Front Page Headlines
There is no government, nor handing back of the mandate
Ersan Saner who has been tasked to form a new government since November 7 did not hold a second round of meetings with any of the political parties following his first visits. While the internal strife within the National Unity Party (UBP) continues, the absence of a government is only fanning chaos and uncertainty.
- 62 organisations: Maraş (Varosha) move is harming the process
What is this?
In a joint operation carried out by the narcotics teams and the Güzelyurt (Morphou) police, nearly 17kg of cannabis was seized, seven were arrested. While 10kg of the drugs were smuggled in through Ercan (Tymbou) airport, it was also revealed that the drug dealings were done at a quarantine hotel.
- Visage of Maraş (Varosha) changing – Work underway in a haste in the area following Turkish President Erdoğan’s statement on ‘having a picnic’ in Maraş (Varosha). Erdoğan will be coming to the country to attend the 37th anniversary of the TRNC’s establishment.
- An early election is an option – UBP acting leader Ersan Saner said: “If it is not possible to achieve a good option among the current government models, we will display an attitude that will open the way to better service the public.”
Erdoğan hear this cry
While work continues hastily at the site where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will have his picnic on Sunday, 62 organisations from the north and the south of Cyprus demanded the unilateral opening in Maraş (Varosha) to be stopped. The 62 organisations argued that the unilateral opening of the fenced-off town which has become one of the symbols of the division on the island will harm the peace process and regional stability. They also said the move will harm relations between the two communities.
- The (drug) barons remain hidden – As a result of operation “Claw,” narcotics teams seized nearly 17kg of drugs in Kyrenia and Gemikonağı (Karavostasi). Seven Cameroonian students were arrested in connection to the 16.7kg of seized marijuana. It is claimed that the students were trying to sell the drugs throughout the island.
- Two-state solution conference for Spehar – President Tatar explained the Turkish Cypriot side’s new approach and policy for an agreement between the two sides to the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Cyprus (Elizabeth) Spehar.
- Strict isolation in Limassol and Paphos – Given the new measures adopted for Covid-19, the soldiers have been asked to go out and patrol the streets. There will be 24/7 checks in Limassol and Paphos. 24 schools will start online education.
- Ercan (Tymbou) locked down for Erdoğan – The flights to and from Ercan (Tymbou) are suspended from 10am to 10pm on November 15, the day the Turkish President Erdoğan will be coming to the TRNC.
From Cameroon to paradise island
16.7kg of illegal drugs were smuggled in through Ercan (Tymbou) airport, stashed in a quarantine hotel for two weeks and then distributed to different areas. Narcotics teams which carried raids in four different areas in an operation called “Claw” made the biggest drug busts in recent history. While over 16kg of drugs were seized in raids carried until the early hours of the morning in Nicosia, Kyrenia, Famagusta and Lefke (Lefka), seven Cameroonian nationals were arrested. While police were curious to find out how the drugs were smuggled in through Ercan (Tymbou), the seven Cameroonians, all university students, appeared in court on Thursday before being sent to prison.
Erdoğan will be greeted with protests
Bağımsızlık Yolu (Road to Independence) called on those demanding respect of their political will to attend the protest to be held on Sunday, November 15. Reactions to the mass picnic in Maraş (Varosha) are growing… The Left Movement declared support for the protest organized by Bağımsızlık Yolu… The other political parties, Trade Unions’ Platform and other organisations are also expected to give their support…
- Sorrow cannot be made into an appetizer – A joint statement from Turkish and Greek Cypriots. 62 organisations, including political parties and trade unions, issued a joint statement in Turkish and in Greek. In the statement, the organisations said: “The attempts to reopen Maraş (Varosha) despite the former inhabitants’ pains, sorrow and memories, with a festival like celebratory attitude, hurts our conscience.”
- This is how they are planting in Maraş (Varosha) – Landscape designs are being done in Maraş (Varosha) due to Tayyip Erdoğan’s picnic.
- 185 cases of coronavirus and one died in the south, three cases in the north.
Main News
Unilateral steps on Maraş (Varosha) to harm the peace process
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Property, Territory, Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
“The unilateral initiatives which have been taken on Maraş (Varosha) harm the peace process, regional stability and the relations between the two communities,” 62 organisations from both sides of the divide in Cyprus said on Thursday.
In a joint statement issued by 62 Cypriot civil society organisations, political parties, and trade unions, highlighted that the priority on the island should be to solve the Cyprus problem.
