Front Page Headlines
A €150m boost to 60,000 workers
The new restrictions bring full return of special support schemes. The government proceeds with new schemes for the hotel industry under the weight of the new restrictive measures all over Cyprus. Between March and today €530m has been spent on special employment support schemes from which 190,000 workers benefited. The funding of the new scheme will be made by the existing available resources and the EU’s SURE scheme.
- Occupied areas: UBP is Ankara and AKP’s branch
- New measures premiere with a new record in cases – Hospitals are filling up.
Attention, it is getting out of control
A record number of cases is causing terror. Sixty-five people are in hospitals in Nicosia and Famagusta. They are warning: Unless the measures are kept, it will not be possible to curb the spread. Dramatic appeal by patients to citizens: “I’m asking you to protect us, we are among you.” “They are leading us to financial ruination”: Strong reactions in Limassol and Paphos.
- They are preparing a campaign for the ‘isolation’
- Countdown by France for the (EU leaders) high-level meeting
Blackmail from banks to borrowers
Scores of letters from banks to borrowers while 1,362 foreclosures have been scheduled for the coming period according to data submitted during yesterday’s House finance committee. In fact, banks are blackmailing borrowers to hand them over the keys, with the latter warning that the situation is very serious.
- Turkish intervention also on the new UBP leader – Ozgurgun returns.
- Rapid increase of people with Covid-19 in hospitals – 233 new cases and 65 people in hospitals, five of whom in the intensive care.
‘It could mean closing for good’
Venues say new measures crippling as daily tally hits record 233 cases.
- €150m in support schemes is announced
A friend in the White House?
US elections: Joe Biden is just a step from the final victory. Trump is angry, he does not accept the result and turns to justice, leading things to a complicated procedure but also cultivating strife among citizens. Americans appear divided, fear for incidents.
- Anastasiades: What I told Tatar
- Criticism against Erdogan: The French FM is calling for EU sanctions on Turkey
- We broke all records! – A shocking 233 cases yesterday. People in hospitals and the intubated are alarmingly increasing.
- Grigoris Ioakim: He ‘rebuilt’ Lysi like its residents had experienced it
Main News
No sign yet from UNSG on Cyprob
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
Negotiations Process, External Security, EU Matters
OVERVIEW
Haravgi and Cyprus Mail report that President Nicos Anastasiades said he has yet to hear back from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on any new moves with regard to the Cyprus problem after his meeting with TC leader Ersin Tatar earlier this week.
During a visit to a photo exhibition dedicated to the 60 years of the Republic held at the Philoxenia conference centre in Nicosia, Anastasiades, was asked whether he had any information as to whether the UN chief would be dispatching to the island his special envoy Jane Holl Lute. He replied: “Nothing yet, nothing for now.”
According to Alithia, Anastasiades also said that he stressed to Tatar during their meeting that a necessary element for the success of the efforts for the Cyprus problem should be to stay focused on the agreed solution but also create a favourable climate through the immediate termination of Turkey’s unilateral and illegal actions whether these relate to marine areas of the Republic or violation of the status of Varosha.
Alithia, Phileleftheros and Haravgi report that earlier in the day, while accepting the credentials of heads of foreign missions appointed to Nicosia, the president said these Turkish actions have received severe condemnation by the international community and the EU as they violate the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus and are against international law. He also expressed the hope that Turkey would eventually choose to adopt a more pragmatic and constructive approach and comply with international law.
Anastasiades said Turkey’s illegal and provocative actions, not only adversely affect efforts to restart the peace process but leave no margin for the creation of the necessary conditions to involve all parties in a dialogue.
As regards the Cyprus problem, Phileleftheros reports in another article that EDEK welcomed two more members who decided to join the party after it denounced the prospect of the bizonal, bicommunal federal (BBF) solution.
Party leader Marinos Sizopoulos said pilot Marinos Efstathiou and businessman Christos Constantinides decided to join EDEK.
Efstathiou said he decided to jump on board due to EDEK’s decision to denounce the BBF. Constantinides cited EDEK’s positions on the Cyprus problem and the fact that it is the only party clearly denouncing the BBF. He also cited the party’s social alliance, Phileleftheros reports.
Alithia and Phileleftheros, also report that French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian, referred to the “unacceptable” behaviour of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and to possible EU sanctions on Ankara. The French top diplomat insinuated that Erdogan bears responsibility for the terrorist acts in France and elsewhere through hate speech.
