Front Page Headlines
Early election knot in politics
The crisis over the issue of early elections hasn’t been solved yet. While the parties could not agree on a date, the midterm election, which according to the constitution, should have taken place in June was not declared.
- Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader Tufan Erhürman criticizes the government – “The conditions for tourists arriving via the south are different from the conditions for tourists arriving through the north.
We failed at this one too!
The number of those who installed solar energy panels in our country has steadily grown since 2014. Since then nearly 6,000 dwellings and nearly 12,000 people benefitted from the system and installed solar panels. However, the applications have been stopped after the grid’s capacity was exceeded even though state incentives were once given to firms to invest in renewable energy.
- Oktay: The parliament has great responsibilities for structural changes – Turkish Cypriot speaker of the parliament Önder Sennaroğlu was received by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Vice-President Fuat Oktay and the speaker of the Turkish Parliament Mustafa Şentop.
The pot calls the kettle black
While the thousands of illegally given citizenships are being debated in the north, it emerged that the Anastasiades administration in the south has given citizenships to 6,546 foreigners.
- Long-term planning is the key to the solution of the problems – Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader Tufan Erhürman continues with his civil society visits, explaining to them his ‘long-term development plans.’
Many problems
Furniture makers who complain that business is low due to the pandemic and that many of their workers have left the country are waiting for the wedding season to start.
- All Sinovac – 50,000 more doses of vaccines arrive from Turkey.
- There is a great increase –The number of passengers which used the Larnaca and Paphos airports in May reached 250,000.
Everyone knows him but Tatar
Ersin Tatar said he does not know Taner Ay, son of the TRNC’s ‘honourary’ consul in Dusseldorf Çetin Ay, who is a known gang member in Germany and is driving around with the TRNC’s label on his car number plate. Tatar, who was forced to make a statement following the news yesterday, said “He came and sat next to me at a hotel in Ankara two-three years ago. We did not have any business together. I don’t even know his name.”
Main News
Tatar: 250,000 people visited Maraş (Varosha) since opening
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Diyalog, Avrupa
Property, Territory, EU Matters
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Tuesday claimed that reopening of the public spaces and the beachfront of the fenced-off town of Maraş (Varosha) had increased the public’s motivation, adding that more than 250,000 people have visited the reopened section of the town since it was opened to visitors last year.
Speaking during a meeting with Maraş Solidarity Association (an association established to unite the people living in the residential district of Maraş (Varosha)) Tatar also said the town which had been inaccessible to the public had been left to decay for the last 46 years.
Reiterating that the Greek Cypriot property owners will be allowed to apply to the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) regarding their properties in the town, Tatar said the plans to renew the town’s infrastructure as part of the Maraş (Varosha) initiative will continue.
He also argued that the residential value of Maraş (Varosha) will be increased through the initiative.
In the meantime, Tatar on Tuesday also received the Managing Director for Europe and Central Asia at the European External Action Service (EEAS) Angelina Eichorst and political adviser from the same service Helene Holm-Pedersen.
In a statement issued from his office, Tatar and Eichorst in addition to the latest developments on the Cyprus issue tabled the Turkish Cypriot side’s relations with the EU and tackled the urgent and daily issues faced by the technical committees between the north and the bloc which needed to be addressed.
Members of the Turkish Cypriot negotiating team also attended the meeting.
Speaker of Turkish parliament Şentop reiterates Ankara’s position on Cyprob
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process, Regional/ International Relations
OVERVIEW
The Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) Mustafa Şentop on Tuesday said that Ankara fully backed the Turkish Cypriot leadership’s position on the Cyprus problem based on a two-state solution.
Receiving the Turkish Cypriot Speaker of Parliament Önder Sennaroğlu who is on his first official visit to Ankara since taking up the post, Şentop said that the Greek Cypriot side had clearly shown the entire world during the five-plus-one meeting in Geneva, that it will not share governance or wealth with the Turkish Cypriot side.
This he added was the reason why it has not been possible to find a settlement to the issue on the island. Noting that the Turkish Parliament is closely monitoring the developments on the Cyprus issue, Şentop argued it will not be possible to reach a deal with the Greek Cypriot side as long they refuse to accept the Turkish Cypriots as their equals.
He also argued that the Greek Cypriot side’s pretence to be asking for a federal state is nothing but a ploy to delay the process and to further benefit from the perpetuating status quo on the island.
“Significantly, it is now on record the Turkish Cypriot side will no longer negotiate for a federal settlement that had failed to date in Geneva,” Şentop said, adding that it is not possible to launch an official round of talks unless the Turkish Cypriot side’s sovereign equality and its equal international status are safeguarded.
