Front Page Headlines
Major public order issue for accountant-general
R. Georgiou oversees her auditor brother and he audits businesses belonging to her husband and children. Accountant-general omitted stating conflict of interest with her brother, resulting in her appointment to the presidency of the Cyprus Public Audit Oversight Board. She does not see anything reproachable in this herself. Cypra owner, Giorgos Georgiou, was at the slaughterhouse yesterday, while the day before yesterday he did not attend parliament’s labour committee as requested, citing the need to self-isolate due to contact with a coronavirus case. Unfazed by the uproar caused due to the strange immunity applied to him, he was arrested for illegal employment of three asylum seekers and four European citizens found at the slaughterhouse.
- Another 198 cases: Hopes for fall in numbers
Alarm over rapid tests
One in 50 found positive in rapid tests – They begin mass testing of population. Only Paphos showed encouraging results.
- Serious loss of face for accountant-general: Rea Georgiou was auditing her brother and he was auditing her husband at slaughterhouse
- Cypra director arrested: Day before yesterday he said he was in quarantine, yesterday he was at his slaughterhouse
- Suspended step for pseudostate: Tatar expects move for recognition from Baku
- While they call Varoshans to go: “Commission” doesn’t even have a little money for compensations
- Interior Ministry and Colleges cross swords: “Foreign students don’t even know how to say hello”
Impunity brings audacity
Again illegals at slaughterhouse of Accountant-General’s husband! He said he was in quarantine, but did go to slaughterhouse. Oligopoly after closing of the Kofinou Slaughterhouse.
- Decentralised federation… back in the game
- They cover up for private colleges that break the law
- Business people from the US study opening of Varosha. Beautification works continue…
Care home says it’s not to blame
Owner of Nicosia facility with nine positive cases points fingers at Nicosia general.
- Steep fall in asylum applications from foreign students after visa clampdown
Illegalities without end!
Police operation at Cypra and A&A slaughterhouses. Handcuffs for owners and workers at slaughterhouses – Among them the husband of the Republic’s accountant-general – Harsh fines imposed, criminal prosecutions coming. A question by Pavlos Mylonas hid a whole family for Cypra.
- Coronavirus: Cases stabilise, expectation for reduction in numbers: Situation normalising – Dead from COVID-19 reach 41. 25 are men and 16 are women
- Nicos Christodoulides: Loose or decentralised federation could be discussed
- Interior Minister: 940 foreign students asked for asylum in 2020!
Main News
G/C side still open to discuss a loose or decentralised federation
Alithia, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
Negotiations Process, Governance & Power Sharing, Regional/ International Relations, External Security, EU Matters
OVERVIEW
Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides told Astra radio that a decentralised federation, in the framework of a bizonal, bicommunal federation (BBF), could address the concerns of both the G/C and the T/C side, Haravgi reports. The newspaper adds that Christodoulides point out that any solution model cannot cast into doubt the transformation of the 1960 Republic of Cyprus into a federation.
When asked by Haravgi to clarify which competences can be decentralised without casting the structure of the state into doubt, Christodoulides said that the central state should retain the “three singles” (sovereignty, international personality, citizenship) and all the related competencies so that the BBF model cannot be challenged.
Haravgi notes that the government and DISY seem to have been considering this idea for a while, and cites an older statement by an unnamed government source who had said that the Cyprus Problem can only be solved through a decentralised federation.
AKEL’s head of Cyprus Problem affairs Toumazos Tsielepis told the newspaper that the 18 competences of the federal states have been agreed since the negotiations between former President Christofias and former T/C leader Talat, and that during the negotiations conducted under President Anastasiades, a few more were added. The issue was considered to be closed, he added.
Tsielepis pointed out that if the G/C side wants to return to negotiations from the point where they stopped at Crans Montana, then it wouldn’t be consistent to want to change these competences. The AKEL official also pointed out that the issue in negotiations was always the issue of adding competences, and that the T/C side never had an issue with devolving competences.
He also noted that before AKEL can discuss this, the President needs to be specific which competences would be devolved under his proposal. Tsielepis underlined that competences that can be given to the constituent states are not infinite in number, because excessive devolution can lead to a confederal solution or a two-state solution.
Tsielepis gave as an example the competence of dealing with the EEZ and natural sources, and pointed out that if regions acquire this then we are no longer talking about a federation but about two states.
In another development, Alithia reports that President Anastasiades and DISY leader Averof Neophytou met to coordinate ahead of developments in the Cyprus Problem. Anastasiades briefed Neophytou and the DISY leadership on the latest developments, governments spokesperson Kyriakos Koushios said.
Anastasiades told DISY that he will do whatever it takes to help the UNSG in his efforts to convene an informal five-party conference.
Azerbaijan reportedly assures EU recognition of north is not on cards
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros
Negotiations Process, Regional/ International Relations, EU Matters
OVERVIEW
Phileleftheros reports that the prospects for recognition of the north by countries such as Azerbaijan or the Tripoli government of Libya have given way due to many of these countries reconsidering the repercussions. The newspaper also reports that the RoC, Greece and the EU have coordinated to prevent any such initiatives from gaining ground.
The newspaper cites information that Azerbaijan has assured the EU that there are no plans to grant recognition to the north. Similar assurances have reportedly been given by the internationally recognised Tripoli government in Libya, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Phileleftheros also notes that there are reports on the possibility of recognition from Gambia, Turkmenistan and Somalia, and that this information comes from Turkish media.
However, Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides said on Alpha TV that the government continues its efforts despite positive indications. He said that the RoC and the EU have not seen indications that there are countries intending to move ahead with recognition so far.
