Front Page Headlines
Nothing to be hidden from “golden” passport investigation
Attorney General G. Savvides: I never had the intention to cover up or to obfuscate anything. Myron Nicolatos was even considering stepping down from investigating committee if findings were not published after being completed. The only information that will be protected will be those regarding public interest, which is connected to not affecting possible criminal investigations to follow. Institute of Certified Public Accountants begins collecting evidence from audit firms that provided services as part of KEP (Cyprus Investment Programme).
- Another 228 cases: Optimistic despite three digit numbers
- A matter of trust: Tatar’s two states cracked the cracked glass
Health Ministry in desperation
Minister apologises, but confusion and mistakes continue to affect citizens. The confusion pushed the pandemic to second place, while number of patients in intensive care units is now two digits.
- Aggressive planning by Turkey: Mobilisation for pseudostate recognition – Ersin Tatar provokes Varoshans to claim and take their properties – Borrell put Turkish actions on the agenda of the Foreign Ministers
- They look for depositions by journalists: Investigations for Al Jazeera video hanging by a thread
- Jho Low bargains with Malaysian authorities
They test endurance of the people
Outrageous absurdities and inefficiency with testing. Citizens: “Forced labour” and “herding”. Unions demand support for workers.
- Lynching of students with principal’s tolerance
- “Concerns” after the many back and forth
- Remote Pyrgos Tyllirias can’t breathe. AKEL representatives visit community
- Government threatens users of T/C professional properties
Questions over ‘Covid deaths’
Three families are not convinced that coronavirus was the main cause of death of loved ones.
- Cyprus: Anastasiades refutes two-states claim by Tatar
Pseudostate on track to be recognised by 5 countries!
Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Libya (Tripoli government), Bangladesh and Gambia, which are friendly towards Turkey, are said to be ready to recognise the “TRNC”. Concerned government puts the issue in front of 27 Foreign Ministers tomorrow.
- Anastasiades: Tatar is lying, I rejected two states immediately
Main News
Anastasiades rejects Tatar’s claim on response to two-state solution
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Oikonomiki Kathimerini, Phileleftheros, Politis
Negotiations Process, Governance & Power Sharing, EU Matters
OVERVIEW
Relations between the two leaders are at a low after T/C leader Ersin Tatar said publicly that President Anastasiades did not reject a two-state solution during their meeting on November 3rd, Politis reports.
The newspaper reports that the negative situation has occurred as UNSG envoy Jane Holl Lute is due to visit Cyprus on November 27th. Lute could stay in Cyprus for two days as it might be necessary to meet with each leader more than once, according to Politis. Lute has already spoken with the guarantor powers, it is reported.
In a statement, Tatar said that during their meeting, Anastasiades did not decisively rule out the possibility of a two-state solution. Tatar added that he was expecting the issue to come up in public references of the G/C leader but that this didn’t happen.
Anastasiades reacted by issuing a written statement, in which he says that not only does Tatar’s claim not reflect reality, but also causes suspicions over his real motives ahead of the UNSG’s initiative to restart negotiations.
Anastasiades claimed that during their meeting he clearly pointed out that reaching a solution is only possible on the basis of High Level Agreements, decisions and resolutions by the Security Council of the UN and the principles and values of the EU.
He added that during their discussion he rejected the possibility of a two-state solution, and had added that no one internationally, including the UN and especially the EU, would accept this model.
Politis notes however that the President’s announcement does not make specific mention of the bizonal bicommunal federal model.
Meanwhile, Phileleftheros reports that UNSG spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists that the UN is following closely and with concern the developments in Varosha, Erdogan’s visit to the fenced off city and his statements regarding a two-state solution.
Dujarric said that the UN’s position on Varosha remains the same and guided by relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council. He added that the UNSG calls on all parties to avoid unilateral moves that could cause tensions and undermine the return to dialogue.
He also called on all parties to enter a dialogue to solve their differences, and stressed the importance of beginning a viable and comprehensive negotiations process. He also said that the UN is ready to examine the prospects of an informal 5+1 meeting, but could not share details on the date of a possible visit by Lute.
Commenting on whether Erdogan’s position on two states contradicts the UNSG’s position that negotiations should begin based on the Guterres Framework, Dujarric said that the UNSG’s position remains the same and that anyone can draw their own conclusions.
The newspaper also reports that the UN representative in Cyprus, Elizabeth Spehar, is having a series of meetings with party leaders and politicians, including DISY president Averof Neofytou whom she met on Monday.
Opposition AKEL said in a statement that the G/C side should convince the international community that it remains committed to a bizonal bicommunal federal solution with political equality, Haravgi reports.
Spokesperson Stefanos Stefanou said that AKEL would have liked to have seen a stronger statement on behalf of the UNSG, but noted that at least the UN points all sides back to negotiations. Stefanou added that AKEL had been warning the government for three and a half years that the only way to stop Turkey’s plans is to return to the table.
The dailies also point to Turkish President Erdogan’s role in intervening for Tatar to meet foreign leaders, including in Azerbaijan and Libya, and the possibility of Turkey pushing for recognition of the north. Politis reports that diplomatic sources believe these are preparatory moves for Turkey to pursue recognition in case a new process collapses.
According to T/C media, Tatar has said he intends to visit Azerbaijan, while there is information that the leader of Libya’s Tripoli government could visit the north.
Oikonomiki Kathimerini reports that the possibility of an upgrade of the north has been reported by many pro-government media in Turkey for the first time. The newspaper also reports, citing Turkish sources, that even though Azerbaijan was not able to receive the T/C leader due to international pressure over Nagorno-Karabakh, today it can move more freely.
