Front Page Headlines
New stimulus could fall flat
Businesses balk at renewing job incentives, fear it would only delay, not stop layoffs.
- TC newspaper Afrika gives in and removes ‘racist’ logo
- Cyprus: Further easing of restrictions announced for crossings
- Growing signs of ghettoisation
- Coffeeshop (opinion): The art of diplomacy for public consumption
Gray zones in EEZ with Egypt
The scenarios regarding side effects of a partial deal without Kastelorizo. Why deal with Cairo creates positive conditions, but issue remains tied to Turkish threat and power and the delineation of a continental shelf between Greece – Cyprus. Netanyahu’s insistence for the EastMed and the alliance with Israel. The crisis scenario and moving the issue over to NATO. Possible EU sanctions against Turkey: Can they have an effect?
- Eastern Mediterranean: Turkey is not part of the equation but the equation itself
- The challenges facing the new Minister for Energy
- Era of the coronavirus: The Macmillan dogma and the undermining of the RoC
- Neo-Ottoman revisionism: Cyprus – Greece continue to not perceive its strategic aspirations
- (Editorial) The UN’s shame…
- Savvas Iacovides (opinion): Who can stop a military incident by paranoid Erdogan?
- Nicos Katsourides (opinion): Refugees – migrants and the people that hosts
- Andreas Theophanous (opinion): The Cyprus Problem and Greco-Turkish relations
- Xenis X. Xenophontos (opinion): Migration and raw truths
- Giannakis L. Omirou (opinion): In front of Turkey’s belligerence
- Petros Demetriou (opinion): Historical developments for Republic of Cyprus
- Lazaros A. Mavros (opinion): AKEL’s Antros to… get Turkey’s consent
How we will go from conventional to digital education
Education Minister lays out his vision for “P”. “Education Ministry is facing the challenge of making the use of digital technology systematic and permanent, as well as to extend it, and to plan education’s digital age”. “There needs to be an evaluation system for teachers that will reward hard work, inventiveness, quality, inquisitiveness, passion. We should admit that without incentives we cannot move forward”. “We were not prepared”.
- Andros Kyprianou (interview): “Iniatives that will convince the UNSG”
- Averof Neofytou (interview): “We need to be careful so that the tank doesn’t run out”
- Greek-Turkish relations: Long summer for Athens and Nicosia
Alliances are our shield
President speaks to “Ph”: The exercise of our sovereign rights is not determined by Turkey. Companies active in Cypriot EEZ give confidence vote.
- Sammy Revel (interview): We do not look away from challenges
- Andros Kyprianou (interview): What are the characteristics of the presidential candidate
- “War” over the control of the Eastern Mediterranean in progress – Ankara opened a lot of fronts, a high risc tactic – Greece and Republic of Cyprus seek alliances
- How to halt “taiwanisation”
- The battle of Mosfili in Tylliria in 1964
Cyprus Problem in orbit of geopolitics
New developments on the international stage could affect peace talks when negotiations restart. The handling of the pandemic boosts M. Akinci politically just before the “elections”.
- Geopolitics: Partnership with international education center
- EEZ: Common maritime borders for Cyprus – Greece
- Editorial: End of an era
- We do not restart from Crans Montana: Turkish ambassador speaks to “K”
- Savvas Angelides (interview): Cyprus gives infrastructure for “IRINI”
- Sebastian Kurz (interview): We will not allow extortion by Turkey
Checkpoints half-open from today
- They abolished and hacked away at programmes for refugees (displaced)
- (Thodoros Tsikas interview) The question is, dialogue before or after a military incident?
- Cavusoglu: Ready for dialogue with Greece as well…
Window of compromise
Athens and Ankara on the way to The Hague. Greece accepts Hague’s jurisdiction over only EEZ and continental shelf delineation. Ankara (accepts it) for all border disputes. Acceptance of Greece – Italy agreement by Cavusoglu cancels elimination of Crete’s and Rhodes’s EEZs. Greece claims 100% influence over defining zones for its big islands, and a smaller percentage over defining EEZ and continental shelf. Cavusoglu: We are ready for dialogue with Greece.
- Announced by occupation regime: Changes at checkpoints since yesterday – Surprise move by Anastasiades forced Tatar – Ozersay “government” to speed up opening for particular categories of citizens by two days
- Petros Demetriou (opinion): Historical developments for the Republic of Cyprus
- Cyprus – SARS-COV-2: Zero cases yesterday as well
- Occupied areas: “Elections” to proceed on October 11th – Akinci’s proposal to speed them up was rejected
Main News
Turkish ambassador: Negotiations can’t restart from Crans Montana
Alithia, Kathimerini, Phileleftheros, Politis, Simerini, Sunday Mail
Negotiations Process, Energy, External Security, CBMs, EU Matters
The Turkish ambassador to Athens has told Kathimerini in an interview that if negotiations for a solution to the Cyprus Problem were to restart, they could not be picked up from where they were left off at the 2017 conference in Crans Montana. President Anastasiades also gave an interview to Phileleftheros pointing out that Cyprus has legally and politically shielded its rights in its EEZ.
Ambassador Burak Ozugergin said that the ball is not on Turkey’s side when it comes to the continuation of negotiations. He said that all options have been discussed since the 1960s and that it would be insane to repeat the same actions expecting different results.
Ozugergin said that the reason for the lack of solution is the fact that the G/C side does not intend to share governance and natural resources with the Turkish Cypriots. He said that Turkey will not allow another 50 years of delaying tactics, and underlined that negotiations cannot restart from the point they were stopped in Crans Montana.
