Front Page Headlines
The president will be judged by the answers and the committee by the questions
Nicos Anastasiades is called to provide explanations on the naturalisations (of foreign investors), the Seychelles (trip) and conflict of interest. Today’s procedure before the Nikolatos committee is of crucial importance. The president’s credibility but also the objectivity of the four ‘investigators’ are put to the test. He is expected to be asked how the first lady’s niece, Maria Adamidou, was seconded to the interior ministry’s office dealing with the citizenship by investment programme. Discussion in parliament on Thursday on the 2015 family trip to the Seychelles a few months after the Saudi and his family’s naturalisation.
- Cyprus problem: The guarantors are… drawing up their strategy
- DISY: A ticket with many interpretations
- Archbishopric: Bulldozers without permission
- Pandemic: An increase to the rapid tests and the vaccines
Moves on a Turkish chess game
Ankara also wants to set the agenda before the informal five-party summit. Talks between March 1 and 7, the country is yet unknown.
- The arbitrary demolition of four listed buildings is a crime against history – The Archbishop acted illegally, with bulldozers. The new cathedral sprouts behind the demolished listed buildings.
- Candidates for all tastes by DISY
- The transfer of irregular (migrants) will be a crime by law
The government also made a fool of the Commission
New slap for the government and President Anastasiades a few hours prior to his testimony before the investigative committee. Commissioner Margaritis Schinas revealed in an interview that there is an impression that the Commission was very patient and was fooled by the government. If the situation, he said, had been addressed earlier, Cyprus might have avoided the infringement procedure.
- Cavusoglu is leaving, Mitsotakis is coming
- Cultural crime with the Archbishop’s imprint
- Things are heating up among refugees in Mouttalos – Arbitrary demolitions, illegal repossessions
Church destroys listed buildings
Outrage after four protected houses bulldozed near cathedral in Nicosia’s old city.
- Flurry of official visits ahead of informal five party summit
- Pleas to save famous artist’s 60s wall art in crumbling Varosha nightclub
He has upset everyone
The Archbishop taken to task, party reactions. Listed buildings have been demolished so that the new cathedral can have a view. Nicosia municipality: This is a very serious incident.
- Anastasiades makes things clear – The president will testify today on the naturalisations. He will respond to the opposition’s accusations by stating the facts.
- Cavusoglu: We do not discuss a federation
- All of DISY’s candidates for the parliamentary elections were announced yesterday
- Steep fines for smugglers of irregular migrants
Main News
Greek PM set to arrive in Cyprus ahead of informal summit
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to visit Nicosia within the coming days for coordination with the government ahead of the five-party summit on the Cyprus issue, to be held at the beginning of March, the dailies report.
The papers cite Government Spokesman Kyriacos Koushos saying on Monday that President Nicos Anastasiades and Mitsotakis discussed during a telephone conversation developments in the Cyprus issue after the expressed intention of the UN Secretary-General to convene an informal conference on Cyprus in the near future. During their conversation Anastasiades and Mitsotakis found common ground on the principled issues as well as the desired basis for the solution to the Cyprus problem, Koushos said. He added that the Greek prime minister will visit Cyprus within the coming days for better coordination between Cyprus and Greece.
The dailies also report that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is in the north to determine the Turkish side’s strategy ahead of the summit, while British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is expected to arrive on Thursday for meetings with the two leaders. The EU’s High Representative Josep Borrell is also expected to visit the island within this month.
Phileleftheros and Alithia report that Cavusoglu said on Monday after contacts in the north that the Turkish side would not discuss a federal solution at the informal summit. He said the aim of the summit is to see how sincere the GC side is and if there is ground or not for negotiations.
All dailies also report on statements by former TC leader Mustafa Akinci who said in a new social media post on Monday that it would be more prudent for the TC side to focus on a loose or decentralised federation, the position reached by the GC side after much back and forth after the Crans-Montana talks in 2017. He said that these were in fact positions of the TC side. Akinci also said that the agreement reached in Berlin in November 2019 did not leave the GC leadership any margin to sway.
Haravgi also cites a statement by former Speaker of Parliament Yiannakis Omirou, who recalled that the Cyprus Accession Treaty to the EU explicitly rejects partition or a two-state solution. Omirou said Protocol 10 to the Accession Treaty clearly states that the whole territory of the Republic of Cyprus has joined the EU and that the European acquis, will be automatically extended to cover the areas currently not under the government’s control, with the solution of the Cyprus problem.
The Accession Treaty categorically ruled out partition or a two-state solution, Omirou said, adding that irrespective of any statements by European officials and even decisions of European collective institutions, the Treaties which are strictly binding have supreme legal force in Union law, Haravgi reported.
Phileleftheros reports that Ankara believes it is the one that has achieved the five-plus-one composition of the summit, and now wants to also set in advance the agenda of the informal meeting. Cavusoglu sent out the message that the sides first need to agree on what they will negotiate on at the informal summit, the daily reports.
The daily also reports that the informal summit and developments on the Cyprus issue are one of the pieces of Ankara’s puzzle that will help its European course. Some of the other pieces of the puzzle are the exploratory talks with Greece and normalisation of relations with France, the daily reports.