The organisations drew attention to the existing UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions on Maraş (Varosha) namely UNSC 550 and 789 and noted that the resolutions foresee the return of the fenced-off town to lawful owners under UN administration.
They also reminded that the UNSC reiterated its position and had urged the relevant sides to refrain from unilateral actions that might escalate the tension on October 9, 2020.
“Our recent past has shown us the political costs of acting in violation of international law and against the UN resolutions,” the statement read.
It added that no one benefitted from such actions.
“Acting in violation is neither in the best interest of the Turkish Cypriots, who are being made to pay the price of lack of solution nor in the best interest of Turkey, which is struggling with economic and political problems,” the statement noted.
The organisations also pointed out that the statements issued since the opening of the coastal area of the fenced-off town and the on-going evidence on the ground prove that the Turkish Cypriot institutions have been left out of the project.
“It is clear that the operation is being carried out directly by Turkey. This, among all others, means that it is yet another and direct interference in the Turkish Cypriots’ decision-making processes,” the statement stressed.
The organisations said they have always been in favour of reopening of Maraş (Varosha) without having to wait for the comprehensive settlement.
“The peaceful initiatives must encourage reconciliation and rapprochement and they must be carried out with consensus,” the statement said, adding that any other attempts would only help deepen the lack of trust between the two communities and strengthen the division.
“All things aside, the attempts to reopen Maraş (Varosha) despite the former inhabitants’ pains, sorrow and memories, with a festival like celebratory attitude, hurts our conscience,” the joint statement read.
The organisations have called for an immediate halt of the unilateral steps on the reopening of the town.
“We urge the authorities to carry out all reopening projects on Maraş (Varosha) with the UN and with the former inhabitants of the town. As long as Maraş (Varosha) remains as a place for collaboration and reconciliation, it will contribute to peace and stability on the island,” the statement read.
“Our priority should be to find a political solution and for mutual reconciliation, collaboration and peace to prevail on the island. This is the only way that will protect the interests of the people in Cyprus as well as in the region,” the joint statement concluded.
In a separate development, the Bağımsızlık Yolu (Road to Independence) movement on Thursday called on those demanding respect of the Turkish Cypriot community’s political will to attend a protest on Sunday, November 15 against the picnic to take place in Maraş (Varosha).
The details of the protest are yet to be announced but the Left Movement also declared support for the demonstration.
Other political parties, trade unions and civil society organisations are also expected to support and attend the protest.
In the meantime, the leader of the main opposition Republican Turkish Party (CTP), Tufan Erhürman also drew attention to UN resolutions and the importance of not violating international law.
“We do not need new steps that will result in new problems for the Turkish Cypriot community before the international community or in terms of international law,” he wrote on Thursday.
In a social media post, Erhürman added the CTP has been advocating for reopening of the fenced-off town simultaneously with the negotiations process to reach a comprehensive settlement.
“We were aware of the fact that the efforts to reopen Maraş (Varosha) in line with international law would have had positive consequences at the negotiations table,” Erhürman said.
He added that in the event the Greek Cypriot leader was to repeat his delaying tactics, then the Turkish Cypriots would not have wasted valuable time in reopening the town and reinstating former residents to their properties.
Erhürman also noted that he has prepared a road map for the reopening of the town that would start with the lifting of the military status over Maraş (Varosha) before the leadership elections.
“Lifting of the military status is necessary for the properties to be evaluated by the Immovable Property Commission (IPC),” Erhürman noted.
He also emphasized the importance of holding talks with the UN on the UNSC resolutions.
“By doing so, we would be able to demonstrate our willingness in support of a comprehensive settlement to the ECHR, the UN and the international community,” the CTP leader said.
Erhürman also complained that the Turkish Cypriot institutions and parliament had been bypassed when opening the beachfront of the town.
“Maraş (Varosha) is not a place to be used to win votes nor is it a place for dark tourism. It is a place that can only be opened through rational decisions in line with international law and by utilizing diplomacy. Otherwise, it will lead to new problems for the Turkish Cypriot community,” Erhürman concluded.
Another message of condemnation for the scheduled picnic in Maraş (Varosha) came from the Cyprus Feminist Initiative.
In a statement on Thursday, the initiative said: “We do not give our consent to those that disregard our country’s history and people’s sorrow.”
The Initiative also stated it opposed all fascist interference that trampled the Turkish Cypriots’ political will and democracy.
“We are not giving our consent to the ‘single-man regime’, to authoritarian regimes and to turning the north into a [Turkey’s] province,” the initiative stressed.
