Front Page Headlines
AKEL with Andros DIKO with Nicholas
The three big parties are claiming with their own candidate the presidency of Parliament.
- Reshuffling: The President wants to… the parties aren’t being persuaded
- Vaccinations: We won’t be reaching 65% coverage easily
Andros dealing a deck of cards
Intense backdrop brings subversions in the scene for the Presidency of Parliament. DIKO going with Nicholas, AKEL wants Kyprianou, Garoyian wants a regulatory role.
- Scientists hesitating over vaccinations of children: Paediatric Organisation says yes to ages 16-18
- Green light to Giorgos Vasiliou for big developments in Peyia: Research-technological centre and luxury residences
- Morphou enraged the Church of Greece: It asked the Archbishop to put an end to what he’s saying about vaccines
Prodromos cut and sewed and now… he’s asking for consultations
New faits accomplis for the four-month Pancyprian Examinations.
- Presidency of Parliament: All open, with candidacies on the table increasing…
- ‘Golden’ passports: President, political responsibilities are practically assumed
- Hopes for tourists from Britain… dying out!
- Racist attacks to students with the headmasters in the lead role
- End to the curfew from tomorrow, return of all employees and increase in gatherings
Passport failings ‘sleepless nights’
Anastasiades says that devious individuals exploited system
- Cabinet reshuffle on the cards Diko names Papadopoulos as House president candidate
Citizens are picking Annita
Poll by Pulse Market Research: DISY’s choice for the Presidency of Parliament is accepted by all fronts, ages and districts, with a vast difference from other candidates. Good choice: Annita Demetriou 54%, Charalambos Theopemptou 36%, Nicholas Papadopoulos 29%, Marios Garoyian 24%, Marinos Sizopoulos 21%, Andros Kyprianou 20%, Christos Christou 16%. Andros-Nicholas announced yesterday their candidates for the Presidency of Parliament.
- Erhan Arikli: Turkey and ‘TRNC’ have rights to 11 out of the 13 plots of the Republic of Cyprus
- Reshuffle for the Cyprus of tomorrow: President Anastasiades confirmed that he’s moving forward with changes in the Council of Ministers
- New relaxations tomorrow: Return to normality
Main News
Tatar: Federal solution will make TCs a minority
Alithia, Haravgi, Phileleftheros
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
TC leader Ersin Tatar said the aim of a federal solution that involves one sovereignty and the continuation of the Republic of Cyprus is to relegate the “Turks of Cyprus” to a minority and to see Turkey withdraw from the island, the dailies report.
In statements on Tuesday, Tatar said that TCs currently live safely in a “sovereign and legal state”, adding that they will not be made into a minority after so much struggle. Tatar said that at this stage, a two-state solution on the basis of sovereign equality is needed, noting that the ‘TRNC’ always has the support of “motherland Turkey”.
Reiterating his belief that a two-state solution corresponds to the realities of the island, Tatar said there have been two states in Cyprus for many years, adding that there are currently two different nations with different religions and cultures.
Tatar said that during the informal summit held in Geneva in late April, he said that TCs have a separate state and sovereignty, which has yielded many profits for TCs, and stressed that UN parameters for Cyprus must be re-examined. Tatar added that the UN Secretary General (UNSG) “did not close the door” to his request.
KEY ACTORS
Tatar
>> Federal solution will lead to relegation of TCs into minority & Turkey withdraw from Cyprus
>> Reiterates call for two-state solution based on sovereign equality, which corresponds to realities on the island which currently hosts two states with different religions and cultures
>> At Geneva 5+1 called for alteration of UN parameters, regarding which the UNSG did not close the door
RoC reportedly blocking third-country nationals from crossing to north
Alithia
CBMs
OVERVIEW
TC daily Diyalog reported that the Republic is blocking non-EU third-country nationals from crossing into the north, Alithia reports.
These groups had arrived on the island through airports in government-controlled areas. The article said tourism organisations in the north characterised the development as unacceptable.
Alithia reports that the TC leader’s special representative Ergun Olgun is discussing the matter with the GC negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis, adding that a source told Diyalog that the leaders of the two sides are expected to take final decisions on the issue.
Alithia reports that TC leader Ersin Tatar said he raised the issue of the crossing of third-country nationals with EU officials, adding that the reopening of crossings will benefit the economy.
Tatar also said on Tuesday that the Republic should also allow Turkish settlers to use crossings, adding that he raised the matter with President Nicos Anastasiades. Tatar said that such discrimination will not be accepted and goes against human rights.
Alithia reports citing TC media that over 33,000 people used the crossings since they reopened on Friday morning.
Meanwhile, Alithia also reports that the Turkish military issued an announcement changing the ‘opening hours’ of Varosha. The fenced-off town will now be accessible to the public from 8am to 8pm.
