TCC Press Review 14 Sept 2021

Front Page Headlines

Yenidüzen

“Education starts with queues”

Students were able to return to classrooms but the first day of school was overshadowed by problems. Parents sent off their children to school with worrying looks, hoping that it will be an uninterrupted school year. The new term began with queues for PCR and rapid tests. The teachers’ union announced that 12 teachers, one assistant teacher and one secretary had tested positive for Covid-19. Education could not start at Vadili (Vatili) primary school.

Kıbrıs

There’s no end to tragedies

While the truck loaded with gravel scared us when it rolled over near Düzova (Exo Metochi), the traffic accident that occurred near the Gönyeli (Geunyeli) roundabout made our hearts sink. Ali Erol Palaz died in a motorbike accident.

  • New education year started with problemsThe face-to-face education resumed following a nine-month break in primary schools yesterday. Nearly 24,000 students went back to their classrooms however positive cases in some schools hindered education on its first day.

Havadis

Bad beginning

Face-to-face education commenced after a nine-month-long break. Nearly 24,000 students went back to school yesterday, however bad news came quickly. There are positive cases in schools on the first day of education.

  • Three tons of meat, two arrestedThree tons of meat believed to have been smuggled from South Cyprus, seized in a warehouse in Famagusta.

Diyalog

Be supportive

Responding to a complaint by the head of the Journalists’ Society Reşat Akar of the low vaccination rate, Prime Minister Ersan Saner said he was disappointed to see that only 50 per cent of the population had been vaccinated. He called on the public to support the vaccination drive.

  • Faces smilePupils returned to primary schools after a long interval.

Avrupa

The system will kill us, not coronavirus

A post on social media has caused massive reactions. Ayşe Sandallı, who is pregnant, penned her experience when she found out she tested positive for coronavirus. “No one called me from the pandemic hospital,” she wrote, adding that she went to the hospital on her own…She said she had to wait for three hours at the hospital’s reception area before a doctor could attend to her.

  • Students will be tested every weekHealth Ministry announced that the students can get tested any day of the week however the tests will be valid for seven days only.

Main News

Tatar tells outgoing SRSG there will be no change in the TC side’s position

Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process

OVERVIEW

“The Turkish Cypriot side’s sovereign equality and international status must be recognized before the official launch of negotiations,” Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar told reporters on Monday after meeting with the outgoing UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of UNFICYP Elizabeth Spehar.

Speaking to the media, Tatar said the Turkish Cypriot side expected the UN and the international community to give consent to an agreement based on equality.

Thanking Spehar for her contributions and especially on her determination on the bilateral technical committees to work, Tatar said that the UN special representative had particularly played an important role in the reopening of the crossing points after the lockdowns on both sides of the island.

He added that he conveyed to Spehar that there will be no change in the Turkish Cypriot side’s position when he meets with the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

He recalled that the Turkish Cypriot side tabled its new solution vision during the five-plus-one meeting in Geneva, arguing that the “international community and the Greek Cypriot side will take the Turkish Cypriot side more seriously should its equal status and equal sovereignty be accepted.

Tatar, reiterating his anti-federal solution stance, added that the only feasible model on the island is a two-state solution. He also argued that the Greek Cypriot side refused to recognize the equality of the Turkish Cypriot side whether it is for a federal settlement or a two-state solution.

Tatar noted it is also unfair on the Turkish Cypriots that the Greek Cypriot side represents the whole island in the international arena. “This is unfair, and the international community must restore the Turkish Cypriots’ reputation and honour,” Tatar argued, adding that it is only possible to reach a fair, lasting and sustainable agreement if the Turkish Cypriot side’s demands for sovereignty are met.

Tatar noted that the Eastern Mediterranean issue was also raised during the meeting with Spehar. He pointed out that the Turkish Cypriot side will not accept the resumption of hydrocarbon explorations by firms hired by the Greek Cypriot side.

“There is no final settlement to the Cyprus issue therefore Greek Cypriot side cannot act as if they are the sole owners of the island,” Tatar stressed, stating that the hydrocarbons issue must be dealt with a regional conference as proposed by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Asked about the possible meetings in New York, Tatar said he does not refrain from dialogue or from holding informal talks. “Nonetheless, there is a position we have adopted, and we will only start official negotiations based on our position,” Tatar said, adding that it is vital for the realities of Cyprus today to be understood.

The UN Special Representative Elizabeth Spehar, speaking as she was leaving, said she still had hope that the Cyprus Problem will be solved. Spehar in her remarks to the media thanked Tatar and his colleagues for close cooperation with her and the UN teams on the island. She also mentioned that she and Tatar discussed the upcoming UN general assembly (UNGA) in New York during the meeting.

“The UNGA is an important opportunity to engage with the Secretary-General and I hope that we could have a positive outcome from the meetings that will be held,” Spehar said.  She also said she wanted to encourage Mr Tatar to “encourage people across the divide to work for reconciliation.”

“It is very important for the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots to try to understand, to meet together and to work together. This is an indispensable foundation for peace,” she said, encouraging all the Cypriots to work for peace.

“Each Cypriot has a role to play,” Spehar stressed, adding that Cypriots want a better future on the island. The SRSG also underscored the importance of women and the youth in participating in the peace process.