Regarding energy, Ozugergin told the newspaper that Turkey will follow up on its public pronouncement and assign Turkish state company TPAO to conduct exploratory drillings in the areas covered by the Turkey – Libya Memorandum.
He also said that Turkey is ready to negotiate the delineation of maritime zones with Greece. When asked whether Greece’s delineation agreement with Italy will be taken into account during a theoretical Turkish-Greek negotiation, Ozugergin said that such deals prove that in international law, maritime delineation is not only about drawing a straight line between two countries.
In an interview in Phileleftheros, President Anastasiades states that the fact that international energy companies did not cancel, but merely postponed their activities in the Cypriot EEZ is a vote of confidence to the country. Anastasiades also said that the invitation to Turkey to negotiate over EEZ delineation remains open, as long as Turkey follows international law and recognise the RoC.
Regarding Israel, he said that the country’s rapprochement with Turkey is not a negative development since it is in Cyprus’s interest for our allies to have good relations with Turkey. He added that the process regarding the exploitation of the “Aphrodite” gas field is progressing and that the RoC has sent Israel its latest positions on the issue. Anastasiades said that he expects this to be discussed on a bilateral level during his upcoming visit to Israel.
Anastasiades also said that the RoC’s bilateral and trilateral cooperation with countries in the region do not exclude Turkey, and that Turkey has managed to exclude herself with her behaviour.
Kathimerini reports in an analysis that T/C leader Mustafa Akinci’s decision to ask for speeding up elections in the north, together with the situation regarding the checkpoints, have put pressure on the RoC government to signal to the international community that the G/C side is ready for dialogue and cooperation.
The newspaper points out that this attitude could be seen in the government’s decision to appeal to the EU to not reduce its assistance to the T/C community as part of expected cuts that will take place in the next MFF. The Commission’s current proposal is to reduce help to the T/Cs from 143 million down to 129 million euro.
Kathimerini also points out that the government is particularly worried about the possibility of conflict between Greece and Turkey, seeing that the EU is now focused on dealing with the economic side effects of the coronavirus and the US is only focused on Libya.
In separete analyses, Simerini and Alithia point out the possibility of Greece coming to a partial EEZ delineation arrangement with Egypt which would leave the issue of Kastelorizo undecided until Greece and Turkey agree to a comprehensive deal on marine zone delineation.
Alithia argues that both Turkey and Greece have shown indications that they are ready to appeal to the International Court of Justice at The Hague. Simerini argues that a partial agreement would turn the sea around Kastelorizo into a “gray zone” and that this would negatively affect an effort by Cyprus and Greece to delineate their own maritime borders.
Politis also points out in an analysis that for now Greece focuses on how to deal with the possibility of Turkey drilling off the coast of Crete, in the same way that TPAO became active in the Cypriot EEZ.
T/C side responds with its own partial reopening of checkpoints
Alithia, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
Internal Security, Human Rights, CBMs, Negotiations Process
Alithia reports on changes made to the T/C “government’s” policy on checkpoints, which were announced on Saturday. Most papers did not publish the news due to the closing time of Sunday editions.
The newspaper reports that the T/C “government” decided to speed up the opening of the checkpoints to certain categories of citizens due to the RoC’s surprise decision on Friday, to partially reopen the checkpoints starting Sunday.
Due to the decision taken by the T/Cs, T/C workers that had been stranded in the south were be able to return to the north to see their families. The loosening of the restrictions concerns T/Cs working in the south, students, Maronites and G/C enclaved. The decision essentially implements an agreement made by President Anastasiades and T/C leader Mustafa Akinci in May.
Politis reports that the Ministry of the Interior issued clarifications regarding the gradual and partial reopening of the checkpoints by the G/C side. The government points out that all Cypriot citizens and legal residents are allowed to cross to and from the occupied areas, by bringing a health certificate that has been issued in the past 72 hours. Other groups, such as T/C workers, students, Maronites and G/C enclaved, only need to show this certificate at the checkpoint once.
In an interview to Politis, AKEL secretary general Andros Kyprianou criticised the government over its lack of planning regarding the checkpoints. He said that while Ersin Tatar’s and Kudret Ozersay’s stance is understandable, given their positions, the G/C side should not promote policies that lead to partition.
Kyprianou also cast doubt on the government’s analysis that most migrants and asylum seekers cross into the south through the checkpoints. He added however that even if the numbers cited were correct, that doesn’t mean that the checkpoints should remain closed for ever.
The AKEL secretary general pointed out that the government should focus on creating the necessary preconditions for a return to negotiations and that there should be iniatives right after the elections in the occupied areas.
Kyprianou was asked to comment on AKEL’s discussions with DIKO regarding the possibility of cooperating in the 2023 presidential elections. Kyprianou said that any alliance will have to have a political underpinning, especially regarding the Cyprus Problem. When asked about DIKO’s positions on the Cyprus Problem, he said that the time for that discussion will come.
Leader of DISY Averof Neofytou, also speaking to Politis, said that the recent behaviour of the T/C side has shown that the problem stems from the policies of the Tatar – Ozersay coalition and not from the G/C side. Neofytou added that G/Cs also have rights and that this should be taken into account.
Regarding the possibility of a return to negotiations, Neofytou said the reason it hasn’t been possible is the political situation in the north, and repeated that DISY believes that the passage of time works against the prospects of a federal solution. He also said that the G/C side has done what could be done regarding natural gas.