In the meantime, the dailies reported on Friday that the efforts to complete the landscaping in the area in the fenced-off town of Maraş (Varosha) to be visited by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahçeli, was underway at a feverish pace.
In addition to building new roads, bicycle lanes were drawn to allow people to access the area on bicycles.
Benches and picnic tables were also placed and there are plans to open up kiosks in the area.
The shrubbery has been cleaned, trees and bushes planted and wooden-barriers have been erected to prevent the people from approaching the old buildings.
The construction works in the area, despite possibly upsetting Turkish Cypriot contractors, have been shouldered by the Turkish government, the Konya Municipality, TOKİ (Turkey’s government-backed housing agency), and the Taşyapı construction company, that also manages Ercan (Tymbou) airport in the north.
Also on Thursday, the Turkish Cypriot Transportation Ministry announced that all the flights to and from Ercan (Tymbou) airport have been cancelled in view of Sunday’s activity in Maraş (Varosha).
“All flights to and from the Ercan (Tymbou) airport from 10am to 10pm have been cancelled due to the VIP traffic on Sunday,” the ministry said.
In the meantime, the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Landscape Architects announced that they have not been informed of any plans to build a park within Maraş (Varosha).
In a statement issued on Thursday, the chamber highlighted that the picnic areas, which can only be established with permits from the Turkish Cypriot authorities, must be compatible with the Turkish Cypriots’ cultural structure.
“The park, which will be inaugurated on November 15, will eventually be abandoned and will become a place that is not safe for public health,” the chamber argued.
The statement concluded by noting that none of the chamber’s members were involved in the construction of the park in Maraş (Varosha).
Tatar meets with SRSG Spehar
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process, Property, Territory
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar received the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Cyprus (SRSG) Elizabeth Spehar on Thursday.
During the introductory meeting, Tatar explained the new approach and policy adopted by the Turkish Cypriot side to reach an agreement in Cyprus.
“The talks for federation are a matter of the past. The agreement must be based on sovereign equality and the basis of two states,” Tatar said He also asked Spehar to “relay his message to the UN Secretary-General.”
In a statement issued from the Office of the President, Tatar also raised the issues of embargoes and isolations imposed on the Turkish Cypriot community.
“The international community because of the Greek Cypriot side’s demands, has isolated the Turkish Cypriot community from the world,” Tatar pointed out that Turkey was the only country standing by the Turkish Cypriots.
He also underlined that obstructing direct flights into the north is a violation of human rights and an attempt to weaken the Turkish Cypriot economy.
According to the statement issued, Spehar during the meeting expressed that the level of trust and confidence between the two communities was quite low.
“Within this context, the UN Special Representative highlighted the need for efforts to be made to revive the technical committees to work on implementing confidence-building measures (CBMs),” the statement read.
In response, Tatar noted that the Turkish Cypriot side had always and with sincerity supported the CBMs and the work of the technical committees.
“It is the Greek Cypriot side that needs to be forthcoming because they have always rejected approaches that would make the daily lives of the people easier,” Tatar argued and added that “the Greek Cypriot side is the biggest obstacle before the CBMs.”
Tatar also referred to the UN Secretary-General’s periodic reports on Cyprus and said the Greek Cypriots needed to overcome their fear of recognition for the north.
In terms of CBMs, Tatar suggested the launch of direct flights into the north; making the Green Line Trade regulation more effective; the opening of the Lokmacı (Ledra St.) crossing point and allowing tourists to cross to the north as well as allowing foreign investors to invest in the north without any obstructions from the Greek Cypriot side.
“We should be the ones closing the crossing points due to the spike in the number of coronavirus cases in the south, but we do not. Instead, we see the Greek Cypriot side closing many of the crossing points due to political reasons,” Tatar said.
Tatar in response to Spehar’s warnings on Maraş (Varosha), said the project to reopen the fenced-off town is a “ground-breaking idea to return the properties to lawful owners in line with UNSC resolutions.”
He explained the project and added that the property rights of the lawful owners will be reinstated through the IPC, which is recognized by the ECHR as a domestic remedy, in line with international law.
“Many Greek Cypriots are asking for their properties back. They are applying for their properties back,” Tatar said and asked how the UN would object to Greek Cypriots taking their properties back.
Tatar also reminded Spehar that Maraş (Varosha) had been proposed in various packages as part of the comprehensive settlement however the Greek Cypriot side had rejected them all.