Also touching on the hydrocarbons issue, Şentop stressed Ankara is determined to protect the rights and the interests of the Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean. He concluded his remarks by reiterating that Ankara will continue to support the Turkish Cypriot side to further develop the north.
Speaking during the meeting, Sennaroğlu said the negotiations did not give the desired outcome due to the Greek Cypriot side’s irreconcilable attitude since 1968 which resulted in the Turkish Cypriot side coming up with the two-state solution model.
“The Turkish Cypriots are as deep-rooted on the island as the Greek Cypriots,” Sennaroğlu said, adding that no matter what kind of a settlement there will be on the island, not a single Turkish Cypriot would give up Turkey’s effective guarantees.
The Parliamentary delegation, which accompanies Sennaroğlu in Ankara consists of Deputy Speaker of Parliament Armağan Candan, MPs Erek Çağatay, Aytaç Çaluda, and Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu.
Turkish Cypriot ambassador to Ankara Kemal Köprülü was also present at the visit. Sennaroğlu was due to be received by Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay and then by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday.
KEY ACTORS
Şentop (Turkey)
>> Turkey fully backs the TC side’s position in favour of a two-state solution.
>> Not possible to solve the Cyprob as long as GCs don’t see TCs as their equals.
>> GC side’s insistence on a federal settlement is a ploy designed to delay a solution.
>> Not possible to start talks until TCs sovereign equality & equal international status is safeguarded.
>> Ankara is determined to protect the rights & interests of the TCs in the East Med.
Sennaroğlu (UBP)
>> TCs will not give up Turkey’s guarantees no matter what kind of a solution is reached on the island.
Island-wide coordinated management of pandemic required, Erhürman says
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Internal Security
OVERVIEW
The leader of the main opposition Republican Turkish Party (CTP) Tufan Erhürman on Tuesday criticized the Turkish Cypriot authorities for trying to pass off the reopening of the crossing points as a success, arguing that different procedures were bring applied for tourists arriving from the north and the south.
In a post on social media, Erhürman said the merit was not in reopening the crossing points after delaying the process for as long as possible but to coordinate efforts to curb the pandemic through a joint strategy.
The CTP said that what constituted a risk for the north also constituted a risk for the south which was very the purpose for establishing the bicommunal technical committee on health– to carry out a coordinated strategy against the pandemic.
In the meantime, Turkish Cypriot health minister Ünal Üstel said 18 per cent of the north’s population has been vaccinated to date.
He said the 139,621 doses of vaccines from the 140,000 sent by Turkey had been administered the Sinovac vaccines. Üstel also said more doses of vaccines will soon be received from Turkey as well. Üstel noted that the efforts to implement a QR code-reader have reached an end. The QR code system will then be harmonised with the system in Turkey to monitor those entering the country.
Later on Tuesday night, 50,000 Sinovac vaccines were delivered from Turkey. In a late-night statement on social media, Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ersan Saner said the vaccines were delivered upon instructions from the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
He added the goal is to vaccinate 70 per cent of the north’s population until autumn to reopen both higher education and tourism sectors at full capacity.
Thousands of young TCs to attend the “National Struggle Camps”
Avrupa
Human Rights
OVERVIEW
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Çanakkale MP Bülent Turan announced that 3,750 young Turkish Cypriots will be attending this year’s ‘National Struggle Camps.’
Turan said the camps in two categories will be organised by the Turkish Youth and Sports Ministry in Çanakkale throughout the summer. 2,750 participants will visit Çanakkale and its historical places and 1,000 will attend the nature camps.
Turkish Embassy in north Nicosia also issued a statement announcing that it has started receiving applications from the 7th and 8th-grade students who want to attend the camps, which are free of charge.
Nava visits the CMP Anthropological Laboratory
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
EU Matters, Human Rights
OVERVIEW
The EU has contributed since 2006 the amount of €30,7m to the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) and remains the Committee’s largest and most regular donor. This 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, the committee said in the statement issued on Tuesday.
The CMP also noted that an EC delegation led by Director-General for Structural Reform Support, Mario Nava, also held discussions with the three members of CMP at the Committee`s Anthropological Laboratory located in the UN buffer zone. Nava reaffirmed the European Union Aid Program’s long-term financial support to CMP’s bicommunal project, which is helping Cypriot families to heal deep wounds from the past, the statement read.
“The EU’s contribution made it possible to first launch and now sustain CMP’s operations, the statement said, adding in 2021 alone, the EU committed €2.6m. The CMP members informed Nava that the CMP is presently intensifying its efforts to locate new burial sites across the island.