Christodoulides is due to brief his EU counterparts on Turkey’s actions in Varosha and the East Med along with Greek Foreign Minister Nicos Dendias, in Thursday’s Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) teleconference, the dailies report. The FAC will take place before a teleconference of the leaders of the member states dedicated to the coronavirus pandemic.
Academic Aristotelis Constantinides told the Cyprus News Agency that when it comes to international law, the Republic of Cyprus is protected against efforts to recognise the “TRNC”. Constantinides, who is an associate professor of International Law at the University of Cyprus said that were some of Turkey’s satellite states to recognise the north, Cyprus would be able to take countermeasures and to use its EU membership to exert additional influence.
Constantinides pointed out that there are specific Security Council resolutions such as 541 (1983) as well as international laws that protect the RoC. He underlined that all states are obliged to not recognise entities that have been created through serious infringements of international law.
Phileleftheros reports that the parliament of the Netherlands adopted an advisory resolution calling its government to push for a moratorium of weapons exports to Turkey, and that the resolution was approved by 140 to 150 MPs. The resolution cites the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, Libya and Turkey’s hydrocarbons exploration “in areas belonging to Greece according to international law” as the reason for this moratorium.
The newspaper also reports that Greece and the United Arab Emirates condemned Turkey’s actions in the Eastern Mediterranean during a visit by Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to the country. The two governments condemned Turkey’s aggressive behaviour in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and the South Caucasus.
Immovable Properties Commission reported to be out of cash
Haravgi, Phileleftheros
Property, Territory, Human Rights, EU Matters
OVERVIEW
Phileleftheros reports that despite calls by Turkey and the T/C leadership to G/C owners of properties in Varosha to appeal to the Immovable Properties Commission (IPC), the IPC is in fact having difficulties paying out compensations.
The newspaper cites T/C reports to recall that the funding of the IPC by Turkey has dried up for a while due to the state of the economy in Turkey. Phileleftheros writes that this could in fact be a reason for Turkey’s and the T/C leadership’s call for G/C owners to appeal to it, as the aim is for the IPC to concentrate on returning properties rather than compensating for them.
Phileleftheros cites a report by YeniDuzen which points out that the inability of the IPC to pay out compensations could cause trouble for Turkey in the European Court of Human Rights in the coming years, and could lead to a de-legitimization of the commission.
Meanwhile Haravgi reports that House Speaker Adamos Adamou met with Bulgarian ambassador Lyubomir Todorov on Wednesday. The two discussed Cyprus Problem developments, and Todorov criticised Turkey’s actions in Famagusta and the Cypriot EEZ.
Haravgi also reports that the board of American Turkish Business Development (ATBD) association met at the Girne (Kyrenia) American University, and that the issue of Varosha was also discussed. According to a written statement by GAU, the head of ATBD Serhat Akpinar said that US business people could provide support to Famagusta. According to the same report, the head of the Turkish authority for housing development (TOKI) which is active in Varosha, told T/C media that their work in the fenced-off city continues.
Turkey has not taken sufficient action regarding cases of six missing
Haravgi, Phileleftheros
Human Rights, EU Matters, CBMs
OVERVIEW
The dailies report that lawyer Achilleas Demetriades pointed out in a letter to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (which oversees whether countries implement decisions taken by the European Court of Human Rights) that Turkey has admitted it has taken no action regarding the cases of six missing persons.
Demetriades wrote that Turkey has admitted that it hasn’t taken action to investigate the fate of the missing persons included in the case of “Varnava and others vs. Turkey”, and that the country has been unable to prove it has sufficiently investigated another three cases of missing persons. The relatives of all nine missing persons are being represented by Demetriades in their appeals to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The letter was sent to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe ahead of its December meeting, in which the ministers will assess the implementation of the ECHR’s 2009 decision that Turkey should compensate the families of the missing.
Minister says restrictions on colleges reduced asylum applications
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros
Migration & Citizenship, Internal Security, Human Rights
OVERVIEW
Phileleftheros reports that Interior Minister Nicos Nouris told the parliament’s committee on education that the government’s policy to set a cap on the number of foreign students in colleges, as well as the introduction of stricter regulations and criteria, have contributed to a sharp decline in asylum applications by students.
Nouris said that out of 940 pending applications for asylum, 463 are for people that are in Cyprus since 2019. Only 57 were filed in 2020, he added.
Nouris also said that from June to October of this year, the Interior Ministry cancelled 831 residence permits acquired through marriages of convenience which also involved foreign students. He added that 1,105 asylum seekers in 2019 were students in local colleges.
He gave as an example Egyptian students that had been interviewed and had been found to not even know how to say “hello” in English. This, he points out, shows that the English language should be added as a requirement for studying in a Cypriot college.
The president of the association of private colleges Marios Americanos pointed out that the new measures have created economic problems for these institutions and that not a single new foreign student has signed up in the summer and autumn of 2020. This has led to employees of the colleges losing their jobs and the colleges being unable to offer scholarships to Cypriot students. He also pointed out that there is an unequal treatment of colleges and private universities.
During the meeting the college owners brought up the problems faced by foreign students that are not able to find employment. Americanos said that officials from Social Security are said to push employers to hire asylum seekers instead of students because the process is easier.
Haravgi focuses on accusations that many of these private colleges are not fined due to outside interference on the work of the Ministry of Education, which were expressed by the director of the ministry of higher education, Terpsa Constantinidou. She did not give more details on whether this interference comes from political parties.