Front Page Headlines
A list that turned into a comedy
Today they (MPs) will decide – again – how to handle the publication of names.
The government changes formulas
The state schemes’ provisions change to support first low wage earners. Most businesses are waiting for clarifications on social insurance before they pay.
- They promote Ozersay as an interlocutor: Akinci rejects the haircut of his competencies from Ankara
- Three more coronavirus cases yesterday from Turkey
Mere spectators of the hospitals’ problems
OKYPY is administratively absent and hospitals are on autopilot while the health ministry is a mere spectator and unable to provide solutions. Serious understaffing and a new wave of doctor walk-outs. They devalue the scientific and professional identity of nurses and midwives.
- Preservation of history (event to mark coup anniversary)
- Event (by AKEL) condemning the twin crime (to take place on Friday)
- Setting the EU-Turkey dialogue framework
- Strovilia was not included in the development plans – Discontent and representations by Dherynia municipality.
‘Efforts afoot to discredit PEP (politically exposed persons) list’
Former central bank governor irked by the suggestion she was ‘slapdash’.
- Guterres report released, UN laments rise in tensions
- Civil defence rebuffs complaints that July 15 sirens failed to sound in some areas
- (photo caption) New measures for recruits: Defence Minister Charalambos Petrides on Thursday visited the recruitment centre KEN in Larnaca to address the new conscripts who have started their national service facing new procedures due to the Coronavirus pandemic
Horror show over the Georghadji list
Today’s House plenary session. AKEL, DIKO, EDEK and Solidarity do not want the list to be made public as is but to be sent back to the Central Bank Governor to be updated. Some of their MPs are expected not to obey. DISY, the Greens and ELAM are in favour of its publication.
- Akinci to Ankara: The talks are between the leaders of the two communities
- Cyprus problem: UNFICYP’s mandate renewal on July 29
- 2020 army recruits: Leave every two days and swearing-in ceremony without the parents
Main News
Nicosia can discuss direct military contact with Turkish army, not north
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros
External Security, Negotiations Process, CBMs, Energy
OVERVIEW
The dailies report on the two reports by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, one on UNFICYP, the other on his good offices mission in Cyprus, released as official documents, in which he notes that there has been a rise in tensions but also that three years after the Crans-Montana talks it is getting more challenging to resume negotiations.
The report on the UNSG’s good offices mission also includes the notes by the two leaders on their efforts to support efforts to reach a sustainable and comprehensive settlement as per the call of the Security Council.
Except from the Cyprus Mail, the rest of the dailies briefly mentioned the two reports mainly citing the overview given by the Cyprus News Agency.
In his report on his good offices mission in Cyprus Guterres said that though he continues to hope that a comprehensive settlement is possible, the Covid-19 pandemic has added to an already complex situation on and around the island. He referred to rising tensions in and along the buffer zone while concerns over irregular migration and the flow of refugees both on the island and in the region have strained relations among the parties to the Cyprus issue. Other sources of tension concern the possible opening of Varosha, hydrocarbons exploration and increasingly maritime boundary delimitation.
On the issue of natural resources in and around Cyprus, he said they should be a strong incentive to reach a mutually acceptable settlement to the Cyprus problem without any further delay.
Guterres said that three years have passed since the intensive talks at Crans-Montana making it more challenging to resume negotiations but he would continue to monitor developments closely and urge all parties to exercise restraint and avoid escalation. Referring to his meeting in Berlin last November with the two leaders he said he would continue his efforts to achieve terms of reference to serve as a consensus starting point for phased meaningful and results-oriented negotiations at the earliest feasible opportunity.
He urged all relevant parties to renew dialogue and explore possibilities for regional cooperation and also called for serious efforts to be taken to defuse tensions.
On Varosha, he reiterated that the position of the UN remains unchanged and that it continues to be guided by the relevant Security Council resolutions and is available to assist in the implementation of any measures that are consistent with those resolutions.
The UNSG pointed that beyond the important regional dimension of the Cyprus issue much remains in the hands of Cypriots themselves.
He also welcomes the signs of revitalisation and increased engagement of the technical committees pointing out that 11 of the 12 committees met at least once during the reporting period while meetings and concrete initiatives and events were carried out. He noted however that a few of the technical committees have not yet reached their full potential.
Cyprus Mail reports on the call by the Security Council for military cooperation and the way the two leaders responded in their own reports about the issue.
According to the daily, the GC side said it was willing to discuss setting up a mechanism for direct contacts at military level between the National Guard and the Turkish forces, but not with the north, whereas the TC side stated its readiness to open channels for effective cooperation on various matters of islandwide significance.
Anastasiades said that the Republic of Cyprus has already expressed readiness to discuss the establishment of such a mechanism between the National Guard and the Turkish occupation forces, comprising their commanders and the force commander of Unficyp as facilitator. He rejected however, direct cooperation with the TC side.
“Ideas advocating the establishment of mechanisms on a wide array of issues coupled with extensive references calling for cooperation between the two ‘sides’ are counterproductive and only serve towards deviating efforts away from the fundamental goal of reunification,” he said. He added that such ideas, in conjunction with the revival of the totally unacceptable notion of contacts with the secessionist entity “without prejudice to recognition”, only serve to promote the normalisation of the status quo and thus the permanent division of Cyprus.
They also reflect a tendency to shift away from the commitment to solve the Cyprus problem on the basis of relevant Security Council resolutions but also circumvent such resolutions and portray the Cyprus problem as an intercommunal issue, instead of its core nature as an international problem of foreign invasion and military occupation by Turkey, he said.