Alithia reported that Cavusoglu’s statements are provocative. It also reports that intense consultations are underway within the Cyprus-Greece-Turkey triangle ahead of the five-party summit.
According to Politis, February will inevitably be an intense month of behind-the-scenes fermentation with the main goal being to set up a strategy in view of the informal 5+1 meeting, which is likely to take place in Switzerland due to pandemic issues. All parties involved in this process have rolled up their sleeves with the guarantors and the EU showing a strong willingness to mobilise on this issue. Everyone, of course, has their own agenda and their own aspirations, which they try to ensure from early on, the daily reports. Cyprus Mail reports that the pace of diplomatic activity is picking up ahead of the informal conference.
Labour MPs call for UK initiative on Cyprob
Alithia, Phileleftheros
Negotiations Process, Regional/International Relations
OVERVIEW
The papers cite an article by the UK’s Labour shadow peace and disarmament minister MP Fabian Hamilton and MP Catherine West, shadow minister for Europe and the Americas, on the opportunity for the British government to lead efforts for a solution to the Cyprus problem with the support of new US President Joe Biden.
The two Labour Party MPs, in an article in PoliticsHome website (a portal with articles mainly written by UK parliamentarians), argue that Biden’s arrival at the White House raises hopes for active promotion of the solution in Cyprus.
They note that both the US President and the new US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken have criticised Turkey for actions that hinder attempts at a peace settlement and risk destabilising the region. They add that beyond the expected more active US involvement it was vital that the British government is at the forefront of seizing the chance to work towards an agreement which will unify Cyprus. They also note that it was imperative that the British government upholds its historic commitment to the people of Cyprus and to the protection of the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus.
The two authors also said that under Keir Starmer’s leadership, the Labour Party has been steadfast in its commitment to Cyprus and has continued to press the British government over the need to secure a political agreement. They argue that both sides on the island must work within the UN framework to come to a bizonal, bicommunal political settlement, the dailies report.
Concerns over fate of artist’s works in abandoned Varosha nightclub
Cyprus Mail
CBMs
OVERVIEW
The paper reports that concerns have been raised over the fate of now valuable artworks that lay locked away within Perroquet nightclub in the Esperia Tower hotel, in the fenced area of Varosha.
The abstract figures dancing to and playing music on the walls of the nightclub were painted by Christoforos Savva, a modern artist who introduced a new school of art.
The GC co-chair of the bicommunal Technical Committee on Culture Androulla Vassiliou told the paper that Savva, who died young, was a fantastic artist and his works are very rare.
Vassiliou said it was very important that his works are returned since not many of his earlier works are available. She said that some of Savva’s pieces were among the hundreds of artworks that were exchanged between the two sides with the help of the Committee. Vassiliou hopes Savva’s works may be a possible subject of confidence-building measure to be raised among future meetings between the two leaders, the daily reported.
It notes that her TC counterparts resigned in October following Tatar’s election in the north rendering the committee paralyzed.
The paper also reports that a further complication is who actually owns the artworks. Former manager of the nightclub and the man who commissioned the artwork Avgerinos Nikitas, 93, has appealed to the technical committee for their help pledging to cede these pieces to the National Collection.
But his attempts would face legal challenges from the Esperia Tower’s owners who claim the artworks are theirs along with everything else in the hotel, the daily reported. Panayiotis Constantinou whose family owns the Esperia Tower told the Cyprus Mail he would prefer them to remain but that further discussions need to be had with the rest of the family.
Backlash over demolition of listed buildings on Archbishop’s orders
Alithia, Cyprus Mail, Haravgi, Phileleftheros, Politis
Human Rights
OVERVIEW
The demolition of four listed buildings in the old part of Nicosia on the Archbishop’s orders stirred strong reactions on Monday, the dailies report.
The buildings, on the same block as the new cathedral being built by the Archbishopric, were bulldozed without the municipality being informed. The land they are on, is owned by the archbishopric.
Nicosia mayor Constantinos Yiorkadjis said that one of the buildings was claimed to be dangerous but these claims were never substantiated and that illegally demolished buildings ought to be restored.
AKEL’s Nicosia municipal councilors condemned it as arbitrary and illegal and “a crime against our heritage”.
The demolition of the buildings also irked the Scientific and Technical Chamber (ETEK) that said that, the Church, as an institution, should set an example in preserving and appreciating architectural legacy.
DISY announces parliamentary election ticket
Alithia, Phileleftheros, Politis
Governance & Power Sharing
OVERVIEW
Ruling DISY announced on Monday its ticket for May’s parliamentary election, the dailies report.
The submission of candidacies was made through an online portal while all hopefuls have also submitted documents with information about their loans and their involvement in any companies.
One fourth of candidates are women.
Among the candidates are DISY leader Averof Neophytou, the party’s deputy head Harris Georgiades, current MPs, but also people from various professional backgrounds such as lawyers, journalists, teachers, doctors.
Among the party’s Kyrenia candidates is Rita Theodorou Superman, former police officer and an expert in human trafficking issues.
Politis reports that the average age of the candidates is 47 years while 37 of them run as candidates for the first time. What makes an impression is that there are candidates with conflicting views on many issues, the daily reported.