Front Page Headlines
The situation at the hospital is serious
Head of the Doctors’ Trade Union (TIP-İŞ) Dr Ahmet Varış made shocking statements to Yenidüzen. He warned that transforming the State Hospital into a pandemic hospital should be the last option. Varış said that patients with other serious illnesses other than COVID-19 were being negatively affected by the situation. People are scared to seek treatment at the hospital out of fear of getting infected. Small tumours are growing, chemotherapy and dialysis patients have stopped coming in for treatment. Our blood stocks are running low,” he said. Varış also added that they did not know how much medicine or equipment they had in stock.
₺1 bn (€128.2m) due, ₺400m (€51.3m) in debts
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the KIBTEK (Turkish Cypriot Electricity Authority) was able to collect nearly ₺130m (€16.7m) however with the pandemic, its revenues dropped to ₺70m (€8.9m). KIBTEK has more money owed to it than it has debts. The municipalities on their own, owe the KIBTEK ₺219m (€28.17m).
- The Venetian walls of Nicosia to be restored – Ali Tuncay, co-chair of the bicommunal technical committee on cultural heritage said the goal is to complete the restoration of the Venetian walls of Nicosia before the end of summer.
- Five new cases in one day – One passenger who arrived by plane and four who arrived by ferry tested positive.
The opposition is only too pleased with Tatar’s bluff
The opposition parties welcomed National Unity Party (UBP) leader and Prime Minister Ersin Tatar’s bluff on holding early elections in January. The opposition parties, in fact, believe that the government will not last until January.
- New hospital to be built in three years – Turkish Cypriot Health Minister Ali Pilli, who had promised to build a pandemic hospital in 45 days, has now promised the construction of a 500-bed capacity hospital, which will replace the Dr Burhan Nalbantoğlu hospital in three years.
- The latest situation: North 130 cases, four deaths; South 1,040 cases, 27 deaths; Turkey 222,402 cases, 5,545 deaths.
A strange situation
Finance Minister Olgun Amcaoğlu who announced that the cost of living allowances will not be paid this year stated that the 57 per cent loss in revenues during the pandemic lockdown had receded to ten per cent in June. Amcaoğlu also questioned how much of the money normally stayed in the country and how much of it was spent in the South. “If these are the figures when the crossings are closed, how much money from our economy was flowing to the South?” he asked. Amacaoğlu said that he will be tabling a proposal to the Council of Ministers not to pay out the cost of allowance payments to civil servants in 2020.
- Greek Cypriots yes, but is there anything for us? – €2.7bn in EU financial support to South Cyprus.
Panic over imported (virus) cases
Fears over the reopening process on July 1 is becoming real. Five new positive COVID-19 cases were identified. Dr Özlem Gürkut, head of the Turkish Cypriot Doctors’ Association, said the government did not take any of their warnings seriously. 22 cases were recorded in the past 22 days even though there had been zero cases for consecutive 75 days before the reopening process. The alarm bells are ringing. Gürkut pointed out that undetected asymptomatic cases were worse than identifying five cases on a day. “The reality is that there are people who have the virus but are walking out and about the community,” Gürkut stressed.
- “I will only die once” – President Mustafa Akıncı responded to death threats.
Main News
Tatar: “Anastasiades is far from a just agreement”
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog
Negotiations Process, External Security, Regional/International Relations
OVERVIEW
“The Greek Cypriot leader has once more proven that the Greek Cypriot side is far from agreeing to a just, lasting and viable solution on the island,” Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ersin Tatar said on Wednesday.
In a written statement, Tatar said that the latest statements made by the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades on the 20th of July Turkish Peace Operation did not reflect the historical facts.
He said that the Greek Cypriot side’s stance showed just how distant it was from a just, lasting and viable solution to the Cyprus Problem.
Tatar stressed that the 1960 Republic of Cyprus which had been turned into a Greek Cypriot state following the armed attacks against Turkish Cypriots on December 21, 1963, could never be the island’s sovereign administration.
He also said that peace in Cyprus was maintained as a result of the presence of the Turkish Armed Forces on the island and Turkey’s active and effective guarantees.
“Mr Anastasiades, rather than adopting a realistic approach, has chosen to attack Turkey with false and defamatory statements, revealing once again the Greek Cypriot side’s intention to place Turkish Cypriots under their hegemony. The likening of Turkey to Nazi Germany by Anastasiades is proof he has no knowledge of history,” he said.
Tatar reminded that the military intervention by Turkey in 1974 had put an end to atrocities committed by the Greek Junta both against Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
“Mr Anastasiades may try to hide the Sandallar (Santalaris), Muratağa (Maratha) and Atlılar (Aloda) massacres but he can’t do so from the Turkish Cypriot people,” the Prime Minister said.