TC leader Mustafa Akinci, in his report, said that the two sides need to “break long-standing taboos and open up channels for effective cooperation on various matters of islandwide significance, such as environmental protection and crime prevention,” the daily reports.
As regards the report on UNFICYP, Guterres called for a six-month renewal of the mission’s mandate and highlighted that actions around the buffer zone have caused levels of tension not seen in years. He also said that the absence of a solution to the Cyprus problem is increasingly unsustainable.
Haravgi reports that the two documents focus on the rise of tensions in Cyprus. Nicosia’s diplomatic approach is that the reports do not include anything deemed unacceptable but they record the negative points which have already been pointed out to Spehar, who will brief the Security Council on Monday through a teleconference.
Citing information, Haravgi reports that Nicosia’s efforts will be on violations in (Varosha, Strovilia) and around Cyprus so that Turkey’s illegal actions are condemned since they do not allow the resumption of the talks.
Phileleftheros reports that Spehar will brief the Security Council on the situation on the island on July 20, which is the anniversary of the Turkish invasion in Cyprus. The vote on UNFICYP’s mandate renewal is expected to take place on July 29.
KEY ACTORS
Guterres (UN)
>> Continues to hope that a comprehensive settlement is possible but the pandemic & the other challenges on and around the island make things more difficult to resume negotiations as time passes by.
>> Natural resources should be a strong incentive for all parties to reach a mutually acceptable settlement to the Cyprob without any further delay.
>> Continues to closely monitor developments & his efforts to achieve ToR as a starting point for meaningful and results-oriented negotiations at the earliest feasible opportunity.
>> Urges all parties to exercise restraint, avoid escalation and defuse tensions & renew dialogue and explore possibilities for regional cooperation.
>> Willing to assist in the implementation of any measures on Varosha, consistent with SC resolutions, which are the UN’s standing positions on the matter.
>> The Cyprob is mostly in the hands of Cypriots themselves.
>> Welcomes revitalisation & increased engagement of the technical committees but notes that some of them have yet to reach their full potential.
>> Suggests the renewal of UNFICYP’s mandate for another six months pointing out that actions around the buffer zone have caused levels of tension not seen in years.
>> The absence of a solution to the Cyprob is increasingly unsustainable.
Anastasiades
>> RoC is willing and ready to discuss the establishment of a mechanism for direct contacts at military level between the NG & the Turkish military but not any other kind of direct cooperation with the TC side.
>> Finds calls for direct cooperation between the two sides as unacceptable, counterproductive & that they circumvent UN resolutions, steer things away from the goal of reunification, serve to promote the normalisation of the status quo & portray the Cyprob as an intercommunal issue, instead of that of foreign invasion and military occupation.
Akinci
>> Believes the two sides need to break long-standing taboos and open up channels for effective cooperation on various matters of island-wide significance.
GC side to seek clarifications on TC epidemiology report
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
CBMs, Migration & Citizenship
OVERVIEW
The papers report that among the six new coronavirus cases announced on Thursday, three were migrants from Syria who had come through the north from Turkey.
Cyprus Mail reports that the three migrants arrived on Wednesday morning. They were part of a bigger group that crossed through the buffer zone in Athienou, but whose number was not immediately known.
Alithia and Haravgi report that the GC head of the Technical Committee on Health, Leonidas Phylactou, said they would seek clarifications from their TC counterparts during next week’s meeting on the epidemiology report the north has submitted.
Phylactou said they would ask for more information as regards the assessment of the report, but also on the situation after the opening of the airport and ports for passengers from Turkey and repatriations.
The issue of migrants is another matter the GC team wants to discuss as well as clarifications on the checks and measures on crossings since the TC side has made several changes which is confusing for many about what currently applies.
The GC side will also submit an updated epidemiology report, along the same lines as the first two it has submitted, the papers report.
Turkish defence ministry releases 1974 invasion photos
Phileleftheros
External Relations
OVERVIEW
Phileleftheros reports that the Turkish defence ministry published on Thursday new photos that had not been released before, of the July 20, 1974 invasion in Cyprus.
The paper calls this move a provocation and an effort to give a festive note to the anniversary of that horrific day, it said.
The daily also reports that the Turkish ministry, without any regrets, insists on calling the invasion a ‘peace operation’, which is also the narrative used by Turkey and TC politicians.
According to the daily, the ship that brought the Turkish troops to Cyprus that day has been taken from Istanbul to Pente Mili in Kyrenia, from where the invasion started, and will be open to the public on Monday.
Dherynia feels wronged by its exclusion from bases development map
Alithia
Economy
OVERVIEW
The daily reports that Dherynia municipality is not satisfied with the agreement between the government and the UK on development in the Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) since Strovilia has been excluded.
The municipality said in a written statement that the draft report on the town planning maps recently published by the government and the bases, does not include any of the proposals it has submitted on development projects in Strovilia which falls within its jurisdiction.
It said that this raises many questions both among the municipal council and the residents of Dherynia on the bases’ negative stance on any sort of change and development in their area. The municipality also said that they should not have gotten people’s hopes up. The municipality also said that, to prepare those proposals, it wasted time and resources which could have been used for other purposes instead.
It said that the Policy Statement, that should play the role of regulator of development, has defined the whole area within the boundaries of the municipality as countryside and agricultural land with restrictive measures.
The few remaining residents of the area have once again been hung out to dry without any guarantee on what will be in their area while, Dherynia, that sits on the buffer zone, has once again been wronged, the municipality said.