Le-Drian called on Turkey to denounce this logic and warned that if there is no change to Ankara’s conduct, the EU leaders would take the necessary measures against Turkish authorities, referring to the upcoming European Council summit in December.
Phileleftheros also reports that the north has launched a campaign for lifting the so-called isolation of the TCs. Both Tatar and the TC left have come forward with the issue of lifting the restrictions on TCs. These moves help Turkey’s goals on the Cyprus issue and especially the existence of a separate state entity in the northern part of the island, the daily reported.
Tatar raised the issue of the so-called isolation during his meeting with Anastasiades on Tuesday while the same issue is being raised during contacts, the daily reports, adding that the US ambassador and the UK high commissioner visited separately the new TC leader in his office recently.
Citing media reports in the north, the daily reported that during these two meetings Tatar raised the issue of the so-called isolation and restrictions imposed on the TCs.
KEY ACTORS
Anastasiades
>> Staying focused on the agreed solution & creating a favourable climate through a stop to Turkey’s unilateral and illegal actions are necessary element for the success of the efforts for the Cyprob.
>> Hopes Turkey will choose a more pragmatic & constructive approach and comply with international law since its actions affect efforts to restart the peace process but leave no margin for the creation of the necessary conditions to involve all parties in a dialogue.
‘Biden’s victory would mean having a friend in the White House’
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
Regional/International Relations, Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
All dailies report on the elections in the US, and that Democrat Joe Biden is ahead of incumbent Donald Trump.
Alithia, in its main item, reports that everything points to Joe Biden winning the elections. According to the paper Biden is a political friend of Cyprus but also of President Anastasiades. His knowledge about the Cyprus problem is better than most in the US, while he visited the island as the country’s vice-president during the Obama administration and tasted souvlaki and sheftalies at the president’s house in Limassol.
He also visited Anastasiades when he had surgery in the US and has helped as regards the Cyprus problem with various moves.
The paper republished parts of an article it had prepared a while back on the US elections and on what would change for Cyprus if Biden was elected.
It said Biden’s visit to Cyprus in May 2014 was described as historic since for the first time, the US Vice President visited the island and clearly stated that “the US recognises only one state in Cyprus, the Republic of Cyprus”. However, there were reactions to his decision to visit the occupied areas and meet with then TC leader Dervis Eroglu, even if the meeting took place without the presence of symbols of the illegal pseudo-state.
The paper also cites former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ioannis Kasoulides saying that Biden was impressed by the hospitality he and his wife received by President Anastasiades and the First Lady at their home in Limassol. The two men’s relations were further strengthened by the meetings and telephone conversations they had in the years that followed. As Kasoulides remembers, the two of them had meetings at the White House but also at the United Nations headquarters, while on several occasions they spoke on the phone, always focusing on the Cyprus issue.
To the paper’s question on whether Biden’s election would mean a change in the superpower’s policy on the Cyprus issue, Kasoulides said that at least there will be a president in the White House, who not only as vice president but also as a senator was very much associated with Cyprus and contributed to the efforts for a solution of the Cyprus problem. He also said that Biden’s election would mean that Nicosia would not face Trump’s unpredictable policies. Kasoulides said Biden had even contributed positively by promoting the talks in Crans-Montana.
GC press monitors UBP elections
Alithia, Haravgi, Politis
Governance & Power Sharing
OVERVIEW
The dailies widely report on the election process within the ruling National Unity Party (UBP) in the north for the party’s leadership to replace Ersin Tatar and Turkey’s intervention.
The new head of UBP will be asked by Tatar to form a ‘government’ and hence, will be the new ‘prime minister’.
Politis reports that, following intervention by Turkey’s ruling AKP, UBP has called off the second round of its elections that was to take place on Saturday. Citing sources, the paper reported that Ankara wants to bring back to UBP’s leadership, its former leader Huseyin Ozgurgun, who fled to Turkey after his ‘parliamentary’ immunity was lifted to face charges for money-related offences. According to Politis, UBP is Ankara’s and AKP’s branch.
Alithia, citing TC media, reports that Ankara is also electing the ‘prime minister’ in the occupied areas.
Haravgi also reports on Turkish intervention on the new UBP leader. It also cites head of the Rebirth Party (YD) Erhan Arikli, saying that the decision to hold another conference in 45 days, paves the way for Ozgurgun’s return.