Front Page Headlines
‘Crucial step for reforms’
Municipalities give green light to state’s plans for mergers.
- Turkey’s invasion of Syria has rekindled interest in the prophecies of Paisios
They are machinating a backstage of pressure in Berlin (trilateral)
Athens and Nicosia go to the trilateral & five-party meetings with ‘procedural red lines’.
- Position: The president and his ‘friends’ (Editorial on criticism on Nicos Anastasiades’ policy on the Cyprus problem)
- Historic resolution: Armenian victory against the… genocide of memory
- Savvas Iacovides: The Armenian Genocide and the genocide of memory (opinion piece)
- Nikos Katsourides: In Berlin, the Terms of Reference is the beginning (opinion piece)
We gave him too a Cypriot passport
Jho Taek Low: Perhaps the most wanted businessman. He’s the number one suspect, inter alia, for laundering over $ 400m embezzled from 1MDB fund through a bank account in the US. According to international media, Low avoids arrest by moving to various cities of China, which up till now shows no intention of extraditing him despite the international warrant against him.
- Trilateral: The key lies with Guterres
- Cypriot EEZ: France sets the bar high
- Carlo Bevilacqua: The green line through his lens
- Heiko Maas writes in Politis: Where were you when the Berlin Wall fell?
Low expectations on the trilateral
Ankara makes things difficult for the UN, cancellation is not ruled out. The UN Secretary-General has formed his own opinion on the Turkish intentions, he is sending also (his special envoy Jane Holl) Lute.
- November 11 is a landmark for sanctions against Turkey – In the midst of threats by Erdogan.
- Refugee issue and Cyprus: A serious problem in the EU’s yard
- Eleni Theocharous: Cyprus needs a powerful military force
- Kypros Chrystostomides: The government ought to appeal to the Hague over the settlement (of Varosha)
- NATO, Turkey and the West
- Michalis Ignatiou: He hopped on the train of ‘any solution’ again (opinion piece)
- Nikos Charalambous: Who are we going to hold talks with? (opinion piece)
ENI-Total step back from (block) 7
The French-Italian consortium is restructuring the original work plan.
- Nicosia: A race through hurdles for the trilateral
- Ankara: Five-party and everything open on natural gas
- Vasilis Palmas: Substantive negotiations after April
- They have prepared gifts for the Kurds: Putin-Trump, with a benefits package to Syria and Turkey.
- Andreas Paraschos: The long-term grenade (opinion piece)
- Andreas Theofanous: From the ‘vital space’ to the ‘blue homelands’(opinion piece)
- Petros Zarounas: Al Bahgdati is gone, the Islamic State remains (opinion piece)
- Alexis Papachelas: An opportunity to upgrade the national defence (opinion piece)
Rhetoric for internal consumption
The President of the Republic appears to be procrastinating and being stuck in the past while attention must be drawn to the meeting of November 25. AKEL invites Mr Anastasiades, if he does mean that he seeks to restart negotiations as set out by Mr Guterres, not to raise any issues that cancel out convergence. It is also expressing concerns about the rhetoric the president is using in view of the meeting of November 25.
- Church-State relations: Political, economic and other relations between the state and the Church – Relations of tolerance and selfishness. A four-page… dedication.
- Nicos Moudouros: Gradual transition to a ‘multi-polar’ international state of affairs
- Northern Iraq: The Kurdish tribes at the face of modernisation
2020: A year of changes on pensions
Thousands of elderly compatriots of ours will be relieved. A raise is expected within the new year of all low pensions, the abolition of the 12 per cent penalty to those retiring at 63, reduction of the average pension age for manual labour professions and regulation of the minimum wage in all professions.
- EOKA: The compensation by the British have divided the fighters
- Cyprob-Analysis: The invasion and occupation before the international community
- Invasion 1974: Another Attila tragedy
- New AKEL-government spat on the Cyprob
- Christos Panayiotides: The time has come for decisions (opinion piece)
Main News
Trilateral meeting is not written in stone
Alithia, Kathimerini, Phileleftheros, Simerini
Negotiations Process, Energy, Regional/International Relations
OVERVIEW
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres might call off the trilateral set to take place on November 25 in Berlin as there does not seem to agreement between the sides on crucial issues, the dailies report.
According to Kathimerini, the trilateral meeting between the two leaders and Guterres might not take place after all since it will all depend on the stance of all parties involved.
In addition to the positions the two leaders stated in the letters each sent Guterres, which do not seem to have included anything new to enhance the solution prospects, Ankara does not want any decisions to be taken at the trilateral whose aim, according to Turkey will be to pave the way for the five-party meeting.
Athens, on the other hand, raises concerns and questions on whether the time is right for these meetings. Despite this top diplomatic sources told the daily that Athens, despite its reservations, would back both meetings.
The same sources said that the UN has not officially announced the trilateral was taking place while at the same time Guterres wants results from that meeting. If he feels that there won’t be any, then no one knows how things will turn out, the source told the daily.
Phileleftheros too reports the trilateral might be called off but solely due to Turkey’s stance since Ankara does not seem willing to enter a new procedure on the Cyprus problem unless she gets what she wants.