Alithia reports that Cypriot Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides told Alpha TV that this information causes concern, adding that both the RoC and the EU have contacted Azerbaijan, sending the message that such a move would have consequences.
The newspaper also recalls a statement by Christodoulides on Monday, during a meeting of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee, that there are worries Turkey might want to annex the north in 2023 as part of the centenary of the Republic of Turkey.
The dailies report that in Thursday’s Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), the Cypriot Foreign Minister and EU High Representative Josep Borrell are set to brief their EU counterparts on the latest developments in Varosha and Erdogan’s statements.
The Cyprus News Agency reports that an EU official said during a briefing that the issue is on the agenda, but that no decisions will be taken during the meeting. He reiterated that the EU wants to enter into a comprehensive dialogue with Turkey on relations with the EU and the situation in Syria, Libya and Iraq.
Greek diplomatic sources told media that Borrell assured Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias that the EU will use all tools available to defend member state interests, Alithia reports. Borrell was responding to a letter sent by Dendias, in which he outlined Turkey’s behaviour.
The same official underlined that now there is also the change of the status quo in Varosha as well as Erdogan’s statements that contravene the UN’s approach to the Cyprus Problem. He stressed that what the EU wants is a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, negotiated in a UN framework and based on EU values and principles.
US ambassador Judith Garber said that UN Security Council resolutions on Famagusta need to be respected, in a statement issued after a meeting with House Speaker Adamos Adamou.
Garber reiterated that the US is clear on their support to the RoC’s rights to exploit its natural resources and on its position regarding Turkish activity in the Cypriot EEZ. She also repeated that the US supports a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus Problem on the basis of a bizonal, bicommunal federation that will benefit all Cypriots.
Phileleftheros also reports that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, that the two discussed Turkey’s aggressive actions in Nagorno-Karabakh and Libya, as well as its actions in the Eastern Mediterranean. Pompeo said in an interview with Le Figaro that the US and the EU need to cooperate to convince Turkey that such actions are not in the interest of its people.
Legal team seeks strategy for G/C owners of Varosha properties
Haravgi, Politis
Property, Territory, Human Rights
OVERVIEW
The government has put together a legal team under the RoC’s Law Office which is examining all possible legal scenarios and avenues regarding the situation in Varosha, Politis reports.
The suggestions are for actions that can be used on a legal level as well as politically.
The legal experts are examining whether the actions that have been taken so far by Turkey as well as the T/C “government” under the Ersin Tatar-Kudret Ozersay coalition have already contravened Security Council resolutions.
The experts will also consider the possibility of success of an appeal by Evkaf against a decision by the Immovable Property Commission, which could be brought to a T/C court.
The report notes that T/C leader Ersin Tatar has been careful to say in recent statements that the T/C side does not intend to contradict Security Council resolutions and that G/C properties will not be given to people other than the owners.
In another development, Famagusta’s Trade and Industry Chamber (EBEA) issued a statement calling the UNSG and European leaders to use their influence to prevent Turkey from realising plans to open Varosha.
Students shouting nationalist slogans attacked students that disagreed
Alithia, Haravgi
Internal Security, Human Rights, CBMs
OVERVIEW
Haravgi reports that two students supporting a solution were attacked by other students at the Dasoupoli Lyceum and that the principal of the school put up with this behaviour.
According to the report, protests regarding the anniversary of the proclamation of the “TRNC” took place inside schools due to the pandemic.
Despite the fact that PSEM (coordination committee of student organisations) gave strict guidelines for the protests, a group of students brought nationalist flags and used slogans mentioning Greece’s Golden Dawn and Grivas.
Two female students reacted to this approach by holding placards saying that Cyprus belongs to Cypriots and that peace in Cyprus cannot be stopped, in Greek, Turkish and English.
The two students were attacked by the students who threw objects, spat at them and verbally attacked them, also with sexist remarks.
One of the students accused the school administration on social media that when she informed an assistant principal of the event, she got the response that the school had no responsibility. The assistant principle also told her that she was to blame since there were Turkish slogans on her placard, the student wrote.
PSEM condemned the incident with a written statement, pointing out that students attacked other students who had a different opinion than theirs, and that the school’s administration put up with this behaviour.
AKEL youth organisation EDON condemned the “sad minority” of nationalist student organisations that every year bring again to the surface the worst aspects of modern Cypriot history.
Alithia reports that Greens youth organisation NEOI also condemned the attack against the two students. NEOI reiterated the specific allegations made by the students that the administration of the school turned a blind eye to the incident.
The NEOI statement also adds that when the student pointed out to the deputy principal that she is entitled to include Turkish on her placard as it is one of the official languages of the Republic of Cyprus, the official responded that the school is Greek and that the students do not speak Turkish.
Home for Cooperation receives Swedish support to survive pandemic
Haravgi
CBMs
OVERVIEW
The Swedish Foreign Ministry will support the Home for Cooperation (H4C) with an additional 98,000 euros so that the NGO and event venue located between the Ledra Palace checkpoints can weather the effects of the pandemic, Haravgi reports.
In an announcement, H4C writes that the assistance was officially announced during an online press conference attended by the Swedish ambassador in Cyprus, Anders Hagelberg.
Hagelberg said that bicommunal contacts are very important in building trust on the island and contributing to a viable peace process, elements that are needed today more than ever, as he said. The H4C is a catalyst to maintaining and facilitating contact, he added.
H4C director Lefki Lambrou thanked the Swedish Foreign Ministry and said that the organisation is determined to continue to be a bridge between the two divided communities.
She also said that currently the checkpoints have been gradually closed for the first since 2003 through political decisions taken by the G/C and T/C authorities, and that this has hurt the H4C’s work since it forced the space to remain closed for extended periods of time.