EU body opposing linking of north’s electricity grid with Turkey
Alithia, Haravgi
Energy
OVERVIEW
‘Energy minister’ Erhan Arikli said the increased electricity needs the north will have over the coming decade could be covered by linking the north to Turkey via cables, but said the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) is strongly opposing such a move.
Addressing the 4th Energy and Natural Resources Summit held in Turkey, Arikli said according to the dailies that higher quantities of electricity will be needed in the north for the industrial area to be created in Acheritou and for Varosha should it be fully reopened. Specifically, Arikli said that currently, the north needs 350 megawatts annually, but by 2030 this figure is expected to surge to 750 megawatts. Arikli added that the north currently produces most of its electricity through diesel generators, which are costly and environmentally detrimental.
Arikli said the north has a greatly needs electricity to be transferred there from Turkey via cables which will be created, but said a big obstacle to this is the opposition expressed by ENTSO-E, members of which are Greece and the Republic of Cyprus, he said. Arikli added that Turkey is connected to the EU transmission system network, noting that if the north is also linked, ENTSO-E could become an obstacle, since Greece and the RoC could veto such a development.
Alithia reports that Arikli said both sides have connected electricity systems in to areas, adding that the government-controlled areas could also benefit from the linking of the north with Turkey, noting that this could come about as a confidence-building measure (CBM). After connecting the north’s electricity grid with Turkey, Arikli said steps will be taken in the field of solar energy, since Cyprus enjoys 2,400 hours of sunshine annually. The cables could also facilitate the transfer of electricity to Turkey once the north is covered by solar energy.
The daily reports that Arikli further added that all countries in the Eastern Mediterranean are trying to exclude Turkey from energy alliances, pointing to the energy and defence agreements between the RoC, Egypt and Israel. He said the EastMed pipeline could serve the purpose of transferring natural gas to Europe with a lower cost if Turkey is activated.
Arikli also said that Turkey and the north have rights to 11 out of the 13 natural gas plots of the Republic of Cyprus, adding that agreements reached by Turkey with the north and Libya prove that Turkey is a strong player in the region and cannot be bypassed.
EU contributed €30.7 million to CMP since 2006
Haravgi
Human Rights
OVERVIEW
The EU has contributed €30.7 million to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) and remains its largest and most regular donor, the CMP said in an announcement on Tuesday, Haravgi reports.
The announcement said the EU’s Director-General for Structural Reform Support Mario Nava on Tuesday met the three members of the CMP at its anthropological laboratory. Nava, who was leading a European Commission delegation, held discussions with the CMP members and reaffirmed the EU Aid Programme’s long-term financial support to its bicommunal project which the announcement said “is helping Cypriot families to heal deep wounds from the past.”
The CMP said the EU’s contribution made it possible to first launch and now sustain CMP’s operations. Since 2006, the EU has contributed €30.7 million to the CMP and remains its largest and most regular donor. In 2021 alone, the EU committed €2.6m, the CMP added. This level of generous support has led so far to the exhumation, identification and return of 1,006 of the 2,002 missing persons in Cyprus to their families for dignified burials, it said.
Inquiry report finds 53% of citizenships granted through CIP unlawful
Cyprus Mail, Haravgi
Internal Security
OVERVIEW
A report detailing the findings of an inquiry in to the island’s Citizenship-by-Investment Programme (CIP) found that 53% of the 6,779 citizenships granted were unlawful, with President Nicos Anastasiades saying on Tuesday that those who exploited the scheme should not be sleeping at night, the dailies report.
Anastasiades said it was a thorough and well-structured report and there was no doubt “there were shortfalls, weaknesses, and illegalities.” The president said he will not hesitate to assume his administration’s share of responsibility.
Cyprus Mail reports that the findings, which were handed over to the Attorney-General (AG) on Monday, showed that the Interior Ministry had ignored the opinion of the AG in 2015 and 2016 that granting citizenships to the families of investors was potentially unlawful. The findings said respective Cabinets were committing offences en masse by approving the applications.
The inquiry found that 53 per cent of the 6,779 citizenships granted were unlawful and said politicians and institutions had political responsibilities while certain applicants and service providers may be held criminally culpable, Cyprus Mail reports. According to the report, five citizenships had been granted by the Tassos Papadopoulos administration (2003-2008) 228 by Demetris Christofias (2008-2013) and 6,546 by the current administration, which came to power in 2013.
The dailies report that main opposition AKEL said the Anastasiades government was politically responsible for the scandal after it turned a citizenship programme into a passport-selling industry that disgraced the country. The government had never assumed its responsibilities nor did it accept the conflict of interest, AKEL added.
In response, Government Spokesman Kyriacos Koushos said the committee’s conclusion shows there was no personal involvement of the President for his own benefit, while the misinterpretation and application of laws was a timeless phenomenon, without expediencies. This, he said, was also the case as regards the “weaknesses of the investment scheme that were exploited.”