She also said that the UNSG would continue his efforts to achieve a solution and hoped the Cypriots would do the same. “I really hope to see a solution to the Cyprus issue eventually,” Spehar concluded, adding that there is no time to waste. Responding to a question on a possible trilateral meeting among the SG, Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades and Mr Tatar, Spehar said this is an issue to be decided at the UN headquarters.

“Such meetings will definitely be held however the nature of the meeting will be decided in New York,” she said. Spehar, responding to another question, said she is leaving the island with mixed feelings as everyone who comes to the island wants to see the solution to the Cyprus problem.

“I am saddened to be leaving the island before a solution to the Cyprus problem,” Spehar said, adding that she has been fortunate to meet with and get to know many Cypriots during her tenure on the island.

Spehar, who had met with the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades on Friday, had assumed her role as the Head of Mission and Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprus on June 10, 2016. Greek Cypriot media speculated that Spehar’s replacement will be the Australian politician Melissa Parke. The official announcement for Parke is expected later in September.

KEY ACTORS
Tatar
>> There will be no change in the TC side’s position in NY.
>> TCs’ sovereign equality & equal international status must be recognised for official talks to begin.
>> International community & GC side will take TC side more seriously should its equal status & equal sovereignty be accepted.
>> International community must restore the TCs’ reputation & honour.
>> A fair, lasting & sustainable agreement is only possible if the TC side’s demands for sovereignty are met.
>> TC side will not accept the resumption of hydrocarbon explorations by firms hired by the GC side.
>> The issue hydrocarbons issue must be dealt with at a regional conference.

Spehar (UN)
>>  UNGA is an important opportunity to engage with the UNSG. A positive outcome from the meeting is possible.
>> TCs & GCs need to try to understand, to meet together & work together. This is an indispensable foundation for peace.


Ertuğruloğlu slams British High Commissioner Lillie

Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process

OVERVIEW

Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu on Monday reacted to British High Commissioner Stephen Lillie’s interview with Kathimerini. In a statement issued from his office, Ertuğruloğlu asked the UK to stop siding with the Greek Cypriot positions to protect the future of its sovereign bases on the island.  

“Pointing to a federal settlement as the only way out is nothing but condemning the Cyprus problem to a non-solution and endless repeated negotiations processes,” Ertuğruloğlu said, demanding that the UK “put an end to supporting the Greek Cypriot side’s stance to the detriment of the Turkish Cypriot community.” He also argued Lillie’s attitude showed that the UK still maintained a “colonizer mindset.”

He added Lillie’s views were parallel to those expressed by the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades.

“Lillie only echoed the decentralized federation proposal raised by Anastasiades but the UK’s attitude as a guarantor nation is unacceptable,” Ertuğruloğlu said, claiming that it is only Turkey that properly delivers its responsibilities as a guarantor nation.

He recalled that the negotiations processes to date have failed due to the Greek Cypriot side’s refusal to share governance or wealth with the Turkish Cypriot community.

Ertuğruloğlu said as a result of the Greek Cypriot side’s rejectionist attitude, the Turkish Cypriot side has come up with a new vision for a mutually acceptable and sustainable agreement.

“The Turkish Cypriot side’s proposal is based on the acceptance of the inherent rights of sovereign equality and equal international status of the two sides,” Ertuğruloğlu said, recalling that the Turkish Cypriot side put forth its vision during the five-plus-one informal meeting in Geneva.

“It is futile to insist on solution models that will ensure the continuation of unfair isolation on the Turkish Cypriot community,” Ertuğruloğlu said, urging the UK, which knows the details of the Cyprus problem very well, to stop taking sides with the Greek Cypriot side to protect the future of its sovereign base areas on the island.

KEY ACTORS
Ertuğruloğlu (UBP)
>> UK should stop siding with the GC side to protect the future of its bases in Cyprus.
>> Insisting that a federal settlement is the only option is only condemning the Cyprob to a non-solution & endless talks.
>> Turkey is the only guarantor nation delivering its responsibilities.
>> It is futile to insist on solution models that will ensure the continuation of unfair isolation of the TC community.


Cypriot organisations hold a two-day camp in Karpaz (Karpas)

Yenidüzen, Havadis, Avrupa
Human Rights, CBMs

OVERVIEW

The Turkish Cypriot political party Left Movement and Os Dame, a group formed by several organisations in the south, organized a joint camp in Karpaz (Karpas) to focus on joint strategies and actions on issues ranging from fascism, socialism, feminism, societal gender equality and environment.

In a statement issued by the Left Movement on Monday, during the two-day long camp, the Greek and Turkish Cypriot organisations have agreed to come up with a joint declaration and an action plan on equality, women’s rights and ecology.


Large quantity of smuggled meat seized in a police raid in Famagusta


Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Internal Security

OVERVIEW

Police and the Famagusta municipality on Monday seized three tons of meat smuggled from the south in a joint raid carried out at a refrigerated warehouse in Famagusta.

While the police charged the owners of the warehouse for the crimes of smuggling and failing to declare imported goods to a competent authority.

The Famagusta municipality destroyed the meat seized in the raid.


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