Citing foreign diplomatic sources, the daily reports that Turkey does not trust TC leader Mustafa Akinci since a relaunch of the talks would be beneficial for him given the forthcoming ‘elections’ in the north.
In the case the trilateral does take place paving the way for the five-party meeting Turkey will put forth her demands such as the acceptance by the GCs of the TC positive vote which equals to a veto, but also the issue of sharing and co-deciding on hydrocarbons.
According to the daily, Guterres, who has shaped his own opinion on Turkey’s position following is meeting last week with the Turkish president and foreign minister, has sent Lute to take action. She is expected to meet the Greek foreign minister on November 15-16 and later travel to Ankara and Nicosia, the daily reports.
Simerini, citing government sources reports that the GC side has set some red lines ahead of the trilateral and five-party meetings. Nicosia will demand respect to the Guterres Framework without any preconditions set by Turkey such as political equality which the Turkish side perceives in the numerical sense as to vetoes. Secondly, full withdrawal of the Turkish troops and replacement of the system of security and guarantees which will leads to discussion on what the new system will be, and thirdly that the existing exclusive economic zone remains as is.
In another article Simerini also reports that Nicosia and Athens have agreed on a set of red lines on the procedural aspect of the meetings with the first being that there cannot be a five-party meeting unless there has been progress on the Terms of Reference (ToR) at the trilateral. At the same time, the ToR must not include elements which are part of the pending talks.
The five-party meeting must focus on the modalities of a new procedure and not on internal aspects of the Cyprus problem, while progress achieved in Crans-Montana must not be overlooked, the daily reported.
Kathimerini, in another article, citing Turkish sources reports that Ankara feels that it is the five-party meeting and not the trilateral that could bring about chain reactions to the Cyprus problem, even lead to twin referendums.
A well-informed source close to the Turkish presidential palace said that the two leaders have used up all margins of manoeuvre at the talks and it is clear the GC side cannot accept political equality in the form it has been agreed on in past talks.
The same sources said that on the other hand, any amendment to the system of guarantees without the active participation of guarantors will not be possible. Based on these, all sides have no other choice than to go to a five-party meeting and clarify the solution framework and address crucial issues such as natural gas and security.
The source reiterated the statements last week by the Turkish ambassador in Athens who had said that the solution equals to an agreement by the GCs to political equality and sharing of the resources on and around the island, arguing that this sums ups Ankara’s position.
As to why Ankara does not object to a trilateral since it believes it is the five-party meeting that will yield results, the source said the GCs, the international community and Akinci insist on a federal solution and want to present positive results towards that direction each for own reasons while the meeting might contribute to tackling some issues.
As regards the solution, the source wondered if Akinci will insist on a federal solution in the case the GC side does not agree to political equality and the UNSG records that stance.
Meanwhile, Haravgi and Alithia reported that AKEL called on Anastasiades to not raise issues that nullify convergences or which that are outside the Guterres Framework which is what he has been doing.
The party also expressed concerns over Anastasiades’ rhetoric ahead of the trilateral arguing that it is aimed for internal consumption instead of making clear to the international community his readiness to cooperate with Guterres for the restart of the talks, the dailies reported.
Alithia also reports that the UN Security Council will discuss the UNSG’s report on his Good Offices in Cyprus on November 25, the same day when the trilateral is expected to take place in Berlin.
KEY ACTORS
AKEL
>> Calls on Anastasiades to set aside his standard practice and not raise issues that nullify convergences or which that are outside the GF.
>> Anastasiades, instead of focusing on convincing the international community of his readiness to cooperate with Guterres on the restart of the talks he is engaging in rhetoric for internal consumption.
Total-ENI change plans due to Turkish actions in Cypriot EEZ
Kathimerini
Energy, External Security
OVERVIEW
The daily reports that two months prior to the relaunch of the French-Italian consortium Total-ENI’s drilling activities within the Cypriot exclusive economic zone (EEZ) it seems the tension created by Turkey on offshore block 7 paid off since the consortium will focus on another area outside the Turkish radius, in neighbouring blocks.
This move, despite that it attributed to contractual obligations, it is clearly linked with security issues, the daily reported.
Citing sources, the paper reports that this does not mean the consortium is backing down but it is rather a tactical move.
The paper reports that 2020 is considered a crucial year for the planned activities of companies in several blocks since contrary to the past where Turkish activity was limited to the provocative presence of its warships that did not affect the activities of companies, excluding events on block 3, after the Yavuz entered block 7, an uncharted scene has been created with unpredictable effects for the government’s energy programme while it also puts the companies at the front line.
Despite that according to plan the consortium was to start from block 7, it is now thinking of doing so from other blocks where there is no Turkish presence.
Citing information the daily reported that the consortium is expected to move in blocks 8, 6, 2 and 3. The consortium also holds licences for blocks 6 and 11. In block 6 sufficient gas reserves were located that may expand to block 7, the daily reported.
It is not yet known how the government will react to this change of plans by the consortium, the daily reported.