Tatar recalled the Turkish Cypriot parliament had adopted a unanimous decision in favour of the continuation of the existing military mechanism and added that the Turkish Cypriot people will never abandon Turkey’s guarantees nor give up its independence and state.
Turkey rejects Greece’s continental shelf claims
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog
Energy
OVERVIEW
The Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly rejected Greece’s irrational claims on the continental shelf over the Oruç Reis seismic exploration vessel’s in the Eastern Mediterranean, as it urged Greek authorities to heed calls for dialogue.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Turkey had previously announced its seismic exploration activities scheduled for July 21, 2020, in a NAVTEX and Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa seismic exploration vessel had previously carried out exploration activities in the same area.
The ministry noted that Greece’s maximalist continental shelf claims based on islands far away from the mainland are against international law, legal precedents and court decisions.
“Greece’s claim to create a 40,000 square kilometre continental shelf through an island two kilometres away from Anatolia and 580 kilometres away from Greek mainland is not rational and contradicts international law,” the ministry statement read, adding that Turkey rejects Greek claims.
The ministry also reiterated calls for dialogue and said Turkey would continue to protect its rights and interests in line with international law.
In the meantime, the Turkish National Security Council (MGK), which was convened under the chairmanship of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on Wednesday, also touched on the drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean.
A statement issued after the meeting underlined Turkey’s resolve in protecting Turkish Cypriots and its willingness to contribute to peace efforts in the divided island.
It also emphasized that Turkey will not allow any country or actor to undermine peace efforts on the island.
“The countries and actors, who ignore Turkish society’s existence and rights on the island, will not be allowed to undermine peace efforts,” the MGK statement said.
“Turkey emphasizes its total commitment to protect its rights and interests arising from the international law,” the statement added.
The MGK also reaffirmed Turkey’s steadfast support to the internationally-recognized government of Libya.
“Turkey will continue to side with Libya’s legitimate GNA government,” the statement said.
Touching on the recent tensions between Turkey and Greece, the MGK reaffirmed the Turkish Foreign Ministry statement issued earlier on Wednesday and rejected the “maximalist” Greek claims.
“If Turkey were to adhere to Greece’s maximalist claims, it would make it nearly impossible for Ankara to do any kind of drilling in the waters surrounding the country. That is why Turkey has many times rejected Greece’s absurd claims and continued its drilling activities in line with international law,” the statement concluded.
Posters threatening GCs hung on Bayraktar Mosque fence
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog
Internal Security, Human Rights
OVERVIEW
Posters inciting hatred with threatening messages directed at the Greek Cypriots crossing to the north were hung on the outer fence of the Bayraktar Mosque in south Nicosia, several dailies reported on Thursday.
UniteCyprusNow (UCN) activist Kemal Baykallı posted photographs of the posters on social media which read “Fire and axes to those who worship Turkish occupation” in Greek, sparking outrage in the north.
“These are not a direct threat to the Turks, Turkish Cypriots or Muslims but a direct threat to the Greek Cypriots who support a peaceful future in Cyprus. The symbolic value of posting them around the mosque is self-explanatory,” Baykallı wrote.
Baykallı posed several questions to the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades demanding he takes action against hate speech.
“Is posting a hate-message/death threat in a public space considered a crime in the Republic of Cyprus (RoC)? If no, do you plan to make it a criminal offence? If, yes. What are you planning to do to find the perpetrators of this crime? What kind of action are you planning to take against the hate groups and groups who constantly use hate language? What is the outcome of the investigation on the hate messages painted around the mosque in Limassol? Can you see a correlation between ignoring the activities of racist/hate groups and increased number of such incidents? Do you consider hate messages as a form of freedom of democratic expression? Or do you consider them acceptable if they are directed against certain segments of the society?” Baykallı asked.
In the meantime, Imam Şakir Alemdar, the mufti in the southern part of the island, told Havadis that the Greek Cypriot police had removed the posters and have launched an investigation into the incident.
Repairs on Nicosia’s historic walls to be completed before summer ends
Kıbrıs
CBMs
OVERVIEW
The co-chair of the bicommunal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage Ali Tuncay has said that repairs and conservation of a section of Nicosia’s old walls were expected to be completed before the summer’s end.
He said that repairs on the collapsed walls between Kyrenia gate and Rocca Bastion were continuing as part of a UNDP conservation project.
Tuncay explained that the walls had first been stripped and cleared of overgrowth and vegetation.
Steps will be also taken to prevent any possible accidents on the walls, he added.
The co-chair said that Nicosia’s historic walls were of great significance for tourism as well as preserving the city’s cultural heritage.
Tuncay also complained that entrance fees collected by the Turkish Cypriot Department of Museums and Antiquities at tourist sites were not being used for conservation and restoration of historic monuments.