“There is no political, legal and humane rationale for keeping Maraş (Varosha) closed 46 years later,” Tatar stressed.
Jane Holl Lute’s visit and the planned five-plus-UN meeting were among the other issues discussed during the meeting.
Tatar reminded that the five-party conference was initially a Turkish proposal.
“We see the five-plus-UN conference as an opportunity to table the solution model based on sovereign equality as the only way out for a lasting solution on the island,” Tatar concluded.
Turkey will not be confined in Aegean, East Med, Akar says
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Energy, Regional/International Relations
OVERVIEW
Turkey will continue to stand against efforts to confine it to territorial waters in the Aegean and around the Gulf of Antalya in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday.
He added that Turkey was also determined to protect the rights and interests of the Turkish Cypriot people.
“We could not stay indifferent to the moves of Greece and Egypt in the Eastern Mediterranean, so we, too, have taken the necessary measures to protect our country’s rights and interests,” Akar pointed out during the Turkish parliament’s Planning and Budget Committee.
He added that Turkey has always been respectful of its neighbour’s borders and rights.
“Ankara always supports peace, friendship, cooperation and seeks good neighbourly relations with its neighbours. We want to achieve a political solution to these problems in line with international law and we are exerting great efforts for this,” he added.
The Turkish Defence Minister said that despite Turkey’s constructive stance, it was constantly facing provocative and aggressive actions or irresponsible statements.
Akar added that there were two problems regarding the Eastern Mediterranean, the first being Turkey’s maritime borders and the second being those ignoring the existence and rights of the Turkish Cypriot people.
He reminded that efforts to reach a just, lasting and comprehensive solution in Cyprus since 1968 have failed.
“The biggest obstacle to a solution is Greece’s and the Greek Cypriot side’s spoilt attitude which recognizes no law or rights. A solution in Cyprus is only possible by accepting the reality that Turkish Cypriots are co-owners of the island,” he said.
Akar pointed out that the Turkish Cypriot people who founded their independent state in 1983 have shown to the world that it is a true democracy, most recently with its presidential elections on October 18.
“For that, I would like to congratulate Mr Tatar once again,” he said.
On the issue of Maraş (Varosha), Akar said that the expression “fenced-off” was no longer valid and that opening of the town was legitimate as well as in line with international law.
Restoration of collapsed section of Venetian Walls completed
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
CBMs, Human Rights
OVERVIEW
The emergency works that entailed removal of the vegetation on the old Nicosia walls from Mula (Zahra) Bastion to the Kyrenia Gate; restoration of the collapsed part between the Mula (Zahra) Bastion and the Roccas Bastion (Yiğitler Burcu) and the restoration of the collapsed part at the Quirini (Cephane) Bastion, have been completed, the dailies report on Friday.
The emergency works were carried out with financing from the EU and were carried out by the bicommunal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage.
Ms Elizabeth Spehar, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) in Cyprus; Mr Alain Joaris, EU Programme Support Office; Mr Takis Hadjidemetriou and Mr Ali Tuncay, Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage and Ms Tiziana Zennaro, from the UNDP attended the ceremony to mark the completion of the works.
In her statement delivered during the event, Spehar expressed her gratitude to the bicommunal technical committee on cultural heritage for continuing with their efforts even during the most strenuous times on the island.
“The works carried out is more than a simple restoration. They have become a light of hope for those living on the island,” Spehar said.
Also speaking during the event, Turkish Cypriot chair of the technical committee Ali Tuncay said the bicommunal community has managed to create the culture of collaboration between the two communities.
“The bicommunal technical committee has proven once again how productive the Cypriots can be when the two sides collaborate,” Tuncay said and added that the said collaboration can only be strengthened by respecting the two side’s political equality, to their cultural differences and their identity.
“Our work is not simply restoring old monuments but to create the most needed culture of trust and peace between the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots,” Tuncay concluded.
Also speaking the Greek Cypriot chair of the committee Takis Hadjidemetriou highlighted the recently completed 19 projects of renovation and reconstructions on both sides of the island and pointed out that the monuments are a result of the history and the culture handed over by Cypriots’ forebears.
Hadjidemetriou also said that the help provided by the UNDP and the EU does not only constitute technical and financial assistance but is also an expression of concern by the UN and the EU for the monuments that are being destroyed by time.
“When a monument is destroyed, it is lost to all of humanity, and when a monument is reconstructed, it is then reconstructed for all of humanity,” Hadjidemetriou concluded.