cypriots’ policies to dominate the entire island. The passport decision is insignificant within the bigger picture of the Cyprus problem,” Sözen concluded.


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